St John Fisher Catholic Comprehensive School

About St John Fisher Catholic Comprehensive School

St John Fisher Catholic Comprehensive School in Medway is a mixed secondary with a Roman Catholic character that currently educates 1,105 pupils against a capacity of 1,185, meaning it operates close to full but with a small margin of spare places. The school serves a community with significant economic disadvantage: 33.3 per cent of pupils are eligible for free school meals, a figure well above the national average and a clear marker of the local intake. Demand for places is extremely high — for the 2025/26 academic year, the school received 562 applications for 179 places, an oversubscription ratio of 3.14 to one. Of those applicants, 119 put St John Fisher as their first preference, and 113 first-preference offers were made, suggesting that while the school is popular, not all who want a place can get one. This level of competition, combined with the high FSM percentage, paints a picture of a school that is both a community anchor and a sought-after option for Catholic families in Medway.

Academically, St John Fisher’s most recent published results place it well below average nationally. Its Progress 8 score for 2023/24 was -0.55, meaning pupils achieved about half a grade less per subject than similar students nationally. This is significantly weaker than the Medway local authority average of -0.1, and it ranks the school 14th out of 18 secondary schools in the area, putting it in the bottom 50 per cent nationally. Attainment 8 sits at 36.7, and just 28 per cent of pupils achieved a grade 5 or above in English and maths. The EBacc entry rate is low at 8.6 per cent, and only 2.3 per cent achieved the full EBacc at grade 5 or above. At sixth form, the picture is more mixed: value added is 0.06, classed as average, with a points per entry of 25.02 (roughly a C- grade). The school’s most recent Ofsted inspection in October 2024 rated overall effectiveness as not judged, but the graded judgements were Requires Improvement for quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, and leadership and management, while sixth form provision and personal development were both rated Good.

The school offers a solid range of facilities including a swimming pool, astro turf, music rooms, art studios, and a dedicated sixth form centre. Sports provision covers netball, rugby, football, athletics, and martial arts, while clubs include the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, debating, coding, and a gardening club. SEND support is broad, covering autistic spectrum disorder, speech and language needs, and social, emotional and mental health difficulties, among others. Parent views from the most recent survey period show 70 per cent would recommend the school, though responses are mixed: 38 per cent strongly agree their child is happy, but 15 per cent strongly disagree. The school is heavily oversubscribed, so Catholic families with a strong local connection will likely have an advantage in admissions. St John Fisher is best suited to families who value its Catholic ethos and wide extracurricular offer, and who are comfortable with a school that is currently working through an improvement journey following its Requires Improvement Ofsted judgement.

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