St Philomena's Catholic High School for Girls

About St Philomena's Catholic High School for Girls

St Philomena’s Catholic High School for Girls in Sutton is a state secondary that is clearly in high demand. With 1,408 pupils on roll against a capacity of 1,549, the school is operating close to its limit, and the oversubscription figures confirm its popularity: for 230 places in the 2025/26 intake, there were 752 total applications, giving an oversubscription ratio of 3.27. Of those, 225 put it as their first preference, and 186 first-preference offers were made. The proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals stands at 16.8%, which is above the national average for secondary schools and suggests a genuinely mixed socioeconomic intake. As a Roman Catholic girls’ school, it draws from a committed faith community, but the sheer number of applications — more than three for every place — indicates that its reputation extends well beyond that catchment. Headteacher Maria Noone leads a school that is both large and selective in practice, if not by entrance exam.

Academically, St Philomena’s delivers strong results that place it comfortably above the local authority average. Its Progress 8 score of 0.68 is rated ‘well above average’ nationally and sits above the Sutton LA average of 0.53, meaning pupils here make significantly more progress than those in similar schools across the country. The Attainment 8 score of 57.7 is high, and 85.6% of pupils achieved a grade 4 or above in English and maths. The EBacc entry rate is 61.1%, with 45.9% achieving the full EBacc at grade 4 or above. In the most recent Ofsted inspection in 2022, the school was rated Good overall, with an Outstanding rating for its sixth-form provision. The sixth form itself performs well: a value-added score of 0.07 is in the average band, and the average points per entry of 36.96 equates to a B- grade. Nationally, the school ranks 305th out of 3,141 schools on Progress 8, placing it in the top 10% of all state secondaries.

The school is well equipped for a broad education, with facilities including science labs, a sports hall, gymnasium, tennis courts, astro turf, music rooms, a sixth-form centre, playing fields, a library and a chapel. Sports on offer include basketball, cross country, dance, swimming, athletics, gymnastics, rounders and hockey, while extracurricular clubs range from drama and chess to coding, gardening, the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award and Model UN. The school’s SEND provisions are comprehensive, covering specific learning difficulties like dyslexia, moderate learning difficulties, social, emotional and mental health needs, speech and language communication needs, hearing and visual impairments, physical disability and autistic spectrum disorder. For families considering St Philomena’s, the key takeaway is that this is a heavily oversubscribed, high-performing Catholic girls’ school that combines strong academic outcomes with a wide range of enrichment and solid SEND support. It will particularly suit families who value a faith-based environment and want a school where pupils make strong progress across the board.

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