The St Thomas the Apostle College

About The St Thomas the Apostle College

The St Thomas the Apostle College holds an Outstanding rating from Ofsted, a grade it has maintained across its most recent inspections, with an ungraded visit in November 2024 confirming that standards are being kept up. But the single most striking metric is its Progress 8 score of 1.45. This means pupils here achieve nearly one and a half grades more per subject than students with similar starting points nationally. It places the school first out of 19 schools in Southwark, fifth out of 487 schools in London, and ninth out of 3,141 schools across England. For context, the local authority average Progress 8 score is 0.46, so this school is performing at more than three times that benchmark. It is a genuinely exceptional result that sets the tone for everything else.

The academic strength runs right through the school. At Key Stage 4, pupils achieve an Attainment 8 score of 60.5, and 85.7% secure a grade 4 or above in both English and maths. The EBacc entry rate is high at 65.8%, and 57.1% of pupils achieve the EBacc at grade 4 or above. In the sixth form, the picture is similarly strong: the average A-level grade is a B+, with students scoring 41.79 points per entry and a value-added score of 0.21, which is rated above average. The best three A-levels average out at a B+ grade as well. Ofsted rated the sixth form provision Outstanding in its most recent graded inspection. Parent feedback is overwhelmingly positive too: 99% of the 93 respondents would recommend the school, and 86% strongly agreed that the school has high expectations for their child.

The school is heavily oversubscribed, with 379 applications for 150 places in the 2025/26 admissions round, and 137 of those were first preferences. It is a Roman Catholic boys' school for ages 11 to 18, with a capacity of 1,000 but currently housing 1,111 pupils, so it is running above its official number. Facilities include a theatre, chapel, sixth form centre, astro turf, tennis courts, and playing fields. The school offers a wide range of clubs from Eco Club to Model UN and DofE, and sports include football, cricket, and martial arts. SEND provision covers areas including autistic spectrum disorder, speech and language needs, and social and emotional mental health support, though 23% of parents responding to the Parent View survey said their child has SEND, and a small minority disagreed that support is adequate. This is a school for families who want high academic expectations and strong results, and who are comfortable with a faith-based, single-sex environment that is in high demand.

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