Cardinal Newman Catholic School is a mixed local-authority maintained secondary school in Hove, Brighton and Hove City Council, teaching 2,657 pupils aged 11 to 18. Ofsted graded quality of education as Outstanding at its most recent inspection in October 2024. In 2024–2025, GCSE Attainment 8 was 50.4 (England 46.1). The 2025–2026 school year runs from 3 September 2025 to 17 July 2026.

Ofsted inspection

The latest published Ofsted judgement for Cardinal Newman Catholic School.

Latest inspection
Graded inspection No single overall grade (Sept 2024+)

From September 2024 Ofsted no longer gives schools a single overall grade. These are the graded judgement areas from the latest inspection.

Quality of educationOutstanding
Behaviour & attitudesOutstanding
Personal developmentOutstanding
Leadership & managementOutstanding
Sixth formOutstanding
S5 Inspection · Inspected 8 Oct 2024 · Published 11 Nov 2024
Read full Ofsted report ↗

Scale: Outstanding Good Requires improvement Inadequate

Term dates & holidays 2025–2026

Autumn, spring and summer terms, half-terms, INSET days and bank holidays for Cardinal Newman Catholic School.

Cardinal Newman Catholic School term dates calendar 2025–2026
Official term-dates calendar · 2025–2026 · source

Interactive Calendar

September 2025
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
  • 1 Inset Day
  • 2 Inset Day
  • 3–30 Autumn Term 1
October 2025
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
  • 1–24 Autumn Term 1
  • 25–31 Autumn Half Term Holiday
November 2025
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
  • 1–2 Autumn Half Term Holiday
  • 3–30 Autumn Term 2
  • 14 Inset Day
December 2025
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
  • 1–19 Autumn Term 2
  • 20–31 Christmas Holiday
  • 25 Christmas Day
  • 26 Boxing Day
January 2026
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
  • 1–4 Christmas Holiday
  • 1 New Year's Day
  • 5–31 Spring Term 1
February 2026
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28
  • 1–13 Spring Term 1
  • 14–22 Spring Half Term Holiday
  • 23–28 Spring Term 2
March 2026
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
  • 1–27 Spring Term 2
  • 28–31 Easter Holiday
April 2026
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
  • 1–12 Easter Holiday
  • 3 Good Friday
  • 6 Easter Monday
  • 13–30 Summer Term 1
May 2026
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
  • 1–22 Summer Term 1
  • 4 Early May Bank Holiday
  • 23–31 Spring Bank Holiday
  • 25 Spring Bank Holiday
June 2026
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
  • 1–30 Summer Term 2
July 2026
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
  • 1–17 Summer Term 2
  • 1 Y6/7 Transition Day
  • 3 Inset Day
  • 18–31 Summer Holiday
  • 20 Inset Day
August 2026
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
  • 1–31 Summer Holiday
  • 31 Summer Bank Holiday

Key dates (2025–2026)

  • Inset Day Sep 1, 2025 Inset Day
  • Inset Day Sep 2, 2025 Inset Day
  • Autumn Term 1 Sep 3, 2025 - Oct 24, 2025 Term
  • Autumn Half Term Holiday Oct 25, 2025 - Nov 2, 2025 Holiday
  • Autumn Term 2 Nov 3, 2025 - Dec 19, 2025 Term
  • Inset Day Nov 14, 2025 Inset Day
  • Christmas Holiday Dec 20, 2025 - Jan 4, 2026 Holiday
  • Spring Term 1 Jan 5, 2026 - Feb 13, 2026 Term
  • Spring Half Term Holiday Feb 14, 2026 - Feb 22, 2026 Holiday
  • Spring Term 2 Feb 23, 2026 - Mar 27, 2026 Term
  • Easter Holiday Mar 28, 2026 - Apr 12, 2026 Holiday
  • Summer Term 1 Apr 13, 2026 - May 22, 2026 Term
  • Early May Bank Holiday May 4, 2026 Holiday
  • Spring Bank Holiday May 23, 2026 - May 31, 2026 Holiday
  • Summer Term 2 Jun 1, 2026 - Jul 17, 2026 Term
  • Y6/7 Transition Day Jul 1, 2026 Event
  • Inset Day Jul 3, 2026 Inset Day
  • Inset Day Jul 20, 2026 Inset Day
  • Summer Holiday Jul 18, 2026 - Aug 31, 2026 Holiday
  • New Year's Day Jan 1, 2026 Event
  • Good Friday Apr 3, 2026 Event
  • Easter Monday Apr 6, 2026 Holiday
  • Spring Bank Holiday May 25, 2026 Holiday
  • Summer Bank Holiday Aug 31, 2026 Holiday
  • Christmas Day Dec 25, 2025 Holiday
  • Boxing Day Dec 26, 2025 Event

Exam results & performance

DfE performance tables Official results, 2024–2025 GOV.UK ↗
50.4 Attainment 8 England 46.1 Top 23%
47.9% Grade 5+ English & maths England 45.4% Top 32%
37.88 A level average score England 35 Top 26%
24.7% Persistent absence England 17.8%

The measures that carry the most signal. Open a section to compare Cardinal Newman Catholic School with Brighton and Hove City Council and England.

Key stage 4 (GCSE) 50.4 Attainment 8 score

Year 11 results across eight qualifications, including English and maths.

This school Brighton and Hove City Council England

Attainment 8 score · Average across 8 GCSEs, out of 90 50.4
Brighton and Hove City Council 46.2 England 46.1 +4.3 vs England
Grade 5+ in English & maths · A strong pass 47.9%
Brighton and Hove City Council 47.9% England 45.4% +2.5 vs England
Attainment 8 — disadvantaged pupils 40.2
Brighton and Hove City Council 32.5 England 34.9 +5.3 vs England
Disadvantage gap · Attainment 8 points; smaller is better 12.7
Brighton and Hove City Council 18.7 England 15.5 -2.8 vs England
Disadvantaged pupils in the year group · Context for the scores above 20.3%
Brighton and Hove City Council 26.6% England 28.2%
Pupils in the year group · Small cohorts swing wildly 365
16 to 18 (A level & sixth form) 37.88 A level average point score

Results for students finishing post-16 study.

This school Brighton and Hove City Council England

A level average point score · Per entry, 50 = A* 37.88
Brighton and Hove City Council 38.79 England 35 +2.9 vs England
A level students · Small cohorts swing wildly 250
Attendance 24.7% Persistently absent pupils

Absence across the whole school year.

This school Brighton and Hove City Council England

Persistently absent pupils · Missed 10%+ of sessions; lower is better 24.7%
Brighton and Hove City Council 20.8% England 17.8% +6.9 vs England
Overall absence · Lower is better 9.3%
Brighton and Hove City Council 7.9% England 6.8% +2.6 vs England
What pupils do after GCSEs 94% In education, apprenticeship or work

Still in education, an apprenticeship or work a year after key stage 4.

This school Brighton and Hove City Council England

In education, apprenticeship or work 94%
Brighton and Hove City Council 93% England 92% +2 vs England
Same, for disadvantaged pupils 84%
Brighton and Hove City Council 84% England 83% +1 vs England
What students do after 16 to 18 study 78% In education, apprenticeship or work

Destinations the year after finishing post-16 study.

This school Brighton and Hove City Council England

In education, apprenticeship or work 78%
Brighton and Hove City Council 80% England 79% -1 vs England
Went to higher education 31%
Brighton and Hove City Council 36% England 37% -6 vs England
About this data source & caveats

Progress 8 is not published for 2024–2025. This year group missed their key stage 2 tests in 2020, so there is no baseline to measure progress from.

Attendance comparisons are pupil-weighted averages we calculate from every school’s published absence figure — the DfE absence file has no local authority or England rows of its own.

We show the headline measures only. Threshold and curriculum-policy figures — grade 4+ in English and maths, EBacc entry and points, the per-subject key stage 2 breakdown, academic and applied splits at 16 to 18 — reflect admissions and curriculum choices more than school quality, so they are left to GOV.UK. Progress measures matter most because they compare pupils with others who started at the same level; attainment on its own largely tracks a school’s intake.

Figures are the Department for Education’s official published results for Cardinal Newman Catholic School. Results are suppressed where too few pupils were entered. England figures are the average for state-funded schools. “Top x%” is this school’s position among all schools in England with a published figure for that measure — the DfE does not publish league table rankings.

Source: Compare school and college performance, Department for Education. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Location & catchment area

Indicative catchment Other secondary schools

Indicative only. This is a nearest-school (Voronoi) estimate — the area closer to Cardinal Newman Catholic School than to any other secondary school. Real admissions depend on the school’s own policy (straight-line distance, siblings, faith, feeder schools and available places) and change each year. Always confirm with the school and local authority admissions team.