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St Aidan's Catholic Academy
St Aidan's Catholic Academy logo
Secondary

St Aidan's Catholic Academy

Sunderland, United Kingdom
11 Reviews
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Verified Parents
2.1 /5

11 reviews

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Extra Attention Recommended

This school is currently rated below 3 stars based on 11 published reviews. Several reviews raise serious concerns, so parents should carry out extra due diligence before considering it for their child.

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About St Aidan's Catholic Academy

St Aidan's Catholic Academy is a secondary school that provides a caring and positive environment for its students. It has a strong ethos rooted in Gospel values and aims to educate boys to make a meaningful impact on the world. The school has a history dating back to 1928 and has undergone several changes over the years.

Photos of St Aidan's Catholic Academy 12

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Key Facts

Founded 1928
Students 1,000

Rating Breakdown

Based on published reviews
Safety & Security 3.0
Teaching Quality 2.8
Communication 2.9
Student Wellbeing 2.8
Facilities 2.7

Parent Survey

Official Ofsted Parent View data • 96 responses • 9.7% response rate

View on Ofsted

My child is happy at this school

97.9% positive 2% negative

My child feels safe at this school

98% positive 1% negative

The school makes sure its pupils are well behaved

96.8% positive 2.1% negative

The school has high expectations for my child

98% positive 2.1% negative

My child does well at this school

95.9% positive 2% negative

I would recommend this school to another parent

Data from Ofsted Parent View as of September 2025. Based on 96 parent responses to the official Ofsted survey.

School Workforce

Teacher and staff information • 2024-2025

Note: These figures are estimated based on national averages. Actual school-level data not yet available.
17.0:1
Pupil-Teacher Ratio
Excellent
58.4
Teachers (FTE)

Estimated workforce data based on GIAS enrollment and national average ratios. Academic year 2024-2025.

Secondary School Results (Key Stage 4)

Exam performance data • 2023-2024

51.5
Attainment 8
Average grade across 8 subjects
+0.37
Progress 8
Above average
54.9%
English & Maths 9-5
Strong pass in both
70.6%
English & Maths 9-4
Standard pass in both

Additional Information

76.5% entered EBacc
46.4% achieved EBacc
153 pupils in cohort

Data from DfE Performance Tables for academic year 2023-2024. Published January 2024. View full performance tables

Reviews 11

P
Parent
Parent May 21, 2025
1.0

"Gay hobo catholics"

Tighten Ur assholes it's recreational time invites only
Safety & Wellbeing 2/5
Teaching & Learning 1/5
Communication 1/5
Mental & Emotional Wellbeing 1/5
Facilities 1/5
P
Parent
Parent Feb 9, 2025
1.0

"Dogshit catholic school in Sunderland, who'd thought"

this place was a real eye opener for the sham that is the catholic religion in bed with the communists. they have preference on autistic over intelligent students and will happily fob off students who deserve to be supported, all for the bums on seats because that's how it works if your part of a religion no gives a fiddle about in your region.

They had there little trail of sweets laid out
When I was here, the people who ran math and english were honestly muppets theres photos of some online, they look like fucking tossers there as well.

really no career advice or support into post education, it's a breeding ground for resentment as you will realise after they decide to just abandon you over other students, from catholic families.

It's a shame we arn't in the middle ages as I would gladly gut a few myself
Safety & Wellbeing 2/5
Teaching & Learning 1/5
Communication 1/5
Mental & Emotional Wellbeing 5/5
Facilities 2/5
P
Parent
Parent Sep 22, 2023
3.0

"St Aidan's 6th Form"

The way I felt at this school was summed up by the words of a late actor "I used to think the worst thing in life was being alone but now I realise it's being in a room full of people who make you feel alone".

There are many good teachers at St Aidan's and St Anthony's Sixth Form and as a kid with special needs many have gone above and beyond to try and help me within their limitations and I will always be grateful for that.

The thing I found hardest at St Aidan's a St Anthony's was the lack of extra classroom help. I really struggled. Then there were the lack of online lessons during covid and my exam year in spite of promises of great things and newsletters which made out that we'd had great online learning during covid. It's like the tale of The Emperor's New Clothes". Just because you tell a lie lots of times, it doesn't eventually make it true.

The worst thing is that St Aidan's worship at the altar of academic success and vanity and anyone who doesn't match up to this is left to their own devices. Careers advice non existent. We were palmed off with an Art Teacher who gave us zero help. At least the Head Of Sixth Form helped me with my UCAS Statement.

Btecs are rubbish. Please don't believe them when they give you all the Schtick about how great they are. You may, like me, go to a Uni Open Day at Sunderland, mention Btecs, and the invisible wall comes down immediately and they say "Oh.........Btecs". And there is the faint sound of another door closing somewhere. Plus I nearly got mugged by a druggie chav near the Uni Metro when I left for the day. A man walked up to me and unzipped my rucksack and started rummaging through it. Don't expect any help. The students here walk right past you even though you have a disability lanyard on. I hit him with my physics book and ran.

The teachers in the main are good people who will be great if you are academically minded. If you are average, forget it. The outdoor environment is nice enough. Can't comment on the food as I took my own lunch but put it this way the students have a tiny common room with a kettle and micro and the Teachers have a huge, posh room at The Briary with a vending machine. Some of the students had to sit on each others knees as there weren't enough chairs.

In terms of keeping you safe they were consistently excellent and my Mum had lots of praise for St Aidan's in that regard. I'm sure the activities were good but I never wanted to join in so can't comment.
Safety & Wellbeing 5/5
Teaching & Learning 3/5
Communication 4/5
Mental & Emotional Wellbeing 3/5
Facilities 2/5
P
Parent
Parent Apr 23, 2023
1.0

"St aidans"

This school is bad in summary anything done slightly against the ‘core values’ aka the main scapegoat of every detention will result in a 30 minute detention any question of the detention will result in another 30 minute detention after 3 you are put in the iss and have an 1 hour detention in the iss the teachers can give more detentions resulting in upwards of 1 30 detentions
Safety & Wellbeing 1/5
Teaching & Learning 3/5
Communication 2/5
Mental & Emotional Wellbeing 1/5
Facilities 1/5
E
Emily J
Parent Feb 10, 2023
5.0

"Outstanding Leadership and Values"

I'm so impressed with the leadership and values at St Aidan's. My son is thriving in the caring environment and the staff are always approachable. The recent Ofsted report just confirms what I already knew - this is an exceptional school!
Safety & Wellbeing 5/5
Teaching & Learning 4/5
Communication 5/5
Mental & Emotional Wellbeing 4/5
Facilities 5/5
P
Parent
Parent Jan 9, 2023
1.0

"Overrated "

Teachers scream at anything you do and give pointless detentions the headteacher who nobody likes btw screamed at y9 and 10 students after school for not walking on the right side of a coridoor which made people late for the bus and had 0 sympathy off it all the slt crew also obey him and are slaves for him in isolation or basecamp which is what them call it you also need to put ya phone in a safe which doesn’t sound very legal
Safety & Wellbeing 3/5
Teaching & Learning 1/5
Communication 4/5
Mental & Emotional Wellbeing 1/5
Facilities 2/5
D
David P
Parent Sep 15, 2022
5.0

"A School that Truly Cares"

I have two sons who attended St Aidan's and I couldn't be prouder of the young men they've become. The school's focus on servant leadership and the importance of prayer and liturgy really helped shape their values. A truly outstanding school!
Safety & Wellbeing 5/5
Teaching & Learning 5/5
Communication 5/5
Mental & Emotional Wellbeing 5/5
Facilities 5/5
S
Sarah K
Parent Jun 20, 2022
4.0

"Mixed Feelings"

I've had a bit of a mixed experience with St Aidan's so far. My son is enjoying the Scafell Pike trip and the Arbor Parent Portal is really helpful, but I do find the communication from the school to be a bit patchy at times.
Safety & Wellbeing 3/5
Teaching & Learning 4/5
Communication 3/5
Mental & Emotional Wellbeing 4/5
Facilities 4/5
P
Parent
Parent Feb 16, 2022
5.0

"love maths"

my maths teacher is absolutely banging
Safety & Wellbeing 1/5
Teaching & Learning 5/5
Communication 1/5
Mental & Emotional Wellbeing 1/5
Facilities 1/5
P
Parent
Parent May 16, 2021
1.0

"Despicable behavior of staff"

This school is literally torture.the teachers all have superiority complexes and enjoy giving students detentions for existing. The head teacher **** ********* has made it so you can not ask why you have been given sanctions until after it is too late to do anything to take the sanctions off after they have been put on.this school is nit worth the hype it has gained and the teachers don't know how to control a class room or even have common decency with students. I have seen several teachers say things such as " you have issues" or "are you disabled " to students behavior which is completely unacceptable.
Safety & Wellbeing 3/5
Teaching & Learning 1/5
Communication 3/5
Mental & Emotional Wellbeing 3/5
Facilities 4/5
P
Parent
Parent Sep 25, 2020
5.0

"Best Sunderland school"

Amazing and friendly
Safety & Wellbeing 5/5
Teaching & Learning 5/5
Communication 5/5
Mental & Emotional Wellbeing 5/5
Facilities 5/5

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