Bishop Ullathorne RC School was established in

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its ...

, England, in 1953 and in 2006 it was awarded specialist status as a Humanities College. The school is named after

William Bernard Ullathorne William Bernard Ullathorne (7 May 180621 March 1889) was an English prelate who held high offices in the Roman Catholic Church during the nineteenth century. Early life Ullathorne was born in Pocklington, East Riding of Yorkshire, the eldest of ...

(1806-1889), the first Roman Catholic

Bishop of Birmingham A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

. Initially the school had three separate parts; a boys' secondary modern school, a girls' secondary modern school and a grammar school. In 1968 these formed the core of the current comprehensive school, each of the three separate parts being initially identified as the Lower School, the Middle School and the Upper School. The grammar school later became the home of the Coventry Centre for the Performing Arts before being sold to

Bovis Homes Vistry Group, formerly Bovis Homes Group, is a British house-building company based in Kings Hill, England. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. History Vistry Group was the result of a 2019 me ...

who built a housing estate on the land. The two remaining buildings were re-dubbed 'A Block' and 'B Block' after the sale of the grammar school and the previously empty space between them was built on to form a single building. This area is now a passage for staff and allows quick movement between the two structures, with students only being allowed access during heavy rainstorms or with special permission.

Academics

The school currently has approximately 970 pupils, and includes a sixth form college. Bishop Ullathorne School has a good academic record and in 2012-13 91% of GCSE students gained 5 A*-C passes. At A Level, 72% of students achieved 3 A-C passes in 2012-2013. Students come from a wide range of backgrounds as the school draws in Catholics from around the city. Around a third of students are eligible for free school meals and 17% learn English as a second language. It is consistently ranked within the top 10 schools in Coventry in local league tables.

Sport

Although relatively small, the school has a rich history in sport, football, gymnastics, cross country and rugby. The school has won many Coventry Schools cups in football as well as winning the West Midlands Schools Cup. In the past five years the school has been in ''The Coventry Evening'' Telegraph Cup final four times, winning it three times. A special win came in 2006 when it was the first final to be played at The Ricoh Arena, resulting in a 3-0 victory.

Rivals

Finham Park Secondary School and Bishop Ullathorne are in close proximity to one another. The main gates of Bishop Ullathorne RC School are off Leasowes Avenue at the bottom of Moat Avenue, off the Kenpas Highway ( A45).

Finham Park School Finham Park School is a secondary school and sixth form with Academy (English school), academy status. It is situated on Green Lane in Finham, Coventry, England. In September 2003, it became the first Mathematics and Computing College in Covent ...

, with main gains on Green Lane, is close by as the crow flies, but it is on the other side of the Coventry to

Kenilworth Kenilworth ( ) is a market town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Warwick (district), Warwick District in Warwickshire, England, south-west of Coventry, north of Warwick and north-west of London. It lies on Finham Brook, a ...

railway line. The school gates of the two schools are 10–15 minutes walking distance apart, as there is no direct access across the railway line.

Feeder Primary Schools

*All Souls',

Chapelfields Chapelfields (also written Chapel Fields) is a suburb of Coventry, West Midlands, England. It is situated about 1.5 miles to the west of Coventry City Centre; bordering Coundon to the north, Earlsdon to the south, Spon End to the east and W ...

*Our Lady of The Assumption,

Tile Hill Tile Hill is a suburb in the west of Coventry, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It is mostly residential and partly industrial, with some common land and wooded areas. Tile Hill railway station is located on the West Coast Main L ...

*St Anne's,

Willenhall Willenhall is a market town situated in the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, in the West Midlands, England, with a population taken at the 2011 census of 28,480. It is situated between Wolverhampton and Walsall, historically in the county of St ...

*St John Vianney,

Mount Nod Eastern Green is a mainly residential suburb in the far west of Coventry, England, and was formerly a village in Warwickshire. Its most western area is Upper Eastern Green and the eastern area is Lower Eastern Green, though residents generally d ...

*St Mary and St Benedict Catholic School,

Hillfields Hillfields is a suburb of Coventry in the West Midlands of England. It is situated north of Coventry city centre, and has undergone a series of name changes throughout its history originally called "Harnall" and has seen itself change from a v ...

*St Thomas More,

Stivichall Stivichall or Styvechale ( ) is a suburb of the city of Coventry, West Midlands, England. It is a mainly residential area in the south of the city. Geography Stivichall is a mainly residential area of south Coventry astride the Leamington Road. ...

Former pupils

* Andrew Campbell (academic), Computer scientist *

Cathy Cassidy Cathy Cassidy (born 13 June 1962) is an English author of young adult fiction. She was born in Coventry, Warwickshire. For a number of years she lived near New Galloway in Scotland where she started writing her novels, but has since returned to ...

- children's author *

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- MP for Wakefield (

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) *

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- Team GB Bobsleigh Team *

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- former

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for the North West of England (

) *

Gary McSheffrey Gary McSheffrey (born 13 August 1982) is an English football manager and former player who was most recently manager of club Doncaster Rovers. As a player he was a striker and left winger who made more than 450 appearances in the Football Le ...

- footballer * Air Chief Marshal Sir Christopher Moran *

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Nuneaton Town F.C. Nuneaton Borough Football Club is an English football club that is based in Nuneaton, Warwickshire. The men's 1st team competes in the , the seventh tier of English football. In 1889, Nuneaton St. Nicholas FC was the first team in Nuneaton to ...

player

References

{{authority control Secondary schools in Coventry Catholic secondary schools in the Archdiocese of Birmingham Academies in Coventry