St Bede's Catholic School and Sixth Form College is a

coeducational Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to ...

secondary school and

sixth form In the education systems of England, Northern Ireland, Wales, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and some other Commonwealth countries, sixth form represents the final two years of secondary education, ages 16 to 18. Pupils typically prepare for A-l ...

with academy status, located in Lanchester, County Durham, England. It has a main block, a language block, a technology/music block, the sixth form block, two fields, tennis/basketball court and an astroturf. On 1 June 2012, the school converted from secondary to academy, giving it independence from the local authority. The school is currently owned and operated by Bishop Wilkinson Catholic Education Trust, and has been fully integrated since mid-2020. The school opened its new sixth-form centre in November 2007 following a £5 million refurbishment, which included construction work on the new building and rebuilding science laboratories. Sir

Tom Cowie Sir Thomas Cowie (9 September 1922 – 18 January 2012) was an English businessman who was the honorary Life President of the Arriva Group, formerly known as Cowie Group plc. Career Cowie Group Cowie's father, Thomas Stephenson Knowles Cowie ...

, who lived in Lanchester, donated £500,000 to the project, which was named in his honour. St Bede's is frequently cited as the top-performing school in County Durham.

Notable former pupils

Peter Dunphy Peter Gerard Dunphy (born June 1966) is a City of London Councillor for the ward of Cornhill, film producer and former staffing business CEO. Early life Peter Gerard Dunphy was born in 1966 in Consett, County Durham, England and educated at St ...

, film producer and politician *

Anne McElvoy Anne McElvoy (born 25 June 1965) is a British journalist, contributing to ''The Economist'', London ''Evening Standard'', and the BBC. Early life McElvoy attended St Bede's RC Comprehensive School in Lanchester, County Durham, and read German ...

, journalist

References

External links

School website
Secondary schools in County Durham Catholic secondary schools in the Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle Academies in County Durham Lanchester, County Durham {{CountyDurham-school-stub