Cardinal Newman Catholic School is a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

Academy An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

that caters for pupils aged between 11 and 18, located in the Warden Hills area of

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated ''Beds'') is a Ceremonial County, ceremonial county in the East of England. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Hertfordshire to the south and the south-east, and Buckin ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. Opened in September 1968, the current head is Mark McLaughlin, with the deputy heads being Miss C Daly and Mr D Martin. There are currently over 1600 students on roll. The school is named after a cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church,

John Henry Newman John Henry Newman (21 February 1801 – 11 August 1890) was an English Catholic theologian, academic, philosopher, historian, writer, and poet. He was previously an Anglican priest and after his conversion became a cardinal. He was an ...

. As the only Roman Catholic secondary school in the whole of Luton, the school is constantly oversubscribed with over 400 applicants yearly, yet with 270 places to offer. Cardinal Newman was the only secondary school in Luton to have its own

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

until 2011 when Stockwood Park Academy (then Barnfield South Academy) launched a sixth form. Its sixth form has over 150 places to offer students from both inside and outside the school.

Specialisms and academy status

The school has previously acquired Specialist Science Status with

Science Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...

. This award has given the school funding to build and complete a new sixth form and science block extension, install a new computer and server network across the whole school, install brand new equipment including

SMART Boards Smart Technologies (styled as SMART Technologies) is a Canadian company headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, Canada and wholly owned by Foxconn. Founded in 1987, SMART is best known as the developer of interactive whiteboards branded as the "Smar ...

in many classrooms, purchase new equipment in many departments, especially in maths and science and the renovation of certain areas of the school site including the PE block. Despite the specialist schools programme ending, the school continues to offer science as specialisms. Previously a

voluntary aided school A voluntary aided school (VA school) is a state-funded school in England and Wales in which a foundation or trust (usually a religious organisation) contributes to building costs and has a substantial influence in the running of the school. In m ...

, in September 2015 Cardinal Newman Catholic School converted to academy status.

Ofsted report

Its last

Ofsted The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) is a non-ministerial department of His Majesty's government, reporting to Parliament. Ofsted's role is to make sure that organisations providing education, training ...

report gave the school excellent feedback, including talking about the 'good quality of the teaching in lessons' and the 'very good management and leadership in the school'. Main areas for improvement included the ICT provision and the induction process of new students. These areas and others, are currently being addressed and substantially improved with the help of funding and support from the

feeder schools A college-preparatory school (often shortened to prep school, preparatory school, college prep school or college prep academy) is a type of secondary school. The term refers to public, private independent or parochial schools primarily design ...

and the

board of governors A board of directors is a governing body that supervises the activities of a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government agency. The powers, duties, and responsibilities of a board of directors are determined by government regulations ...

Notable former pupils

There have been several famous people that have attended Cardinal Newman and this includes: *

Janoi Donacien Janoi Denzil Naieme Donacien (born 3 November 1993) is a Saint Lucian professional footballer who plays as a defender for club Chesterfield, and represents the Saint Lucia national team. A versatile player, he is capable of playing at full-b ...

, left back at

Accrington Stanley F.C. Accrington Stanley Football Club is a professional association football club based in Accrington, Lancashire, England, that compete in the , the fourth level of the English football league system. They have spent their entire history playing a ...

, and ex-footballer at

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...

* Cliff McNish, author *

Kevin Blackwell Kevin Patrick Blackwell (born 21 December 1958) is an English professional football manager, executive and former player who is currently the technical director of Ekstraklasa club Lechia Gdańsk. Playing career Blackwell was born in Luton an ...

, ex Luton Town Football Club manager *

Kingsley Black Kingsley Terence Black (born 22 June 1968) is a former professional footballer who played as a midfielder from 1987 until 2002. He notably featured in the Premier League for Nottingham Forest, and also had spells with Luton Town and Grimsby T ...

, ex Luton Town Football Club player *

Gary Doherty Gary Michael Thomas Doherty (born 31 January 1980) is an Irish former professional footballer who played as a defender, having previously also played as a forward. He gained international honours for the Republic of Ireland. He began his caree ...

has played for

Tottenham Hotspur F.C. Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

and is currently at

Charlton Athletic F.C. Charlton Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Charlton, London, Charlton, south-east London, England. The team compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Thei ...

football club * Kevin Foley, footballer *

Liam George Liam Brendan George (born 2 February 1979) is a footballer who plays for Barton Rovers on a part-time basis, having signed for them in 2010. Born in England, he represented the Republic of Ireland in the Under 18 European Youth Championship. C ...

, footballer *

Keith Keane Keith Francis Keane (born 20 November 1986) is a professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for The 61 FC (Luton). He is a former academy player who graduated from the youth ranks at Luton Town. A versatile footballer, Keane played in ev ...

, currently plays for Preston North End Football Club * Conor Travers, the youngest ''

Countdown A countdown is a sequence of backward counting to indicate the time remaining before an event is scheduled to occur. NASA commonly employs the terms "L-minus" and "T-minus" during the preparation for and anticipation of a rocket launch, and eve ...

'' champion winning at the age of 14 years studied for his

GCSE The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a range of subjects taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, having been introduced in September 1986 and its first exams taken in 1988. State schools ...

s and then moved to do his

A Level The A-level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational ...

s at

Luton Sixth Form College Luton Sixth Form College is a sixth form college in the Barnfield, Luton, Barnfield area of Luton, Bedfordshire, England. History In 1904 Luton Council acquired the Modern School, which was a mixed-sex secondary school. This school moved into ...

References

External links

Official website

Ofsted inspection results

School profile on BBC News
{{Authority control Secondary schools in Luton Further education in Luton Educational institutions established in 1968 Catholic secondary schools in the Diocese of Northampton 1968 establishments in England Academies in Luton