St Paul's Catholic College is a mixed-sex

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 ...

secondary school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...

and

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 ...

located in

Burgess Hill Burgess Hill () is a town and civil parish in West Sussex, England, close to the border with East Sussex, on the edge of the South Downs National Park, south of London, north of Brighton and Hove, and northeast of the county town, Chichester. ...

West Sussex West Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Surrey to the north, East Sussex to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Hampshire to the west. The largest settlement is Cr ...

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History

St Pauls geograph-5591152-by-Chris-Thomas-Atkin

The College first opened on 9 September 1963 as a modern secondary school serving the Mid-Sussex area. It was originally situated in the nearby town of

Haywards Heath Haywards Heath ( ) is a town in West Sussex, England, south of London, north of Brighton, south of Gatwick Airport and northeast of the county town, Chichester. Nearby towns include Burgess Hill to the southwest, Horsham to the northwest, ...

but relocated to its current site at the northwestern edge of Burgess Hill in September 2004. In April 2013, the College was appointed as a National Teaching School and National Support School by the Department for Education. The school had around 1,850 students in 2014. 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 ...

administered by

West Sussex County Council West Sussex County Council is the upper tier local authority for the non-metropolitan county of West Sussex in England. The county also contains seven district and borough councils, and 158 town, parish and neighbourhood councils. The county c ...

, in January 2022 St Paul's Catholic College converted to academy status. It is now sponsored by the Bosco Catholic Education Trust and continues to be under the jurisdiction of the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Arundel and Brighton The Roman Catholic Diocese of Arundel and Brighton () is a diocese in southern England covering the counties of Sussex and Surrey (excluding Borough of Spelthorne, Spelthorne, which is part of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Westminster, Diocese of ...

Organisation

The college accepts children from the age of eleven through eighteen. There are six houses in the school: Athens, Corinth, Valletta, Damascus, Lystra, and Rome. The school has expanded the role of

e-learning Educational technology (commonly abbreviated as edutech, or edtech) is the combined use of computer hardware, software, and educational theory and practice to facilitate learning and teaching. When referred to with its abbreviation, "EdTech" ...

in the classroom, as well as being a fair-trade school, encouraging student support for both local and international good causes.

Accolades

Results in GCSE, A-levels, and the college has been named consistently within the highest performing secondary schools nationally. St Paul's was graded as 'outstanding' by

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 ...

in 2007, 2008, and 2011, 2019 and 2023. In 2019, it was graded as 'outstanding' in the Catholic School (Section 48) inspection by the diocese which evaluates the quality of Catholic education and the spiritual life of the school.

References

External links

St Paul's Catholic College WebsiteSt Paul's Catholic College Sixth Form WebsiteBosco Catholic Education TrustSt Paul's VLEInspire Teaching School Alliance
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Paul's Catholic College Catholic secondary schools in the Diocese of Arundel and Brighton Educational institutions established in 1963 1963 establishments in England Burgess Hill Secondary schools in West Sussex Academies in West Sussex