Corpus Christi Catholic College, A Voluntary Academy

Academy

Address: Neville Road, Leeds, West Yorkshire, LS9 0TT Unique reference number (URN): 148294

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Safeguarding standards met

The safeguarding standards are met. This means that leaders and/or those responsible for governance and oversight fulfil their specific responsibilities and have established an open culture in which safeguarding is everyone's responsibility and concerns are actively identified, acted upon and managed. As a result, pupils are made safer and feel safe.

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How we evaluate safeguarding

When we inspect schools for safeguarding, they can have the following outcomes:

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How we evaluate safeguarding

Met: The school has an open and positive culture of safeguarding. All legal requirements are met. Not met: The school has not created an open and positive culture of safeguarding. Not all legal requirements are met.

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Attendance and behaviour Expected standard

Leaders work with colleagues from other schools, trusts and organisations to improve standards of behaviour at the school, as well as rates of attendance. As a result, pupils attend school more regularly and behave more appropriately in and out of lessons. While overall rates of attendance still lag behind national averages, there has been a demonstrable and sustained reduction in absences since the time of the previous inspection. Leaders have a greater understanding of the barriers that impact the regular attendance of individual pupils. Furthermore, the systems in place to respond to poor attendance have been strengthened.

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Attendance and behaviour Expected standard

Pupils’ attitudes to learning are positive. Behaviour throughout the school is calmer and better managed than was previously the case. Lessons are generally free of disruption. Bullying, including incidents of discrimination and harassment, are infrequent. When unacceptable incidents do occur, pupils are confident that staff deal with them quickly and effectively. Pupils subject to suspensions are well supported to improve their behaviour. Appropriate staff supervision is in place at breaktimes and lunchtimes to help pupils to feel safe. Pupils, staff and parents all recognise the positive changes to standards of behaviour in recent years.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Leaders have developed several aspects of the school's curriculum since the time of the previous school inspection in 2024. Generally, subject curriculums are now better sequenced. In most subjects, the structure of topics has been reconsidered to help ensure that pupils build a body of knowledge throughout their time at the school. The timings of the school day have also been redesigned, with fewer but longer lessons taking place daily. The majority of staff and pupils appreciate these changes.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

In many subjects, the quality of teaching has also improved. Knowledgeable staff use a range of school-wide, common approaches to teach lessons. This has introduced greater consistency between lessons. Although staff make regular checks on what pupils understand, they do not consistently respond to any gaps in pupils' understanding effectively. This means that learning sometimes moves on before pupils have secured the required knowledge.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

The school has strengthened its approach to supporting weaker readers and improving standards of literacy for all pupils. Much of this work has been successful. Staff generally take appropriate steps to ensure that all pupils are supported to participate in lessons. Pupils in the resourced provision access a modified curriculum that is designed to meet their individual needs.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Leaders have taken sensible steps to act on the improvement priorities identified at the previous school inspection in 2024. Much of this work has improved day-to-day life at the school, such as the work to enhance the school's curriculum and the steps taken to improve standards of behaviour. Likewise, supported by a range of other organisations, leaders have managed to establish improvements in rates of attendance. Although there remains some variation in aspects of the school's provision, notably linked to inclusion and achievement, leaders are fully aware of these matters and have already begun to develop plans to deal with these improvement priorities.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Those with responsibility for governance support leaders well. They provide appropriate challenge and oversight and fulfil their statutory duties in line with expectations. Colleagues from the trust and from the Diocese of Leeds also provide additional scrutiny and support.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Staff enjoy working at the school. They recognise the improvements that have been made in recent times. They feel that leaders consider their workload and wellbeing as they seek to improve the school. Although staff have accessed recent professional learning to support them to develop aspects of their teaching, they have received less support about how to best meet the needs of pupils with additional needs.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Pupils, as well as parents and carers, recognise the improvements at the school. The majority of parents who responded to the inspection survey said that they would now recommend the school to others. This was not the case at the time of the previous inspection.

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Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard

Alongside the developments made to the school's academic curriculum, leaders have also redesigned the school's personal, social, health and economic education programme. Known at Corpus as the ‘character curriculum’, pupils access dedicated lessons that explore a range of important topics. These help to prepare them for their lives as young adults in modern Britain. Pupils learn about the importance of healthy relationships, the dangers of toxic masculinity and gang cultures. Pupils also develop an appropriate understanding of a range of faiths and cultures.

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Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard

The opportunities for pupils to access extra-curricular activities have begun to broaden. Leaders are keen to further widen this offer so that it further aligns with the interests of pupils, while also allowing more pupils, including those who are disadvantaged, to participate. Leadership roles, such as ‘ambassadors’, allow pupils to lead by example, supporting their peers to meet the school’s heightened expectations.

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Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard

The school has a high-quality offer to support pupils’ wellbeing. An enlarged pastoral team provides support for pupils throughout the day. Staff welcome pupils warmly at the start of the day. Pupils have access to a range of appropriate support mechanisms to help them to maintain a positive frame of mind.

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Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard

Across all year groups, pupils are well supported as they begin to think about their next steps in life. For example, the school uses a careers fair to invite employers and post-16 learning providers into the school. Pupils in Year 10 take part in work experience. Leaders arrange individual careers meetings to ensure that pupils are aware of the opportunities

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Needs attention

available to them when they leave the school. This support is further enhanced for those pupils based in the resourced provision.

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Achievement Needs attention

As a result of previous inconsistencies in the curriculum, pupils’ attainment in national examinations at the end of Year 11 has not been as positive as it could be in recent years. The transient nature of some of the school’s population has also impacted the academic outcomes for some pupils. However, the work that the school has done to strengthen teaching in subjects such as English, geography and history is already beginning to show impact in pupils’ examination grades. Elsewhere, for example in examinations taken in mathematics, pupils’ attainment still needs to improve.

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Achievement Needs attention

The school’s work to strengthen pupils’ reading skills and fluency has been proactive and, in many ways, successful. Elsewhere, pupils accessing the resourced provision achieve well from their starting points. However, outside of the resourced provision, pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities do not consistently achieve as well as they could in lessons or examinations.

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Achievement Needs attention

Although pupils are starting to be better prepared for their next steps in education, employment or training, there remain opportunities for this aspect of the school’s work to be strengthened.

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Inclusion Needs attention

The school's work to support pupils who face barriers to their learning is inconsistent. In some cases, staff do not fully know the needs of pupils. In others, there is an inconsistent approach to how leaders identify strategies to help these needs be met. Elsewhere, some of the strategies that staff have identified have not been regularly reviewed. As a result, in some lessons, pupils who speak English as an additional language and those with special educational needs and/or disabilities achieve less well than they could. Leaders are fully aware that this aspect of the school’s work needs strengthening. The plans that new leaders have to respond to this are appropriate.

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Inclusion Needs attention

The school’s wider work to establish an improved culture of inclusivity has been more successful. For example, pupils who access the school's additionally resourced provision receive effective support and make appropriate progress through the curriculum from their starting points. The school works with a range of external agencies to support pupils with other vulnerabilities, such as those known to social care. The school has effective systems for ensuring that pupils attending alternative provision are appropriately placed and checked closely.

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Inclusion Needs attention

While the school's pupil premium is used for a range of well-intended initiatives, leaders’ oversight of this spending is not as precise as it could be.

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What it's like to be a pupil at this school

Pupils enjoy attending Corpus Christi Catholic College. Leaders have made several successful improvements to the school since the previous inspection in 2024. Standards of behaviour have improved rapidly. The culture throughout the school is now calm. Poor behaviour impacts pupils’ learning far less frequently than was previously the case. Bullying happens rarely.

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What it's like to be a pupil at this school

Pupils feel safe at school. An experienced, dedicated and proactive pastoral team works well to respond to incidents when they arise. The relationships that staff have with pupils are excellent. Pupils feel confident speaking to adults about any worries they have. They are equally confident that staff will help resolve matters when they arise. While some pupils continue to attend school less often than they should, overall rates of attendance have improved year-on-year since the previous inspection.

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What it's like to be a pupil at this school

Pupils increasingly enjoy their lessons. The quality of the school's curriculum, in many subjects, has improved. There is greater consistency in the quality of lessons throughout the school. However, pupils’ achievements, both in lessons and in national tests taken at the end of Year 11, are variable. While in English, for example, pupils achieve in line with national averages, this is not currently the case in mathematics.

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What it's like to be a pupil at this school

There are inconsistencies in the effectiveness of the support for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Leaders do not routinely identify strategies to support the needs of pupils with SEND, or share these with staff. As a result, some vulnerable pupils are not as well supported as they could be. Leaders are aware of this and have taken recent steps to begin to strengthen this aspect of the school's work.

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What it's like to be a pupil at this school

Pupils access an appropriate ‘character curriculum’ to help prepare them to live their lives as young adults in modern Britain. While the number of extra-curricular opportunities on offer has increased, there are further opportunities for this aspect of the school's work to be further strengthened.

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Next steps

Leaders should ensure that strategies to meet the needs of pupils facing barriers to their learning, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and those who speak English as an additional language, are identified, shared and regularly reviewed. Leaders should ensure that the adaptations that staff make to support the needs of vulnerable pupils are implemented with precision and checked for impact. Leaders should ensure that where staff identify gaps in pupils’ knowledge and understanding, they act on these promptly and use them to inform future teaching. Leaders should ensure that the changes made to the school’s curriculum are further embedded so that pupils' attainment in external examinations, particularly in mathematics, improves.

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Team inspectors:

Aejaz Laher, Ofsted Inspector John O'Hara, Ofsted Inspector Katrina Gueli, Ofsted Inspector Leaders should continue to prioritise their work to improve the attendance of all pupils, particularly those with SEND and those who are otherwise disadvantaged, while ensuring that these pupil groups benefit further from the extra-curricular opportunities available at the school.

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About this inspection

The school is part of St Gregory The Great Catholic Academy Trust, which means other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school. The trust is run by the chief executive officer (CEO), Peter Hughes, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Shaun Vickers.

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About this inspection

Inspectors carried out this full inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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About this inspection

This inspection took place on 22 and 23 September 2026.

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About this inspection

Following our updated inspection framework, all inspections are now led by His Majesty’s Inspectors (HMIs) or by Ofsted Inspectors (OIs) who have previously served as HMIs.

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About this inspection

Inspectors spoke with the headteacher, other school leaders, class teachers and other staff during the inspection. They visited lessons in the main school and resourced provision. They spoke to pupils and considered the views of pupils and parents and carers, as shared through the inspection survey. The lead inspector met with trustees, a leader from the Diocese of Leeds, as well as colleagues from the trust, including the CEO.

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About this inspection

The school meets the requirements of the provider access legislation, which requires schools to provide pupils in Years 8 and above with information and engagement about approved technical education qualifications and apprenticeships.

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About this inspection

The inspectors confirmed the following information about the school:

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About this inspection

The school includes provision for up to 22 pupils with severe learning difficulties in a specially resourced provision.

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About this inspection

The school currently makes use of 4 alternative provisions, one of which is unregistered.

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Facts and figures used on inspection

This was the data available at the time of the full inspection, taken from different sources . More recent data may have been published since the full inspection took place.

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Facts and figures used on inspection

The inspector(s) used this data during the full inspection on 22 September 2026

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What does this mean?

The total number of pupils currently at this school and how this compares to other schools of this phase in England.

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What does this mean?

The total number of pupils who can attend the school and how this compares to other schools of this phase in England.

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What does this mean?

The proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals at any point in the last 6 years. National average: 30.4%

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What does this mean?

The proportion of pupils with an education, health and care plan. This covers pupils with more support than is available through special educational needs support.

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What does this mean?

The proportion of pupils with reported special educational needs support at the school.

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What does this mean?

Based on the English indices of deprivation (2019) and the school's location, we have calculated whether the school is located in a more or less deprived area.

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What does this mean?

Whether school has Resourced provision or SEND unit (if applicable).

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English and maths GCSE

Percentage of pupils who achieved grade 5 or above in English and maths GCSE.

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Attainment 8

A measure of pupils' point scores across 8 subjects including maths (double weighted), English (double weighted if both language and literature are taken), 3 EBacc measures and 3 GCSE or technical measures.

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Progress 8

How much progress pupils made between the end of primary school (key stage 2) and the end of secondary school (key stage 4), compared to pupils across England who got similar results at the end of key stage 2.

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Disadvantaged pupils' performance

Disadvantaged pupils are those who have been eligible for free school meals at any point in the last six years and children looked after.

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Disadvantaged pupils' English and maths GCSE grade 5 or above

Percentage of disadvantaged pupils achieving grade 5 or above in English and maths GCSE.

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national average

2023/24 (final) 23.5% 25.8% Close to average

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Disadvantaged pupils' Attainment 8

A measure of disadvantaged pupils' point scores across 8 subjects including maths (double weighted), English (double weighted if both language and literature are taken), 3 EBacc measures and 3 GCSE or technical measures.

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national average

2023/24 (final) 30.1 34.6 Close to average

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Disadvantaged pupils' Progress 8

How much progress disadvantaged pupils made between the end of primary school (key stage 2) and the end of secondary school (key stage 4), compared to pupils across England who got similar results at the end of key stage 2.

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Disadvantaged pupils' performance gap

Disadvantaged pupils are those who have been eligible for free school meals at any point in the last six years and children looked after. The school disadvantage gap is the difference between the performance of the school's disadvantaged pupils compared to the performance of all non-disadvantaged pupils nationally.

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Disadvantaged pupils' English and maths GCSE grade 5 or above

Percentage of disadvantaged pupils who achieved grade 5 or above in English and maths GCSE.

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Disadvantaged pupils' Attainment 8

A measure of disadvantaged pupils' point scores across 8 subjects including maths (double weighted), English (double weighted if both language and literature are taken), 3 EBacc measures and 3 GCSE or technical measures.

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Disadvantaged pupils' Progress 8

How much progress disadvantaged pupils made between the end of primary school (key stage 2) and the end of secondary school (key stage 4), compared to pupils across England who got similar results at the end of key stage 2.

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Destinations after 16

Percentage of pupils staying in education or employment for at least 2 terms after the end of secondary school (key stage 4).

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Overall absence

The percentage of all possible mornings and afternoons missed due to absence from school (for whatever reason, whether authorised or unauthorised) across all pupils.

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Persistent absence

The percentage of pupils missing 10% or more of their possible mornings and afternoons.

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Exceptional

Practice is exceptional: of the highest standard nationally. Other schools can learn from it.

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Strong standard

The school reaches a strong standard. Leaders are working above the standard expected of them.

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Expected standard

The school is fulfilling the expected standard of education and/or care. This means they are following the standard set out in statutory and non ‑ statutory legislation and the professional standards expected of them.

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Needs attention

The expected standards are not met but leaders are likely able to make the necessary improvements.

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Urgent improvement

The school needs to make urgent improvements to provide the expected standard of education and/or care. services providing education and skills for children and learners of all ages, and inspects and regulates services that care for children and young people.

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

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