St Thomas More RC Academy

What St Thomas More RC Academy does

St Thomas More RC Academy (legally St Thomas More Catholic High School) is an 11-18 mixed, converter academy located on Lynn Road in North Shields, Tyne and Wear. It serves approximately 1,700 students across Years 7-13, drawing its intake from the seven Catholic primary schools in the Tynemouth Priory Partnership and the wider North Tyneside area. The school is part of the Bishop Bewick Catholic Education Trust, which it joined in December 2020, and operates under a Local Governing Body chaired by Mrs Salome Bolton with Mr David Watson as Headteacher since December 2020.

The school delivers the National Curriculum within a Catholic ethos, offering a broad secondary programme (English, Maths, Sciences, Humanities, Languages, Creative Arts, Vocational subjects) and a substantial Sixth Form providing both A-Level and applied/vocational qualifications. Core operational technology includes ClassCharts (behaviour management and rewards), Accelerated Reader and Lexia PowerUp (literacy), SchoolCloud (parent evenings), and Google Classroom (communication and homework). Supporting services are unusually broad for a state secondary: a multi-layered pastoral team (Heads of Year, Learning Mentors, School Counsellor, Family Support Worker), a full-time School Chaplain, an SEND department led by two Associate SENDCOs, a CEIAG programme aligned with Gatsby Benchmarks (Skills Builder Bronze Award), and a mental health stack built around The Wellbeing Hub (Teen Tips), Connect Mental Health, and Qwell.

The business model is that of a state-funded English academy: the school is funded primarily through per-pupil grants from the Education Funding Agency, routed via Bishop Bewick Catholic Education Trust, with no commercial revenue model. Catering is provided by Aspens under a cashless meal system with a £3.10 meal deal (effective September 2026). The school does not disclose financial figures. Marketing is conducted through open evenings, transition events for Year 6 students, a termly More Life newsletter, the school website, and SchoolCloud parent consultations, with no paid acquisition channels.

Name

St Thomas More RC Academy

Legal name

St Thomas More Catholic High School

Website

https://stmacademy.org.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2011

Operating status

Operating

Short description

St Thomas More RC Academy is an 11-18 Catholic converter academy in North Shields, England, serving around 1,700 students via the Tynemouth Priory Partnership and Bishop Bewick Catholic Education Trust.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Secondary Education

NAICS

Elementary and Secondary Schools (6111)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Public Alternative, Continuation & Credit-Recovery Schools (EDAJAAAG)

Keywords

• Secondary education
• Sixth form provision
• Catholic education
• Pastoral care services
• SEND support

Headquarters

HQ city

North Shields

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Supply Chain, Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. State Education Funding: Converter academy receiving government funding through the Education Funding Agency. Funding agreements managed at Trust level through Bishop Bewick Catholic Education Trust.
2. Catering Services: Catering provided by Aspens with meal deals at £3.10. Cashless system for school meals.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

St Thomas More RC Academy is a Catholic converter academy delivering secondary education for students aged 11-18 across Years 7-11 and a Sixth Form offering A-Level and applied/vocational qualifications. The school provides a full National Curriculum programme including core subjects, humanities, languages, creative arts, and vocational courses, complemented by pastoral care, SEND support, careers education, chaplaincy, and an extensive extra-curricular programme.

Product overview

St Thomas More Catholic High School is a converter academy serving North Tyneside, part of Bishop Bewick Catholic Education Trust. The school provides secondary education (Years 7-11) and Sixth Form (Years 12-13) for approximately 1700 students. Core educational products include the secondary curriculum spanning core subjects, humanities, languages, and creative arts, alongside a comprehensive Sixth Form offering A-Levels and vocational qualifications. The school differentiates through extensive pastoral care, SEND support services across four specialist areas, a behaviour management system (STRIVE/ClassCharts), mental health & wellbeing provision (including The Wellbeing Hub), chaplaincy services, and a rich extra-curricular programme with over 1200 monthly participations. Technology integration includes ClassCharts for behaviour/rewards, Accelerated Reader and Lexia for literacy, SchoolCloud for parents' evenings, and Google Classroom for communication.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Secondary School Education (Years 7-11) Comprehensive secondary education programme for students in Years 7-11 following the National Curriculum with a Catholic ethos, covering core subjects (English, Maths, Science), humanities (Geography, History, RE), languages (French, German), creative arts (Art, Music, Drama, Technology), and vocational subjects (Business Studies, Health & Social Care).
• Sixth Form (Years 12-13) Post-16 education offering A-Level and applied/vocational qualifications for students aged 16-18, including academic pathways (Art, Business Studies, Computing, English, Geography, History, Languages, Maths, Music, PE, Psychology, Religious Education, Science) and applied courses (Health & Social Care), with dedicated sixth form facilities and pastoral support.
• Careers Education, Information, Advice and Guidance (CEIAG) Careers programme aligned with Gatsby Benchmarks and delivered as part of the North East Ambition Careers Hub, including work experience, employer encounters, and access to the Unifrog platform, holding the Skills Builder Bronze Award.
• School Catering Services School dining services provided by Aspens catering since September 2022, offering a varied range of nutritious meals including street food and world food menu options, with meal deals priced at £3.10 and a cashless payment system.

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration6 records

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Bishop Bewick Catholic Education TrustcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMulti-academy trust governing the school. St Thomas More joined the Bishop Bewick Catholic Education Trust in December 2020. Governance, finance, and policies managed at Trust level.
• Tynemouth Priory PartnershipcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNetwork of Catholic schools including St Thomas More and seven Catholic primary schools. Joint youth ministry and chaplaincy activities. Partnership admissions coordination.
• AspensminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorCatering provider since September 2022. Provides attractive and varied range of healthy, nutritious meals daily. Operates cashless catering system.
• City of Sanctuary UKminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCharity building more welcoming UK for people rebuilding their lives. School recognised as School of Sanctuary, part of network of 1,200+ schools.
• Walking WithminorOthersLocal charity working closely with refugees and asylum seekers helping them settle into local communities, providing food for families.
• St. Oswald's HospiceminorOthersLocal hospice supported through student fundraising activities.
• CAFODminorOthersCatholic Agency for Overseas Development. Supported through student fundraising and chaplaincy community work.
• North East Ambition Careers HubminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCareers education network the school participates in as part of its Gatsby Benchmarks aligned careers programme.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• Sacred Heart Catholic High School, Newcastle upon Tyne: Catholic secondary school in the North East serving a similar faith-based cohort with comparable academic and pastoral provision, directly competing for Catholic families across the Tyneside conurbation.
• Cardinal Hume Catholic School: Catholic 11-18 secondary in Gateshead with a similar converter/academy-style operating model, sharing the same diocesan catchment and competing for the same North East Catholic cohort.
• St Mary's Catholic Comprehensive School, Newcastle upon Tyne: Another Catholic secondary school serving Newcastle/Tyneside families with comparable faith-based admissions criteria and curriculum breadth, directly comparable on intake geography and product.
• St Bede's Catholic School (Bishop Bewick CET): Fellow Catholic secondary within the same Bishop Bewick Catholic Education Trust as St Thomas More; directly comparable on faith-based admissions, Trust-level governance and operational model.

Regional players

• Whitley Bay High School: Non-faith state secondary in North Tyneside with overlapping catchment area; competes with St Thomas More for non-Catholic families and provides the closest geographic alternative.
• John Spence Community High School: Community secondary school in North Shields, the same town as St Thomas More, drawing from the same locality and competing directly for local families outside the Catholic feeder pipeline.
• Marden High School: Secondary school in North Shields with overlapping catchment and a similar 11-16/Post-16 offer; comparable non-faith alternative for Tyneside families.
• Monkseaton High School: Secondary school in North Tyneside with similar size and curriculum scope, competing for the same non-Catholic segment of the local secondary market.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about St Thomas More RC Academy