St Leonard’s Catholic School in Durham is delighted to announce that it has been named State Secondary School of the Year in the north east, State Secondary School of the Year for Academic Excellence, and Comprehensive School of the Year in The Sunday Times Parent Power Guide 2026.
The prestigious national guide, widely regarded as the UK’s most authoritative assessment of school performance, recognises excellence across more than 2,000 state and independent schools.
The recognition marks a significant moment for the school community and to win all three awards is very unusual and speaks very powerfully about the strength of St Leonard’s community. The awards recognise the strength of external examination results at both GCSE and A Level along with the very strong extra-curricular life of the school and individualised support for post-18 progression. The award follows two very positive external inspections of the school, the first by Ofsted in October 2024 which recognised all areas of school life as ‘Outstanding’ and a second Catholic Schools Inspection in October 2025 which also graded the school ‘Outstanding’ in all areas.
Headteacher, Chris Hammill said: “Credit for these awards belongs to our entire community of families, pupils, teachers, support staff and governors. We are blessed to have such supportive families, and we would not have won these awards without their support. The awards recognise the incredible results of our students at A Level and GCSE as well as our equally strong enrichment offer and work in the wider community. All our work is underpinned by our core mission and belief that ‘all pupils are known and loved’ and this remains our constant focus for each and every pupil in our school.”
St Leonard’s is part of the Bishop Wilkinson Catholic Education Trust, which supports and partners with five secondary schools, one middle school, one first school and forty-one primary schools across the north east. This equates to more than 2,000 staff and 16,000 pupils making it the largest Multi-Academy Trust throughout the region.
Lucie Stephenson, Acting CEO of Bishop Wilkinson Catholic Education Trust, said: “This is a remarkable accomplishment for St Leonard’s and a testament to the professionalism, dedication and commitment of the entire school community. The leadership, staff, students and families have demonstrated outstanding focus and teamwork, and these awards recognise their achievements. We are enormously proud of St Leonard’s and delighted to see the school celebrated at a national level.”
Helen Davies, editor of The Sunday Times Parent Power Guide, said: “The educational landscape is testing. But there is also so much to celebrate from the dedication of teachers who are finding ever more innovative and impactful ways to enrich their students and give them the very best start in life.
“As well as celebrating the academic excellence of the top schools it is uplifting to see how they are shaping their students to be ready for the 21st century, and instilling a lifelong love of learning.”
The Sunday Times Parent Power guide evaluates schools using detailed analysis of academic results and provides a fully searchable database for parents. Awards are judged on year-on-year performance alongside rigorous editorial assessment.
Congratulations to all involved.
