Catholic schools come top in GCSE RE exam results

Source: CES

Catholic schools' GCSE Religious Education (RE) exam results are the best in the country, according to the latest data.

Analysis by the Catholic Education Service (CES) of GCSE RE attainment for 2022 has shown that results from Catholic schools have overtaken the national average for the exams.

Last year 75.2% of Catholic school RE GCSE candidates scored a C+ or grade 4, compared to 68.3% nationally.

The results at A Level were more comparable, however, with 66.9% achieving A* or B in Catholic schools, compared to 67.7% in all schools.

Just over a quarter (25.6%) of all pupils who sat GCSE RE exams last year were from Catholic schools, while the proportion was 9.8% at A Level.

Across England and Wales there are 2,175 Catholic schools, colleges and academies, which educate more than 849,000 pupils.

This represents 9% of the state sector in England and 6% in Wales.

Philip Robinson, CES RE Adviser, said: "This is good news, and testament to the hard work of RE teachers and students in Catholic education.

"In a society both increasingly secular and religiously pluralistic, RE has an essential role in enabling respectful dialogue on contentious issues like faith and science; refugees and asylum seekers; war and peace."

The CES has recently launched a new RE Directory. For more information see: RE Directory

Catholic schools outperform national GCSE English and Maths averages by five percentage points; 44% of pupils in Catholic schools in England are from an ethnic minority background (national average: 36%); 19.4% of pupils in Catholic primaries are from the most deprived backgrounds (national average: 12.9%); and 17.4% of pupils in Catholic secondaries are from the most deprived backgrounds (national average: 11.6%).

The Catholic Church together with the Church of England accounts for a third of all schools and academies in England, and 98% of all those with a religious character.

There are also four Catholic universities: Leeds Trinity University; Newman University, Birmingham; St Mary's University, Twickenham; and Liverpool Hope University.