St Leonard's

Thank you for your interest in St Leonard’s Catholic School. We are a warm, caring and high-achieving school, located in the centre of the historic Cathedral city of Durham. We are part of the Bishop Wilkinson Catholic Education Trust, a family of 48 schools working together for the common good. Our Catholic ethos, high standards of behaviour and love for every member of our school community makes St Leonard’s a special place. 

Over the last few years, our academic performance has gone from strength to strength. At GCSE, we are the third highest performing school in the North-East out of 171 schools. In October 2024 the school was recognised as ‘Outstanding’ in all 5 areas of our inspection and in October 2025 our Catholic Schools Inspection also rated the school as ‘Outstanding’ in all areas. 

The success of the school was recognised in December 2025 when St Leonard’s won three Sunday Times Parent Power Awards for the North-East: State Secondary School of the Year for Academic Excellence; Comprehensive School of the Year; and State Secondary School of the Year.

These achievements are based on our distinct Catholic education of the whole person. Through our traditional academic curriculum, extensive personal development programme and complemented by a huge variety of extra-curricular clubs, sports teams, including our own Rowing Club, we aim to provide many opportunities for our pupils and students to grow into the person God is calling them to be. 

With a new school build on schedule to be completed by Easter 2026, there are exciting times ahead. 

We invite you to explore our website to find out more about ourselves. 

With every best wish.

Chris Hammill,
Headteacher