| Motto | A Christian School for Excellence |
|---|---|
| Established | 1975 |
| Type | Voluntary aided comprehensive |
| Religion | Roman Catholic |
| Headteacher | Mr Paul Gardiner |
| Chair | Mrs Teresa Fitzgerald[1] |
| Specialisms | Sports, English |
| Location | Becket Way Northampton Northamptonshire NN3 6HT England |
| Local authority | Northamptonshire County Council[2] |
| DfE URN | 122100 |
| Ofsted | Reports |
| Students | 1032[3] |
| Gender | Co-educational |
| Ages | 11–18 |
| Publications | The Becket Way, Voice |
| Website | www.thomasbecket.northants.sch.uk |
Thomas Becket Catholic School is a secondary school located in Northampton, Northamptonshire, England.
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The school was founded in 1975 and was named after St Thomas Becket. It was known as Thomas Becket RC Upper School until 2004,[4] when Northampton switched back to the two-tier system.[5]
In 2004, students in Years 7 and 8 had to be located in temporary classrooms on the tennis courts because of the insufficient room in the main building. The school authorities unsuccessfully applied to demolish and rebuild the school. The subsequent application to refurbish and extend the school, however, was accepted.[6]
Upon the completion of the refurbishment, the school revealed plans to include a bar in the proposed £2 million sports complex which would have included half-a-dozen artificial turf pitches, a full sized pitch and state-of-the art floodlights, sparking controversy among local residents.[7] Although permission was granted for the development, the plans were withdrawn by the developer at the end of 2008, in part because of the lack of support.[8]
As of 2008[update] Thomas Becket Catholic School is the only Catholic secondary school in the county.[1]
Most students usually take ten subjects for GCSE, alongside Entry Level Physical Education and PHSE. All pupils must take English (Language and Literature), Double Science, Mathematics, Information Technology, Religious Studies and three other subjects of their choice. A-Level students not taking Religious Studies for A-Level have to take a Level 1 course in it.
Thomas Becket is a Specialist Sports College,[9][10] and also holds Specialist Science status according to Ofsted.[3]
The school's KS3 SATs results were over local and national averages in 2007.[11] Its GCSE performance trend rose above local and national averages to 52% in 2002 before falling to 42% in 2003.[12] In 2008, the pass rate in A-Level results rose from 75% to 91%, with a rise from 34.8% to 41% in the proportion of students getting grades A-C,[13] and the proportion of students getting grades A*-C at GCSE level rose to 48.35%, an increase of 11%, with a 5% increase to 34.62% in Maths and English.[14]
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