We look forward to welcoming guests for our Open Days and Evening (see above). Take a look at the school in our new school video.
What makes a Catholic school distinctive - click, to find out!
Blessed Hugh was judged an "Outstanding Catholic school" by the Diocese of Portsmouth (Catholic Schools' Inspectorate, March 2025) - click to find out how
Blessed Hugh awarded the Association of Character Education "School of Character" award (September 2025).
A Welcome from the Headmaster.
At the time of his trial in 1539, Blessed Hugh, the last Benedictine Abbot of Reading Abbey, gave witness to the importance of "true teaching". True teaching in faith, character, and intellectual formation continue to go hand in hand in our school. What we seek to help develop, in partnership with families, are flourishing young people. Our teaching aims to instil character, as well as convey knowledge, as we are preparing children for a lifetime, not merely for examinations.
Blessed Hugh Faringdon Catholic School is an oversubscribed, high-performing, co-educational school of 1100 students located in West Reading. The school, which includes a thriving Sixth Form, has recently been judged as an outstanding Catholic school by the Catholic school inspectorate (February 2025) and was graded as “Good” once again by Ofsted in 2023 (click below to read the full report).
This year, 2026, we increased our strong progress in English and mathematics, offering our students options at age 16 and leading to this year's year 12 (Sixth Form) being the largest in many years. Post-16, too, saw the highest number of students yet heading off to the top "Russel Group" universities.
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