The English Martyrs Catholic School and Sixth Form College is a secondary school and sixth form college located in Hartlepool with academy status. English Martyrs (referred to locally as "EMS" and "Martyrs") is the only Catholic secondary school in Hartlepool. The school and college are both located on the same site on Catcote Road, however, a newly built specialist sixth form block provides the majority of A-Level classes, as well as some 11–16 school lessons.

History

St Joseph's Convent School was founded in 1885, and became a direct grant grammar school following the Education Act of 1944. St Francis RC Grammar School was opened in 1956, and two new secondary schools, St Bede's for boys and St Anne's for girls, were opened in 1963. St Peter's secondary modern school opened in King Oswy Drive in 1960 replacing St Bega's school. The school had approximately 200 students and the headmasters were Timothy McCarthy, followed by Robert Garraghan. In 1973, the national policy of Comprehensive education led to all the Catholic secondary schools in the town being merged as the English Martyrs' Comprehensive School. These were St Anne's, St Bede's, St Francis', St Joseph's and St Peter's schools, each of which is represented by a star on the school badge. The new site was the buildings of St Bede's and St Anne's and the St Francis site which was closed down in 1985.

List of previous headmasters

Previous headmasters include:

Statistics

The following statistics are summarised from the following Evening Gazette, Northern Echo and BBC News articles. National averages are given in (italics) after the school's score.

Gazette ratings

Ofsted ratings

Intake

Main school

The majority of secondary school students come from 6 feeder primary schools: • Sacred Heart School • St. Bega's School • St. Cuthbert's school • St. John Vianney's School • St. Joseph's School • St. Teresa's School

Sixth form

Annual school events

Annual awards evening principal guests 1981-2012

A tradition of the school since 1981 where awards are given to students of both the school and sixth form college. Recognition is given to achievement at GCSE, 'A' level and GNVQ levels."

Annual John Bell Lecture

This once-a-year lecture is usually given around March in the school's St Anne's hall. The lecture is in honour of Canon John Bell, the last headmaster of St Francis and the first headmaster of the new English Martyrs school.

Principal guests, school shows and John Bell Lecturers

Notable alumni