Welcome to the Herald’s first comprehensive guide to the best Catholic independent education in the UK – with over 80 schools. We have tried to give you a feel of each school, while also providing information such as location, ethos, school fees and the inside track on the headmaster or headmistress.

We have also designated our Top Ten senior schools by taking into account a variety of factors including academic performance and pastoral care, as well as to what extent the schools turn out well-rounded Catholics as opposed to just high exam achievers. Whereas in the past Catholic independent schools did not always do well academically compared to others, this is slowly changing. Ten per cent of 2022 leavers from Mayfield School, for example, have won places at Cambridge University this year. Another school notably on the up (though not in the Top Ten) is Our Lady’s Abingdon in Oxfordshire which also gets excellent results, thanks to new headmaster Daniel Gibbons, previously deputy head of Downside, who is emerging as a leading headmaster to watch who delivers both academically and spiritually. Certainly academic excellence is not everything and too much focus on exam success can mean pupils find it difficult to cope. Mental wellbeing must also be a priority.