YEAR 7 PROSPECTUS THE CARDINAL VAUGHAN MEMORIAL SCHOOL
CONTENTS 01
Welcome Headmaster's Message
07
Extra-curricular Outside the classroom
02
Amare et Servire Ethos & Vision for the School
08
Next Steps Beyond the Vaughan
03
Ofsted Report 2026 Report
09
Visit the Vaughan Key Dates & Information
04
Catholic Life Love & service
10
Admissions How to apply
05
Life at the Vaughan Gallery
11
Contact Information Address & Number
06
Curriculum Key Stage 3 & Key Stage 4
WELCOME I am very pleased to welcome you to The Cardinal Vaughan Memorial School. It is a privilege to lead this wonderful community and I am very proud of the many achievements you will find described in these pages. The Cardinal Vaughan Memorial School is an academy in the Saint John Southworth Catholic Academy Trust; it has a strong Catholic ethos, a pan-London comprehensive intake, a strong regard for good behaviour, self-discipline and self-improvement among its pupils, whatever their background or ability, and a tradition of outstanding academic outcomes. At the heart of the School lies our Catholic ethos, which underpins everything we do and provides an invaluable unity of purpose. Quite simply, our principal role is to participate in the apostolic mission of the Church and support the pupils in understanding and exemplifying their faith through our commitment to Catholic Social Teaching. This is best expressed in the words of Cardinal Manning: we seek ‘the formation of the whole person: intellect, heart, will, character and soul.’ Our purpose is to make this ideal a reality. To do this we identify and retain the best of the old and integrate this with the best of the new, so that the foundations on which our pupils’ development is built are strong and lasting, be it spiritual, social, moral, academic or sporting. In all this, I believe, we are successful, as the many achievements on this website show and I am very proud of the pupils’ and staff’s dedication to making this a truly unique and happy school.
Aaron Cosgrove Headmaster
1
AMARE ET SERVIRE
The Cardinal Vaughan Memorial School is an academy in the Archdiocese of Westminster. The School has a strong Catholic ethos, a pan-London intake, a tradition of outstanding academic outcomes and a strong regard for good behaviour, self-discipline and self-improvement among its pupils. The purpose of the School is best expressed in the words of Cardinal Manning, which appear in the preamble to our Mission Statement: we seek ‘the formation of the whole person: intellect, heart, will, character and soul.’ At a fundamental level, then, our vision for what this Catholic school should (and can) achieve is in a sense pre-packaged. Our aim is to make this ideal a reality. We aim to preserve these unchanging ideals in the context of a rapidly changing world. We want the school to be progressive in the truest sense; in other words, we must identify and retain the best of the old and graft this to the best of the new, so that the foundations on which our pupils’ progress is built are strong and lasting. This, in practice, will entail a remorseless focus on tailoring our practice to suit the multifold needs of our pupils, whatever their ability, so that their development – be it academic, spiritual, social, moral, sporting or aesthetic – is as firmly embedded and lasting as possible. This will require a blend of intellectual coherence, intelligent recalibration of existing good practice to ensure lasting improvement, energetic action and systematic monitoring to ensure that the needs of a changing intake are constantly met. For the whole school community, it demands (and, hopefully, entails) unity of purpose.
2
2026 OFSTED REPORT
The School’s most recent OFSTED inspection took place in 2026. We are incredibly proud to have received four Exceptional judgements and three Strong Standard judgements. This achievement reflects the dedication, hard work and commitment of our pupils, staff and governors. We would also like to thank our parents and carers for their continued support. Scan the QR code below to read the 2026 OFSTED report.
3
CATHOLIC LIFE
We are a Catholic community,
At Cardinal Vaughan, our school motto is Amare et Servire, so love
committed
Mission
and service are key elements of the School ethos. We encourage our
Statement to the vision of the
pupils to accept leadership roles and demonstrate love and service in
in
our
School as a spiritual building whose cornerstone is Christ and whose foundations are the Apostles and Prophets. It follows that our community
action to ensure that the Catholic school ethos is carried across all areas of school life. "This outstanding Catholic school is committed to the formation of
must be one of love, all of
the human person, as evidenced by the comprehensive enrichment
whose members honour the
programme that supports the taught curriculum.”
Christ
Catholic Schools Inspectorate, 2024
they
find
in
one
another. "Cardinal Each person in the School, no matter what his or her worldly status, deserves to be treated with the respect and, indeed, reverence due to one created in
the
image
redeemed
by
of the
Blood of Jesus Christ.
4
God
and
Precious
Vaughan
offers
young
people
a
first-class
Catholic
education and a wonderful preparation for later life. Our leavers go on to a wide variety of top universities and carry with them impressive personal qualities which ensure that they are equipped to continue developing as Catholics in an increasingly complex world: I am proud that we encourage our pupils to regard their faith as a gift to be actively nurtured rather than passively received." Aaron Cosgrove, Headmaster
LIFE AT THE VAUGHAN
5
CURRICULUM
The
Cardinal
Vaughan
Key Stage Three
is
highly
The School follows a two-year key stage three curriculum. Boys study
acclaimed for its outstanding
a wide and varied repertoire of subjects, giving them a solid
academic results. In addition,
grounding in many areas. All talents and interests are catered for as
we
are the widely varied abilities of our pupils.
Memorial
School
encourage
pupils
to
develop their own interests and achieve far more than just
Class sizes vary according to the ability of the boys with the less able
examination success.
taught in smaller groups. Practical subjects (Art, Music and Design Technology) are taught in smaller classes to allow for the individual
The
many
opportunities
to
attention these subjects require.
excel, both within and beyond the
classroom,
an
All pupils study Religious Education and the core and foundation
in
which
every
subjects of the National Curriculum. More information about the
can
develop
their
National Curriculum can be found on the Government website.
environment individual
provide
talents to the full. Key Stage Four The School regards the regular
At KS4, pupils have the opportunity to focus on the subjects which
performance of homework as
appeal to them most while also developing their knowledge and
being of the first importance
understanding of the core curriculum essential to all. We are one of
and pupils adhere to a daily
fewer than 3% of state schools to offer Classics, Greek and Latin at
homework schedule.
GCSE.
6
EXAM RESULTS
Congratulations to all our pupils who sat public exams this year, we are very proud of their efforts and they deserve much credit for their achievements. Well done!
A-Level Results 2026 Grades
CVMS Results
National Average
A* - A
50.1%
28.5%
A* - B
80.1%
55.8%
A* - C
92.8%
78.4%
Grades
CVMS Results
National Average for Boys
9-8
32.9 %
10.9%
9-7
52%
19.5%
9-5
82.4%
48.8%
9-4
90.9%
64.2%
GCSE Results 2026
6
EXTRA-CURRICULAR
Cardinal Vaughan has an extensive programme of extra-curricular
Sixth
activities, from sports teams (including football, rugby, and
encouraged to take part in
Formers
are
also
netball) to a globally renowned Music Department which includes
extra-curricular
the Schola Cantorum, who have performed at world-famous
including
working
with
venues such as the Royal Opera House and the Royal Albert Hall.
businesses
and
charities
activities, local to
raise money and materials for We have seen an increase in the uptake of co-curricular clubs,
those less fortunate (including
including in Drama, Computer Science, and our Eco Club, which is
Mary's Meals and local food
responsible
banks), as well as helping to
for
the
school
recycling
system
and
promoting
sustainability in the local community.
arrange and staff our annual Senior Citizens Tea Party and
We offer multiple international school trips which have included New
help
York, Galapagos Islands, and Ecuador, and most recently a Geography
Parent's Association events.
volunteer
at
Vaughan
trip to Iceland. These trips range from sightseeing and volunteering to taking part in sporting activities.
We also now work with partner primary
schools
within
the
Our pupils also have the opportunity to complete their Duke of
Trust, where Sixth Form pupils
Edinburgh award during their time at school. This takes place during
will visit and provide workshops
the school calendar so that our pupils can participate with their
for the pupils.
peers.
7
NEXT STEPS
As a school, we pride ourselves on producing young adults who are
At Cardinal Vaughan, we also
hardworking, independent, and charismatic, and who are well-
offer careers advice
which
prepared for life beyond school and Sixth Form.
contributes
pupil
to
raising
achievement in helping pupils Things that set the Vaughan apart from other Sixth Forms include the
focus
fact that you are given a dedicated form tutor upon arrival in Year 12,
career ambitions and ensure an
on
their
longer-term
with a team of staff who are willing to go above and beyond to help
equality of opportunity for all.
you succeed in your endeavours, as well as a rich programme of speakers, workshops, careers mentoring, and higher education
We provide a comprehensive
guidance.
programme to pupils in every year group and of all abilities
Underpinning everything we do is the culture of academic excellence
and this includes aspects of
that runs throughout CVMS. Our most recent results speak for
work-related
themselves. As aforementioned, at the heart of all we do is that we
enterprise
seek 'the formation of the whole person: intellect, heart, will, character
option choices.
learning, education
and
and soul' - and our Sixth Form is no different. We are committed to ensuring The vast majority of pupils go on to Higher Education, gaining places
our pupils have opportunities
to a wide variety of universities both in the UK and abroad. Pupils in
to acquire the knowledge and
our Sixth Form are very well supported as they make their
confidence to cope with life
applications to university, apply for Higher Level Apprenticeships or
after school and become good
other non-university post 18 pathways, as are our SEND pupils,
citizens.
working closely with our internal additional needs team and external providers.
8
VISIT THE VAUGHAN
We would be delighted to welcome you to the Cardinal Vaughan
First Form Open Evenings
Memorial School for our Open Evenings. There is no need to sign up
be held on the 17 and 22 of
to these events.
September.
The
will
Headmaster
will address parents and pupils Unfortunately, we cannot offer parking, but there is pay for parking in
at
Westfield
6.00pm.
London,
just
a
15-minute
walk
from
the
school.
4.30pm
and
again
Following
at each
Alternatively, you could ride the overground to Shepherd's Bush (8-
speech, parents will be taken
minute walk), or the Central line to Holland Park station (9-minute
on a tour of the school.
We
walk) when you visit.
therefore
you
recommend
arrive in good time for either 4.30pm or 6.00pm. Sixth
Form
Open
Evenings
will be held on the 8 October and
12
Headmaster
November. will
speak
The at
5.00pm, after which you are welcome to tour the school.
9
ADMISSIONS 1.Visit our website Go to www.cvms.co.uk/admissions 2.Select the correct option Choose Applying for a Place in Year 7 in September ......2027 3.Complete the form
KEY DATES
To apply for a Music aptitude place, please complete the online application by 4pm on Friday 25 September Music aptitude tests will take place in early October. You will be informed of the date for your son’s test by 1 October. The deadline for our Supplementary Information Form is 5pm on Friday 23 October. The deadline for the local authority’s e-admissions from is 31 October 2026. This is essential as without it your application is not valid. Have ready a copy of your Baptism Certificate. However, if it is not available you may still complete the form and we will require the copy in due course. Banding tests will take place on 2 November. We will contact you with full details nearer the time.
10
Amare et Servire
The Cardinal Vaughan Memorial School
89 Addison Road London W14 8BZ 020 7603 8478