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State secondary schools in Birmingham

89 schools · West Midlands · 2024/25 Department for Education figures

Birmingham has 89 state secondaries, 50 of them with sixth forms, 8 grammar schools among them. 75.7% of families got their first choice last year, worse than most of England. Results run from 12.7% to 99.4% passing English and maths, a spread of 87 points, with a middle school at 43.7%, almost exactly England's 45.4%.

Of those Ofsted has graded, 11 rated Outstanding, 55 Good, 4 Requires improvement. 19 schools carry no overall grade at all — either inspected since Ofsted stopped issuing one in September 2024, or never inspected.

89 schools in Birmingham. Tap one, or see the full list.
13% 99% passed English & maths no figure

Birmingham against England

State-funded schools, 2024/25

45%

Passed English & maths grade 5 or above

in line with England

England 45%

46.6

Attainment 8 average score

in line with England

England 46.1

21%

Persistently absent missed 10% of sessions

in line with England

England 21%

Getting a place

2026/27 secondary admissions round, across Birmingham

75.7%

Got their first choiceof those who applied

England 84%

93.1%

Got one of their threefirst, second or third

<0.1%

Got no offer at allfrom any preference

12%

Appeals upheld80 of 674 heard

These are figures for Birmingham as a whole. A popular school can be much harder to get into than the average suggests, and the criteria that decide it are set by each school's own admission authority rather than centrally. How applying works

How much the choice matters here

Across Birmingham's 86 schools, the share passing English and maths runs from 13% to 99%. That is a spread of 87 percentage points, wider than most councils.

The typical council spans about 48 points. Where schools are close together the school a child gets matters less; where they are far apart it matters a great deal. The widest spreads are all selective areas, where grammar schools sit at one end and everything else at the other.

Birmingham schools, subject by subject

The share reaching grade 4 or above, among schools entering at least 20 pupils. Which pupils take a subject differs a lot between schools, so read this as what happened rather than as a ranking of teaching.

mathsenglish literatureenglish languagehistorygeographycombined sciencereligious studiesbiologyphysicschemistryfrenchartcomputer sciencebusiness studiesspanishdesign technologyfood technologyphysical education
  1. 1 Sutton Coldfield Grammar School for Girls Sutton Coldfield · 98 entries 99%
  2. 2 King Edward VI Handsworth Grammar School for Boys Birmingham · 90 entries 98%
  3. 3 Eden Boys' Leadership Academy, Birmingham East Birmingham · 26 entries 85%
  4. 4 The Arthur Terry School Sutton Coldfield · 157 entries 82%
  5. 5 Cardinal Wiseman Catholic School Birmingham · 38 entries 82%
  6. 6 King Edward VI Sheldon Heath Academy Birmingham · 58 entries 79%
  7. 7 Swanshurst School Birmingham · 110 entries 76%
  8. 8 Fairfax Sutton Coldfield · 105 entries 75%
  9. 9 King Edward VI King's Norton School for Boys Birmingham · 56 entries 73%
  10. 10 Kings Norton Girls' School Birmingham · 33 entries 73%
  11. 11 Ark St Alban's Academy Birmingham · 50 entries 72%
  12. 12 Harborne Academy Birmingham · 52 entries 70%
  13. 13 King Edward VI Lordswood School for Girls Birmingham · 42 entries 69%
  14. 14 Selly Park Girls' School Birmingham · 29 entries 69%
  15. 15 Bishop Walsh Catholic School Sutton Coldfield · 88 entries 69%
  16. 16 Arena Academy Birmingham · 72 entries 68%
  17. 17 Hamstead Hall Academy Birmingham · 84 entries 67%
  18. 18 Ninestiles, an Academy Birmingham · 69 entries 67%
  19. 19 Nishkam High School Birmingham · 54 entries 67%
  20. 20 Plantsbrook School Sutton Coldfield · 93 entries 65%
  21. 21 St Thomas Aquinas Catholic School Birmingham · 44 entries 64%
  22. 22 Ark Victoria Academy Birmingham · 46 entries 63%
  23. 23 Wheelers Lane Technology College Birmingham · 54 entries 59%
  24. 24 Aston University Engineering Academy Birmingham · 46 entries 57%
  25. 25 Starbank School Birmingham · 57 entries 56%
  26. 26 Erdington Academy Birmingham · 58 entries 55%
  27. 27 Hodge Hill College Birmingham · 50 entries 54%
  28. 28 Hall Green School Birmingham · 111 entries 53%
  29. 29 Bordesley Green Girls' School & Sixth Form Birmingham · 48 entries 52%
  30. 30 Broadway Academy Birmingham · 24 entries 50%
  31. 31 The Royal Sutton School Sutton Coldfield · 40 entries 50%
  32. 32 Aston Manor Academy Birmingham · 51 entries 49%
  33. 33 Moseley School and Sixth Form Birmingham · 102 entries 46%
  34. 34 Kings Heath Secondary School Birmingham · 46 entries 46%
  35. 35 Holyhead School Birmingham · 87 entries 44%
  36. 36 St Edmund Campion Catholic School Birmingham · 80 entries 43%
  37. 37 Bournville School Birmingham · 40 entries 40%
  38. 38 Jewellery Quarter Academy Birmingham · 62 entries 37%
  39. 39 Hodge Hill Girls' School Birmingham · 50 entries 36%
  40. 40 Washwood Heath Academy Birmingham · 93 entries 34%
  41. 41 Lift Greenwood Birmingham · 45 entries 33%
  42. 42 King Edward VI Handsworth Wood Girls' Academy Birmingham · 55 entries 33%
  43. 43 Rockwood Academy Birmingham · 54 entries 26%
  44. 44 Star King Solomon Academy Birmingham · 47 entries 19%
  45. 45 George Dixon Academy Birmingham · 41 entries 12%
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Every school in Birmingham

Schools in neighbouring authorities are not in this list, because admissions run per authority. See bordering areas.

24 of 89 have no spare places. Sort the list, or narrow it first.

Pick up to 4 schools to see them side by side in the comparison tool, subject by subject.

Sixth form · Key stage 5·2024/25

A levels in Birmingham

43 of Birmingham's 50 sixth forms publish A level results. Ranked on the share reaching AAB or better in at least two of the subjects universities name, which is the measure the steepest entry requirements are written in.

Sixth form Grade AAB+

A level results only. A sixth form running mostly BTECs and other applied courses will show a dash here and can still be the right one — those are graded on their own scale, where a distinction and an A grade carry the same points and mean different things.

Bordering Birmingham

Near a boundary, schools on both sides are usually in reach. Whether a child can apply is set by each school's admission criteria, not by the border.

Dudley 19 schools · 41% passed English & mathsSandwell 22 schools · 34% passed English & mathsSolihull 15 schools · 48% passed English & mathsStaffordshire 56 schools · 40% passed English & mathsWalsall 19 schools · 39% passed English & mathsWarwickshire 39 schools · 50% passed English & mathsWorcestershire 31 schools · 41% passed English & maths

What these mean

Attainment 8
The average pupil's total score across eight GCSE-equivalent subjects, with English and maths counting double. It is scored out of 90. A score of 50 is roughly equivalent to achieving a grade 5 across eight subjects.
Grades 4 and 5
GCSEs are graded from 9 down to 1. Grade 4 is a standard pass and broadly corresponds to the old grade C; grade 5 is what the government calls a strong pass. Grade 7 is broadly equivalent to an old grade A.
Persistent absence
The share of pupils who miss at least 10% of their possible sessions during the school year. This includes both authorised and unauthorised absence, so illness and other authorised reasons are included. Persistent absence has remained substantially higher than its pre-pandemic level.
First preference
The share of families who were offered the school they ranked first on their application, on national offer day in March. This figure is calculated across the relevant schools or admissions authority, so a high overall figure does not necessarily mean that every individual school is easy to get into.
Spare places
The amount of available capacity a school has compared with the number of pupils on roll. This is different from oversubscription: spare places measure whether a school has capacity, whereas oversubscription describes demand for places exceeding the number available. A school with no spare places may be popular, but a small school can also be full without receiving a large number of applications.
Average A-level grade
The average grade achieved across students' A-level entries. This is different from measures such as the proportion achieving AAB or better in two or more facilitating subjects, which are sometimes used to indicate higher attainment and university-entry performance.
Covers state-funded schools in England; independent schools are not included, and neither the list nor the subject figures above take account of them.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Key stage 4 performance and school characteristics: Department for Education, 2024/25. Inspection outcomes: Ofsted.