Grace Academy Darlaston

About Grace Academy Darlaston

Grace Academy Darlaston sits in an interesting spot within Walsall’s secondary school landscape. Its Progress 8 score of -0.04 is notably above the local authority average of -0.21, meaning pupils here make slightly more academic progress than the typical student across Walsall schools. That gap is meaningful in a borough where the average Progress 8 is negative, and it places the school 8th out of 18 similar schools in the area. The school’s Attainment 8 score of 42.1 gives a sense of the average grade profile, and while the EBacc entry rate is low at 8.7%, the basics measure shows 61.3% of pupils achieving a grade 4 or above in English and maths. For a school with over half its pupils eligible for free school meals, these headline figures suggest the school is doing a solid job of adding value compared with its local peers.

Ofsted last graded the school Good overall in 2017, and a 2022 ungraded inspection confirmed it remains Good. The breakdown shows leadership and management, sixth-form provision, and overall effectiveness all rated Good. The previous inspection in 2015 had rated the school Requires Improvement, so the trajectory is clearly upward. At KS5, the sixth form is small with 18 pupils and a value-added score of -0.27, which is classed as Average, with points per entry of 20.87 equating to a D grade. The school’s Progress 8 banding is also Average, and it ranks in the bottom half nationally but sits comfortably within the middle tier of Walsall schools. For parents focused on academic outcomes, the key takeaway is that Grace Academy Darlaston delivers results that are better than the local norm, particularly given its intake.

The school is heavily oversubscribed: for 2025/26 entry, it received 433 applications for 212 places, with 224 first-preference applications and 193 first-preference offers. That 2.04 oversubscription ratio tells you it’s a popular choice locally. Facilities include a library, theatre, gymnasium, music rooms, astro turf, tennis courts, chapel, and a sixth-form centre. Sports on offer range from hockey and rugby to swimming and cross country, and clubs include Eco Club, Model UN, orchestra, science club, and coding. The SEND provision is comprehensive, covering dyslexia, moderate learning difficulty, SEMH, speech and language needs, hearing and visual impairments, multi-sensory impairment, physical disability, and autistic spectrum disorder. This is a school that suits families looking for a large, inclusive secondary with a strong sixth form, solid academic progress above the local average, and a wide range of extracurricular opportunities.

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