Harborne Academy

About Harborne Academy

Harborne Academy is a mixed secondary school in Birmingham for pupils aged 11 to 16, and it is genuinely oversubscribed. For its 145 places in the 2025/26 admissions round, the school received 847 applications, giving an oversubscription ratio of 5.84 applicants per place. Only 87 of those offers went to first-preference families, despite 115 first-preference applications being made. The school is running at full capacity with 606 pupils against a stated capacity of 600, so there is no slack in the system. A striking feature of the intake is the proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals, which stands at 54.3%. That is well above the national average for secondary schools, which typically sits around 25-30%, and suggests the school serves a community with significant economic disadvantage. The headteacher is Sarah Ross, and the school has no sixth form or religious character.

Academically, Harborne Academy is performing above the local average. Its Progress 8 score of 0.27 means pupils here achieve nearly a third of a grade more per subject than pupils with similar starting points nationally, and it comfortably exceeds the Birmingham local authority average of 0.09. The school ranks 26th out of 83 secondary schools in Birmingham on this measure, placing it in the top third locally and the top quarter nationally. Attainment 8 sits at 43.2, and 64.7% of pupils achieved a grade 4 or above in English and maths, though the figure drops to 38.8% at grade 5 or above. The EBacc entry rate is 50.9%, with 19% achieving the full EBacc at grade 4 or above. In its most recent graded Ofsted inspection in 2017, the school was rated Good overall, with Good for leadership and management and Good for sixth form provision. An ungraded inspection in November 2022 confirmed the school remains Good.

The school offers a solid range of facilities including a swimming pool, sports hall, tennis courts, science labs, and a library. Sports provision includes gymnastics, netball, rowing, and cross country, while clubs cover everything from the Duke of Edinburgh's Award to eco club, drama, and young enterprise. For families with children who have special educational needs, the school lists provisions for dyslexia, moderate learning difficulties, social emotional and mental health needs, speech and language communication needs, visual impairment, physical disability, and autistic spectrum disorder. There is no sixth form, so pupils will need to move on at 16. Given the high oversubscription and strong Progress 8 score relative to the local authority, this is a school that suits families who want a non-selective, inclusive environment with proven academic value-add, particularly those living within a reasonable catchment of Harborne.

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