Kings Heath Secondary School

About Kings Heath Secondary School

Kings Heath Secondary School’s headline Progress 8 score of -0.19 sits below the Birmingham local authority average of 0.09, placing it in the bottom half of secondary schools in the area. This means that, on average, pupils here achieve nearly a fifth of a grade less per subject than their peers across the city. The school ranks 61st out of 83 Birmingham secondaries on this measure, putting it in the 73rd percentile nationally. That said, the picture is not uniformly weak: the Progress 8 score for maths is a positive 0.11, suggesting pupils make slightly better-than-average progress in that subject, while English is essentially flat at -0.04. The open element of the Progress 8 measure, which covers non-EBacc subjects, is notably lower at -0.59, indicating that the biggest drag on the overall score comes from options outside the core academic curriculum.

In its most recent Ofsted inspection in 2023, the school was rated Good overall, with Good marks for quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and leadership and management. This is a consistent rating: the previous inspection in 2013 also awarded Good overall, with Outstanding leadership and management at that time. On attainment, 45.6% of pupils achieved a grade 5 or above in English and maths (the basics 5 measure), compared with 65.2% at the standard 4+ threshold. The EBacc average point score sits at 3.92, and just 10.8% of pupils entered the full EBacc combination, well below the 60.8% who entered at least some EBacc subjects. The school’s attainment 8 score of 42.7 is around the national average for state-funded schools, but the Progress 8 banding is officially classed as Average, reflecting the fact that the intake starts from a relatively low prior attainment baseline.

Kings Heath is a non-selective, non-faith 11-16 mixed comprehensive with 783 pupils on roll, operating slightly below its capacity of 806. It is heavily oversubscribed: for 2025/26 entry, there were 1,115 applications for 173 places, with 130 first-preference applications and 111 offers made to first-preference families. The school serves a community with high levels of disadvantage — 45.8% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, well above the national average. Facilities are strong for a state school, including a swimming pool, astro turf, sports hall, theatre, and a chapel. The SEND provision covers a broad range of needs, from dyslexia and moderate learning difficulties to autistic spectrum disorder and speech and language needs. This is a school that suits families who value a well-equipped site and a broad sports and clubs offer, but who are realistic about academic outcomes that track below the Birmingham average.

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