The Wilnecote School

About The Wilnecote School

The Wilnecote School’s headline Progress 8 score of -0.43 places it well below the Staffordshire local authority average of -0.18 for secondary schools, a gap of 0.25 that signals weaker-than-typical academic progress for its pupils. This ranks the school 38th out of 75 similar schools in the county, putting it in the bottom half of the LA. Within Tamworth specifically, it sits third out of four schools, with a Progress 8 score that falls into the ‘Below average’ national banding. The school’s Attainment 8 score of 39.8 is modest, and only 31.1% of pupils achieved a grade 5 or above in English and maths (the basics 5 measure), compared with 55.5% at grade 4 or above. The EBacc average point score of 3.41 and a low EBacc entry rate of 23.2% suggest a curriculum that does not heavily emphasise the full suite of academic subjects favoured by the government.

The school’s most recent Ofsted inspection in 2022 rated it Good overall, a clear improvement from its previous Requires Improvement rating in 2019. All four graded categories — quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and leadership and management — were judged Good. This upward trajectory is encouraging, though the exam data tells a more complicated story. Progress 8 breakdowns show negative scores across all subject groups: English (-0.37), maths (-0.49), EBacc subjects (-0.42), and open subjects (-0.44), meaning pupils typically make less progress than peers nationally in every area. The school’s ranking in the West Midlands region is 278th out of 371, placing it in the bottom quarter regionally. For context, the nearest Outstanding-rated school is Landau Forte Academy Tamworth Sixth Form, 4.3 km away, though Wilnecote itself does not have a sixth form.

The school is oversubscribed: for 2025/26, it received 321 applications for 196 places, with 191 first-preference offers, giving an oversubscription ratio of 1.64. Facilities include a library, sports hall, astro turf, swimming pool, and science labs, plus a chapel and sixth form centre (though the school only runs to age 16). SEND provision is extensive, covering specific learning difficulties like dyslexia, moderate learning difficulty, social and emotional mental health needs, speech and language communication needs, hearing and visual impairments, physical disability, and autistic spectrum disorder, with both a SEN unit and resourced provision. However, the Parent View survey from 2024/25 paints a stark picture: of 11 respondents, 100% would not recommend the school, and 91-100% strongly disagreed with every positive statement about happiness, safety, behaviour, bullying, and support. This data suggests a serious disconnect between Ofsted’s assessment and parental experience, making it a school to investigate very carefully in person.

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