St John Wall Catholic School

St John Wall Catholic School is performing well, with an overall effectiveness rating of 'Good'. The school fosters a nurturing environment where pupils thrive, described as a family by students themselves. Leaders and staff prioritize hard work and high standards, which pupils meet with enthusiasm. The leadership is particularly strong, demonstrating commitment to professional development and staff well-being. However, the curriculum needs improvement in ensuring that it consistently enables pupils to connect prior knowledge with new learning, particularly in regard to the English Baccalaureate (EBacc) qualifications. Although the school provides a broad curriculum and supports students with special educational needs well, many pupils do not continue their study of both humanities and modern foreign languages after Year 8, which limits their access to EBacc qualifications. Therefore, school leaders plan to enhance their curriculum to ensure these subjects are integral to students' education and long-term success.

Strengths

• Outstanding behaviour and attitudes among students.
• Strong leadership and management that prioritizes staff well-being.
• Ambitious curriculums in most subjects, enabling connections across topics.
• Effective support for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities.
• A wide range of extracurricular activities that enrich pupils' development.
• Effective safeguarding arrangements ensuring pupil safety.

Areas for Improvement

• Not all pupils study both a humanity subject and a modern foreign language beyond Year 8.
• Some subjects lack clarity in how new knowledge builds on prior learning.

Admissions: local authority offers data from the Department for Education. A school is oversubscribed when at least 5% of the families who put it first were not offered a place, and undersubscribed when everyone who put it first got in but 10% or more of its places were unfilled in the Department's school capacity survey (the latest survey is used for entry years it does not cover). Places: Department for Education, School capacity, from local authorities' annual survey as at 1 May. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024–25); the survey was not run in 2020. Places include sixth form places. Forecasts are the local authority's own for the school's planning area, an area it uses to plan places that is not the school's catchment area. The forecast starts from a head count in 2025; the dashed line is the Department's estimate of places in that area, including those the authority has firm plans for. Planned places are cumulative, and only those with firm plans are counted.

In 2024–25 pupils at St John Wall Catholic School attended 92.0% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 25.6% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 23.4%).

Sessions missed

Pupils persistently absent

Source: Department for Education, Pupil absence in schools in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Persistent absence means missing 10% or more of sessions; severe absence means 50% or more. No figures were published for 2019/20.

In 2024–25, 12.7% of pupils at St John Wall Catholic School were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). One pupil was permanently excluded.

Pupils suspended at least once

Source: Department for Education, Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). A pupil can be suspended more than once, so suspensions per 100 pupils can be higher than the share of pupils suspended. Very small numbers are hidden by the DfE. Exclusion figures dropped in 2020 and 2021 because of school closures.

In 2025–26 St John Wall Catholic School had 12.6 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 20.1% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 14.1%).

Pupils per teacher

Teachers who left the school within a year

Source: Department for Education, School workforce in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Pupils per teacher counts full-time-equivalent pupils and teachers. Turnover is the share of a year's teachers (full-time equivalent) who were not at the school the following year, whether they moved to another school or left state-funded teaching. Turnover and sickness figures run one year behind the ratios. Sick leave is the share of teachers who took at least one day in the year, so it swings widely at small schools, where a few teachers can make it 0% or 100%. The national figures are for all state schools of the same type.

In 2025–26, 11.5% of pupils at St John Wall Catholic School were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 1.5% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 3.5%).

Pupils by main type of need

Source: Department for Education, Special educational needs in England (the 2025–26 school census). SEN support is extra help in school without an EHC plan. National figures are for all state-funded secondary schools. Counts are as published, with small numbers not hidden.

In 2025–26 St John Wall Catholic School received £10,237 and spent £10,337 for each of its 598 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £352,000 (£589 per pupil).

Income per pupil

Spending per pupil

Source: Department for Education, Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool. Each year is the one the financial year ends in (2024 is 2023–24).

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Birmingham · Birmingham local authority: places and applications

What is St John Wall Catholic School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for St John Wall Catholic School is Good, from an inspection in September 2023.

When was St John Wall Catholic School last inspected by Ofsted?

St John Wall Catholic School was last inspected in September 2023.

How many pupils does St John Wall Catholic School have?

St John Wall Catholic School has 591 pupils on roll.

What age range does St John Wall Catholic School cover?

St John Wall Catholic School for pupils aged 11 to 16.

What are St John Wall Catholic School's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 50.2, and 51% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is St John Wall Catholic School?

St John Wall Catholic School is at Oxhill Road, Handsworth, Birmingham, West Midlands, B21 8HH.