St Matthias School

St Matthias School is a maintained 11–16 mixed comprehensive in Wolverhampton. This was its first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic, and inspectors found the school good across the four key areas: quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and leadership and management. Under the current framework, no overall effectiveness grade was given. Safeguarding arrangements are effective, and the school includes a specially resourced provision for deaf pupils and uses alternative provisions. Pupils are described as feeling safe and benefiting from a calm, orderly and caring environment. Behaviour is good, relationships are respectful, and the curriculum has been significantly broadened, including design technology and separate sciences, with high aspirations for all pupils, including those with SEND. Many pupils achieve well, reading is promoted effectively, attendance is improving, and personal development and careers provision are well planned. The main areas for improvement are that curriculum and teaching are not consistently effective in a few subjects, leading to variation in achievement, and that too many pupils do not move into sustained education or training after leaving. The school recognises that further work is needed to prepare pupils with the knowledge, skills and opportunities to make successful transitions to their next stage.

Strengths

• Calm, orderly and caring environment where pupils feel safe and behave well.
• Respectful, courteous relationships between pupils and staff.
• Broad, ambitious curriculum, including design technology and separate sciences.
• High aspirations for all pupils, including those with SEND.
• Effective support for pupils with SEND, including in the specially resourced provision for deaf pupils.
• Strong teaching in many subjects, with clear explanations and careful checks on understanding.
• Effective strategies to help pupils remember important knowledge.
• Good promotion of reading, including targeted support for weaker readers.
• Attendance is improving and is in line with national figures.
• Well-planned personal, social and health education and a range of enrichment and leadership opportunities.
• Structured careers programme that helps most pupils feel ready for their next steps.
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective.

Areas for Improvement

• Curriculum and teaching are not consistently effective in a few subjects, causing uneven achievement.
• Pupils do not achieve well enough in a small number of subjects.
• Too many pupils do not progress into sustained education or training after leaving school.
• Some pupils lack the knowledge and skills needed to sustain their chosen education or training pathway.

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 Matthias School attended 90.5% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 30.3% 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, 11.4% of pupils at St Matthias School were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). 10 pupils were 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 Matthias School had 10.1 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 11.7% 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, 44.8% of pupils at St Matthias School were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 3.9% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 3.5%).

The school has resourced provision with 2 pupils.

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 Matthias School received £11,004 and spent £12,003 for each of its 805 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £2,345,000 (£2,914 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 Wolverhampton · Wolverhampton local authority: places and applications

What is St Matthias School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for St Matthias School is Good, from an inspection in January 2025.

When was St Matthias School last inspected by Ofsted?

St Matthias School was last inspected in January 2025.

How many pupils does St Matthias School have?

St Matthias School has 805 pupils on roll.

What age range does St Matthias School cover?

St Matthias School for pupils aged 11 to 19.

What are St Matthias School's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 36.9, and 24% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is St Matthias School?

St Matthias School is at Deans Road, Wolverhampton, West Midlands, WV1 2BH.