Queen Mary's High School

Queen Mary's High School is performing exceptionally well overall. Ofsted graded achievement and personal development and wellbeing as exceptional, with attendance and behaviour, curriculum and teaching, inclusion, leadership and governance, and post-16 provision all at strong standard. Safeguarding standards are met. The school is part of The Mercian Trust and has a co-educational sixth form, with some courses delivered in partnership with other trust schools. Pupils achieve remarkably well. GCSE and A-level outcomes are significantly above national averages, and disadvantaged pupils also excel, closely matching their peers. Attendance is well above average, persistent absence is low, and behaviour is superb. Pupils benefit from an ambitious, well-sequenced curriculum, strong teaching, and a deeply inclusive ethos. Personal development is a standout, with extensive wider opportunities, strong pupil leadership, and excellent careers education. The sixth form is strong, with high attainment and good preparation for university and other ambitious destinations. The main area for development is ensuring that in-year adjustments to learning plans for pupils with SEND are consistently shared and enacted across the school. Otherwise, the report identifies no significant weaknesses, and leaders, governors, and trust oversight are praised for their effectiveness. The headteacher was appointed in April 2023, and the school serves a context with well-above-average location deprivation but lower-than-average proportions of pupils with EHC plans or SEN support.

Strengths

• Pupils achieve exceptionally well across all key stages, with GCSE and A-level results significantly above national averages.
• Disadvantaged pupils excel and closely match their peers, supported by a highly effective pupil premium strategy.
• Personal development is exceptional, with a rich programme of experiences and high participation.
• Pupil leadership is a distinctive strength, with meaningful roles for pupils from Year 7 onwards.
• The school has a deeply inclusive ethos, and disadvantaged and SEND pupils are well represented in leadership roles.
• Attendance is significantly above national averages, and persistent absence is very low.
• Pupils' behaviour is superb, and they feel safe and part of the 'Queen Mary family'.
• The curriculum is highly ambitious, well sequenced, and supported by high-quality teaching.
• Staff support pupils with SEND extremely well, with sophisticated identification and effective classroom adaptations.
• Leadership and governance are strong, with a values-driven culture and effective trust oversight.
• Professional development and staff wellbeing are notable strengths.
• The sixth form is strong, with ambitious A-level provision, high attainment, and excellent preparation for next steps.
• Careers education and employer partnerships are significant strengths.
• Safeguarding standards are met, with an open and positive culture of safeguarding.
• A strong reading culture helps pupils appreciate a wide range of sophisticated texts.

Areas for Improvement

• In-year adjustments to learning plans for pupils with SEND are not consistently shared and enacted across the school.

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 Queen Mary's High School attended 95.1% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 13.2% 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, 0.7% of pupils at Queen Mary's High School were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). No 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 Queen Mary's High School had 19.0 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 5.7% 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, 5.0% of pupils at Queen Mary's High School were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 0.2% 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 2024–25 Queen Mary's High School received £7,718 and spent £7,551 for each of its 944 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £1,759,000 (£1,863 per pupil).

Across all 10 schools of The Mercian Trust, income was £8,095 and spending £8,003 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). Academy figures include a share of the trust's central services, shared out by pupil numbers, and are rounded to the nearest £1,000. Premises costs were defined differently from 2024, so compare them across that gap with care.

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

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

Queen Mary's High School is part of The Mercian Trust, which runs 10 schools. The nearest others:

• Walsall Studio School Walsall
• Queen Mary's Grammar School Walsall
• Rushall Primary School Walsall
• Aldridge School - A Science College Walsall
• Q3 Academy Great Barr Birmingham
• Oakwood School Walsall
• Shire Oak Academy Walsall
• Q3 Academy Tipton Tipton
• Q3 Academy Langley Oldbury

What is Queen Mary's High School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Queen Mary's High School is Strong standard, from an inspection in June 2026.

When was Queen Mary's High School last inspected by Ofsted?

Queen Mary's High School was last inspected in June 2026.

How many pupils does Queen Mary's High School have?

Queen Mary's High School has 949 pupils on roll.

What age range does Queen Mary's High School cover?

Queen Mary's High School for pupils aged 11 to 18.

What are Queen Mary's High School's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 74.1, and 96% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Queen Mary's High School?

Queen Mary's High School is at Upper Forster Street, Walsall, West Midlands, WS4 2AE.