Christopher Whitehead Language College

Christopher Whitehead Language College continues to demonstrate effective educational practices and maintains its status as a good school. The leadership team focuses on academic achievement and character development, ensuring a safe and welcoming environment for all pupils. The curriculum is well-structured and provides meaningful career-related information, preparing students for future successes. Relationships between staff and students are positive, fostering an atmosphere where learning is prioritized. Each pupil, including those with SEND, is given appropriate support to excel in their studies.

Strengths

• Strong leadership with high expectations for academic achievement and character development.
• Inclusive and positive school culture where bullying is rare.
• Well-structured curriculum that supports broad subject knowledge.
• Effective support for pupils with SEND, leading to good overall achievement.
• High-quality relationships between staff and students, contributing to a positive learning environment.
• A wide range of extra-curricular clubs available to pupils.
• Strong emphasis on reading and personal development.

Areas for Improvement

• In a few subjects, gaps in knowledge may emerge due to teachers moving on to new content too quickly.

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 Christopher Whitehead Language College attended 90.6% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 27.6% 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, 2.8% of pupils at Christopher Whitehead Language College were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). 3 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 Christopher Whitehead Language College had 14.5 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 6.4% 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, 7.5% of pupils at Christopher Whitehead Language College were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 5.2% 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 Christopher Whitehead Language College received £7,675 and spent £7,603 for each of its 1,599 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £506,000 (£316 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 Worcester · Worcestershire local authority: places and applications

What is Christopher Whitehead Language College's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Christopher Whitehead Language College is Good, from an inspection in June 2023.

When was Christopher Whitehead Language College last inspected by Ofsted?

Christopher Whitehead Language College was last inspected in June 2023.

How many pupils does Christopher Whitehead Language College have?

Christopher Whitehead Language College has 1,580 pupils on roll.

What age range does Christopher Whitehead Language College cover?

Christopher Whitehead Language College for pupils aged 11 to 18.

What are Christopher Whitehead Language College's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 47.3, and 43% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Christopher Whitehead Language College?

Christopher Whitehead Language College is at Bromwich Road, St John's, Worcester, Worcestershire, WR2 4AF.