King Edward VI Handsworth School

King Edward VI Handsworth School is a highly effective selective girls’ grammar school where pupils achieve excellent GCSE and A-level outcomes and are well prepared for future success. Inspectors found high expectations for academic and personal development, a deeply embedded culture of mutual respect, and outstanding behaviour, personal development, leadership and sixth-form provision. The quality of education is good, with a broad and carefully sequenced curriculum, strong subject knowledge among teachers, effective SEND support, high attendance and strong careers guidance. The school is part of the King Edward VI Academy Trust Birmingham, and recent leadership changes, including a new headteacher from September 2024, are already having a positive impact. The school’s main area for improvement is consistency in how the curriculum supports discussion and oracy. In some subjects, pupils do not always have meaningful opportunities to discuss their learning, deepen their understanding or develop oracy skills, and informal in-the-moment checking of learning is less secure in some subjects than elsewhere. The report also notes that this was the school’s first routine inspection since before the pandemic and its first section 5 inspection since 2014, and that safeguarding arrangements are effective.

Strengths

• Pupils achieve excellent GCSE and A-level outcomes, including disadvantaged pupils
• Pupils demonstrate outstanding behaviour and a deeply embedded culture of mutual respect
• The school celebrates diversity and pupils value varied extra-curricular opportunities
• The curriculum is broad, carefully sequenced and prepares pupils well for examinations
• Teachers demonstrate impressive subject knowledge and foster enthusiasm for learning
• Pupils benefit from a well-resourced library and a diverse range of texts
• Pupils with SEND have their needs expertly identified and are well supported
• Attendance is high and pupils conduct themselves with maturity
• Careers advice and guidance are excellent, including support for university and apprenticeship applications
• Personal and character development is exceptional, with pupils taking on leadership roles and serving the community
• The trust provides strong support and staff benefit from excellent professional development
• Sixth-form students explore complex ideas with intellectual independence
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective

Areas for Improvement

• In some subjects, the curriculum does not consistently provide meaningful opportunities for pupils to discuss their learning and deepen understanding
• Oracy development is inconsistent across the curriculum and needs a coherent strategy
• Informal in-the-moment checks of learning are less secure in some subjects than elsewhere

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 King Edward VI Handsworth School attended 94.0% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 15.9% 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, 0.4% of pupils at King Edward VI Handsworth 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 King Edward VI Handsworth School had 18.9 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 14.8% 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, 8.4% of pupils at King Edward VI Handsworth School were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 0.1% 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 King Edward VI Handsworth School received £7,125 and spent £6,991 for each of its 1,324 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £3,697,000 (£2,793 per pupil).

Across all 12 schools of King Edward Vi Academy Trust Birmingham, income was £8,047 and spending £7,927 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 Birmingham · Birmingham local authority: places and applications

King Edward VI Handsworth School is part of King Edward Vi Academy Trust Birmingham, which runs 12 schools. The nearest others:

• King Edward VI Handsworth Grammar School for Boys Birmingham
• King Edward VI Handsworth Wood Girls' Academy Birmingham
• King Edward VI Aston School Birmingham
• King Edward VI Lordswood School for Girls Birmingham
• King Edward VI Camp Hill School for Girls Birmingham
• King Edward VI Camp Hill School for Boys Birmingham
• King Edward VI Five Ways School Birmingham
• King Edward VI King's Norton School for Boys Birmingham
• King Edward VI Sheldon Heath Academy Birmingham
• King Edward VI Northfield School for Girls Birmingham

What is King Edward VI Handsworth School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for King Edward VI Handsworth School is Good, from an inspection in January 2025.

When was King Edward VI Handsworth School last inspected by Ofsted?

King Edward VI Handsworth School was last inspected in January 2025.

How many pupils does King Edward VI Handsworth School have?

King Edward VI Handsworth School has 1,365 pupils on roll.

What age range does King Edward VI Handsworth School cover?

King Edward VI Handsworth School for pupils aged 11 to 18.

What are King Edward VI Handsworth School's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 76.2, and 100% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is King Edward VI Handsworth School?

King Edward VI Handsworth School is at Rose Hill Road, Birmingham, West Midlands, B21 9AR.