Woodfield Academy

Woodfield Academy is a larger-than-average middle school within the Bordesley Multi-Academy Trust. Inspectors found high ambitions for all pupils and an inclusive approach, with pupils with SEND learning alongside their peers. The school has a broad curriculum and has introduced many improvement strategies under new leadership and trust support, but these are not yet being implemented consistently enough to secure strong achievement across the curriculum. Quality of education and behaviour and attitudes require improvement, while personal development and leadership and management are good. Safeguarding is effective. Pupils are friendly, polite and enjoy learning, and relationships between staff and pupils are positive. Attendance is improving because the school works closely with pupils and families to overcome barriers. Personal development is a notable strength: pupils learn about safety, mental health, kindness, tolerance and respect, and they benefit from extracurricular activities, trips and effective careers advice. However, some staff do not consistently apply the school's behaviour policy, which leads to low-level disruption and some pupils becoming disengaged. The main areas for improvement are the inconsistent delivery of new teaching approaches, uneven use of checks on pupils' learning, and inconsistent application of behaviour systems. Some teachers do not reliably identify gaps in pupils' knowledge or adapt their teaching to address them, and support for pupils with SEND is not always deployed consistently. As a result, the school's improvement work is not yet having the sustained impact needed on pupils' achievement.

Strengths

• High ambitions for every pupil, including those with SEND
• Broad and inclusive curriculum
• Pupils are friendly, polite and enjoy learning
• Positive relationships between staff and pupils
• Strong personal development programme covering safety, mental health and relationships
• Effective careers advice and preparation for next steps
• Wide extracurricular offer, trips and residential opportunities
• Targeted reading support helps pupils catch up
• Work to improve attendance is having a positive impact
• Trust and local governing board provide effective challenge and support
• Staff value leaders' consideration of well-being and workload
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective

Areas for Improvement

• New teaching approaches are not implemented consistently across the school
• Checks on pupils' learning are not rigorous enough to identify gaps
• Teachers do not routinely adapt teaching to address pupils' gaps in knowledge
• Support for pupils with SEND is not consistently deployed in lessons
• Behaviour policy is not applied consistently, leading to low-level disruption
• Some pupils become disengaged when behaviour is not managed well
• Improvement strategies have not yet had the desired impact on achievement across the curriculum

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 Woodfield Academy attended 91.6% 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, 7.9% of pupils at Woodfield Academy 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 Woodfield Academy had 18.1 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 24.1% 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, 21.8% of pupils at Woodfield Academy were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 5.0% 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 Woodfield Academy received £7,793 and spent £7,557 for each of its 572 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £521,000 (£910 per pupil).

Across all 4 schools of Bordesley Multi-Academy Trust, income was £7,694 and spending £7,424 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 Redditch · Worcestershire local authority: places and applications

Woodfield Academy is part of Bordesley Multi-Academy Trust, which runs 4 schools. The nearest others:

• Trinity High School and Sixth Form Centre Redditch
• Holyoakes Field First School Redditch
• Birchensale Middle School Redditch

What is Woodfield Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Woodfield Academy is Requires Improvement, from an inspection in December 2024.

When was Woodfield Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

Woodfield Academy was last inspected in December 2024.

How many pupils does Woodfield Academy have?

Woodfield Academy has 542 pupils on roll.

What age range does Woodfield Academy cover?

Woodfield Academy for pupils aged 9 to 13.

What are Woodfield Academy's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 27% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Woodfield Academy?

Woodfield Academy is at Studley Road, Redditch, Worcestershire, B98 7HH.