Waseley Hills High School

Waseley Hills High School has improved since its previous inspection, with inspectors judging the quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and sixth-form provision all to be good. The school is part of the Central Region Schools Trust, and the principal took up his position in September 2024. Pupils and staff describe a caring, harmonious and welcoming community, and outcomes are improving alongside a strengthened curriculum. Notable strengths include an ambitious and well-sequenced curriculum in many subjects, effective support for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities, strong reading support, a well-planned personal development programme, and positive sixth-form provision. Pupils generally behave well, benefit from a wide range of enrichment activities, and safeguarding arrangements are effective. Leaders understand the school’s strengths and development areas, and trust support and governance are working well. Inspectors identified three main areas for improvement: teachers do not consistently check pupils’ understanding before moving on, too many disadvantaged pupils are persistently absent, and the new behaviour approach is not fully embedded, with a small number of pupils suspended too often. These issues mean some pupils miss learning or do not routinely meet the school’s high expectations.

Strengths

• Caring and respectful relationships between staff and pupils
• Ambitious and well-sequenced curriculum in many subjects
• Teachers present subject matter clearly and encourage purposeful discussion
• Effective support for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities
• High-quality reading support helps pupils become confident readers
• Most pupils behave well and show respect
• Impressive variety of clubs, trips and enrichment activities
• Well-planned personal, social, health and economic curriculum
• Strong pupil leadership and high-quality careers guidance
• Positive sixth-form experience with strong support and enrichment
• Leaders accurately understand the school’s strengths and areas for development
• Trust support and governance hold leaders to account effectively
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective

Areas for Improvement

• Teachers do not always check pupils’ understanding before introducing new learning
• Gaps and misconceptions in pupils’ learning are not always identified quickly enough
• Too many disadvantaged pupils are persistently absent
• The new behaviour policy is not fully embedded
• A small number of pupils do not behave well and are suspended too often
• Staff do not always ensure all pupils follow the new routines and rules

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 Waseley Hills High School attended 88.7% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 30.1% 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, 15.9% of pupils at Waseley Hills High School were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). 4 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 Waseley Hills High School had 16.6 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 10.8% 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, 15.7% of pupils at Waseley Hills High School were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 3.6% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 3.5%).

The school has resourced provision with 3 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 2024–25 Waseley Hills High School received £8,210 and spent £8,450 for each of its 743 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £190,000 (£255 per pupil).

Across all 14 schools of Central Region Schools Trust, income was £7,890 and spending £7,931 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 · Worcestershire local authority: places and applications

Waseley Hills High School is part of Central Region Schools Trust, which runs 14 schools. The nearest others:

• St Stephen's CofE First School Redditch
• Abbeywood First School Redditch
• Church Hill Middle School Redditch
• Oak Hill First School Redditch
• Arrow Valley First School Redditch
• Ipsley CofE Middle School Redditch
• Arrow Vale High School Redditch
• Holyhead School Birmingham
• Matchborough First School Academy Redditch
• Sutton Park Primary School Kidderminster

What is Waseley Hills High School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Waseley Hills High School is Good, from an inspection in March 2025.

When was Waseley Hills High School last inspected by Ofsted?

Waseley Hills High School was last inspected in March 2025.

How many pupils does Waseley Hills High School have?

Waseley Hills High School has 782 pupils on roll.

What age range does Waseley Hills High School cover?

Waseley Hills High School for pupils aged 11 to 18.

What are Waseley Hills High School's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 39.7, and 34% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Waseley Hills High School?

Waseley Hills High School is at School Road, Rubery, Birmingham, West Midlands, B45 9EL.