William Brookes School

William Brookes School has shown progress in improving behaviour and attendance, yet overall performance requires improvement across various areas, including the quality of education and leadership. The school, which is part of the 3 to 18 Education Trust, has only recently begun to address these issues since the pandemic, marking this as their first routine inspection in that context. While the sixth form demonstrates good performance, standard curriculum delivery is inconsistent, leading to some pupils not achieving their full potential.

Strengths

• Significant progress in improving behaviour and attendance.
• Students in the sixth form benefit from a calm and purposeful learning environment.
• Pupils feel safe and express enjoyment in the improvements to school behavior.
• Wide range of extra-curricular activities enriching pupils' experiences.
• Effective communication improvements with parents, pupils, and staff.

Areas for Improvement

• Inconsistent quality of curriculum delivery.
• Assessment processes not consistently understood or effective.
• Many pupils do not catch up with missed work due to absences.
• A minority of pupils struggle to meet higher behaviour expectations.
• Insufficient understanding of fundamental British values among pupils.

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 William Brookes School attended 90.4% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 27.4% 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, 7.1% of pupils at William Brookes 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 William Brookes School had 18.1 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 25.1% 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, 24.3% of pupils at William Brookes School were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 4.8% 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 William Brookes School received £8,371 and spent £8,368 for each of its 820 pupils. It ended the year with a deficit of £414,000 (-£505 per pupil).

Across all 14 schools of The 3-18 Education Trust, income was £7,598 and spending £7,604 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 Shropshire · Shropshire local authority: places and applications

William Brookes School is part of The 3-18 Education Trust, which runs 14 schools. The nearest others:

• Much Wenlock Primary School Much Wenlock
• John Wilkinson Primary School and Nursery Broseley
• Bridgnorth Endowed School Bridgnorth
• Coleham Primary School Shrewsbury
• The Priory School Shrewsbury
• Bowbrook Primary School Shrewsbury
• Clive CofE Primary School Shrewsbury
• Hodnet Primary School Market Drayton
• The Thomas Adams School Shrewsbury
• Prees CofE Primary School Whitchurch

What is William Brookes School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for William Brookes School is Requires Improvement, from an inspection in June 2024.

When was William Brookes School last inspected by Ofsted?

William Brookes School was last inspected in June 2024.

How many pupils does William Brookes School have?

William Brookes School has 748 pupils on roll.

What age range does William Brookes School cover?

William Brookes School for pupils aged 11 to 16.

What are William Brookes School's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 38.2, and 25% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is William Brookes School?

William Brookes School is at Farley Road, Much Wenlock, Shropshire, TF13 6NB.