Birchwood Community High School

Birchwood Community High School is a welcoming, inclusive school with a strong community ethos. Inspectors found pupils happy, safe and proud to attend, with calm behaviour and positive engagement in lessons. Leaders are ambitious for pupils’ achievement, the curriculum is broad, and pupils currently at the school—including those with SEND—are generally learning well and producing work of increasing quality. Well-being support, character development, careers guidance and a wide range of clubs are notable strengths, and safeguarding arrangements are effective. The school has navigated difficult recent circumstances, including community tragedies, and has done so with a clear moral purpose. It joined One Community Trust in September 2023 and opened a specially resourced autism provision in September 2024. Published key stage 4 outcomes in 2023 and 2024 do not reflect the school’s current curriculum strengths, partly because many pupils joined after Year 7 and did not benefit fully from the full curriculum offer. Two main areas need further work. In a minority of subjects, leaders have not clearly defined the essential knowledge pupils need, which can leave some pupils struggling to build and recall learning over time. Attendance also remains a concern, especially for disadvantaged pupils, and poor attendance is limiting some pupils’ achievement; the school has introduced measures and seen some improvement, but more work is needed.

Strengths

• Strong community spirit and a welcoming, inclusive culture
• Pupils are happy, feel safe and behave well around school and in lessons
• Caring relationships between staff and pupils with a strong focus on well-being
• Broad and ambitious curriculum, including adapted provision for pupils with SEND
• Pupils currently in the school, including those with SEND, generally learn well and produce high-quality work
• Effective teaching and assessment, with strong support for pupils with SEND
• Effective reading support for pupils who need to catch up
• Comprehensive personal development, careers and extra-curricular opportunities
• Leadership has a clear moral purpose and has managed recent difficulties well
• Trustees and local governors provide committed support and appropriate challenge
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective

Areas for Improvement

• In a minority of subjects, essential knowledge is not clearly defined, so pupils do not build and recall knowledge as successfully as they should
• Attendance remains too low for some pupils, especially disadvantaged pupils, and is limiting their achievement

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 Birchwood Community High School attended 90.1% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 29.1% 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, 8.2% of pupils at Birchwood Community High 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 Birchwood Community High School had 15.9 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 8.5% 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, 20.5% of pupils at Birchwood Community High School were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 6.3% 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 Birchwood Community High School received £9,034 and spent £9,147 for each of its 891 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £95,000 (£107 per pupil).

Across all 8 schools of One Community Trust, income was £7,898 and spending £7,940 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 Warrington · Warrington local authority: places and applications

Birchwood Community High School is part of One Community Trust, which runs 8 schools. The nearest others:

• Locking Stumps Community Primary School Warrington
• Woolston Community Primary School Warrington
• Gorse Covert Primary School Warrington
• Brook Acre Community Primary School Warrington
• Croft Primary School Warrington
• Oakwood Avenue Community Primary School Warrington
• Culcheth Community Primary School Warrington

What is Birchwood Community High School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Birchwood Community High School is Good, from an inspection in January 2025.

When was Birchwood Community High School last inspected by Ofsted?

Birchwood Community High School was last inspected in January 2025.

How many pupils does Birchwood Community High School have?

Birchwood Community High School has 875 pupils on roll.

What age range does Birchwood Community High School cover?

Birchwood Community High School for pupils aged 11 to 16.

What are Birchwood Community High School's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 45.7, and 44% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Birchwood Community High School?

Birchwood Community High School is at Brock Road, Birchwood, Warrington, Cheshire, WA3 7PT.