Birchensale Middle School

Birchensale Middle School has been transformed since its previous inadequate judgement and no longer requires special measures. Inspectors found a happy, harmonious school where pupils understand the clear behaviour expectations, focus well in lessons and feel well supported by staff. The curriculum has been extensively reviewed and is fully embedded, with historic gaps addressed quickly when pupils join in Year 5. Reading support is coordinated and effective, pupils with SEND are accurately identified and now achieve well, and attendance is high because leaders understand and tackle barriers. The school has strong leadership and governance. Staff feel well supported in their professional development and workload, while governors and trustees have an accurate view of the school and have challenged and supported leaders effectively. Pupils benefit from a wide range of trips, pupil leadership roles and personal development experiences. Safeguarding arrangements are effective. Published outcomes do not yet reflect the recent improvements. There are still areas to refine. A few older key stage 3 pupils struggle to recall knowledge learned some time ago, which can make more complex tasks harder, and some pupils do not extend their written responses enough. Leaders need to continue embedding assessment so that longer-term knowledge gaps are identified and pupils know and remember more over time, and ensure key stage 3 pupils are supported to write in greater depth.

Strengths

• Pupils are happy, considerate and focused in lessons
• Clear behaviour expectations are consistently understood and applied
• The curriculum has been extensively reviewed and is fully embedded
• Historic knowledge gaps are addressed rapidly when pupils join in Year 5
• Teaching tasks are well matched to pupils' prior knowledge and understanding is checked well
• The reading approach is coordinated and effective at building fluency
• Pupils with SEND have their needs identified accurately and achieve well
• Attendance is high because the school has a highly developed approach to removing barriers
• Pupils benefit from strong wider experiences, trips and pupil leadership opportunities
• Staff are well supported in professional development and workload
• Governors and trustees evaluate the school accurately and provide effective support and challenge
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective

Areas for Improvement

• Some key stage 3 pupils struggle to recall important knowledge learned earlier
• Some pupils do not extend written responses well enough, limiting depth
• Published outcomes do not yet reflect recent improvements
• Assessment needs further embedding to identify longer-term knowledge gaps and help pupils remember more over time

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 Birchensale Middle School attended 93.5% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 18.5% 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 Birchensale Middle School were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). One pupil was 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 Birchensale Middle School had 15.5 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 21.7% 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, 22.4% of pupils at Birchensale Middle School were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 3.6% 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 Birchensale Middle School received £7,912 and spent £7,759 for each of its 536 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £488,000 (£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

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

• Holyoakes Field First School Redditch
• Trinity High School and Sixth Form Centre Redditch
• Woodfield Academy Redditch

What is Birchensale Middle School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Birchensale Middle School is Good, from an inspection in October 2025.

When was Birchensale Middle School last inspected by Ofsted?

Birchensale Middle School was last inspected in October 2025.

How many pupils does Birchensale Middle School have?

Birchensale Middle School has 522 pupils on roll.

What age range does Birchensale Middle School cover?

Birchensale Middle School for pupils aged 9 to 13.

What are Birchensale Middle School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 47% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Birchensale Middle School?

Birchensale Middle School is at Bridley Moor Road, Redditch, Worcestershire, B97 6HT.