BOA Digital Technologies Academy

BOA Digital Technologies Academy is a small, growing free school specialising in creative and digital technologies and part of the BOA trust. This was its first routine section 5 inspection. Pupils generally enjoy school, behave well and benefit from strong personal development, including careers-focused encounters with employers and a PSHE curriculum that covers relationships, tolerance and respect. Safeguarding is effective. However, the quality of education and leadership are not yet good. In some subjects, the key knowledge pupils need is not clearly defined and assessment is not used well enough, so gaps in learning are not addressed and pupils are unclear about how to improve. Some pupils' bookwork is of poor quality, and reading support is still at an early stage, leaving gaps for some older pupils. The school has an ambitious curriculum and high expectations, and teaching in subjects such as mathematics is strong. Pupils with SEND are identified accurately and have learning plans, and they follow the same ambitious curriculum as their peers. Trustees and local governors are committed and carry out statutory duties, and staff generally feel supported with workload and wellbeing. The main areas for improvement are to define essential subject knowledge, strengthen assessment, and improve strategic oversight so leaders and trustees know what is working and where to focus. The trust has been asked to strengthen its oversight of the school's strategic work.

Strengths

• Pupils generally behave well and contribute willingly in lessons.
• Pupils enjoy project work in digital technology and visits from businesses and employers.
• The school has high expectations and offers a broad, ambitious curriculum.
• Teaching in mathematics is strong, with teachers revisiting and checking learning effectively.
• Pupils with SEND are identified accurately and supported through learning plans while following an ambitious curriculum.
• The personal, social, health and economic curriculum is effective and includes consent, healthy relationships, tolerance and respect.
• Pupils benefit from meaningful careers encounters with industry experts and digital, media and technology employers.
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective.
• Trustees and local governors are committed advocates who carry out their statutory duties.
• Many staff appreciate support for workload and wellbeing.

Areas for Improvement

• In some subjects, essential knowledge is not clearly defined, so pupils do not build securely on what they know.
• Assessment is underdeveloped or inconsistently used in some subjects, leaving gaps and misconceptions unaddressed.
• Some pupils produce work in exercise books that is not of good quality.
• Reading support is at an early stage and some older pupils still have gaps in reading knowledge.
• Trustees are not given sufficient information about pupils' progress to support strategic oversight.
• Strategic oversight of some aspects of the school's work is not robust enough to show impact or improvement priorities.

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 BOA Digital Technologies Academy attended 90.8% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 33.1% 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, 14.6% of pupils at BOA Digital Technologies Academy 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 BOA Digital Technologies Academy had 18.5 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 25.3% 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, 17.8% of pupils at BOA Digital Technologies Academy were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 2.3% 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 BOA Digital Technologies Academy received £8,724 and spent £7,760 for each of its 361 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £362,000 (£1,002 per pupil).

Across all 3 schools of Boa Trust, income was £7,550 and spending £7,416 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 · Birmingham local authority: places and applications

BOA Digital Technologies Academy is part of Boa Trust, which runs 3 schools. The nearest others:

• Birmingham Ormiston Academy Birmingham
• BOA Stage and Screen Production Academy Birmingham

What is BOA Digital Technologies Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for BOA Digital Technologies Academy is Requires Improvement, from an inspection in April 2025.

When was BOA Digital Technologies Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

BOA Digital Technologies Academy was last inspected in April 2025.

How many pupils does BOA Digital Technologies Academy have?

BOA Digital Technologies Academy has 443 pupils on roll.

What age range does BOA Digital Technologies Academy cover?

BOA Digital Technologies Academy for pupils aged 11 to 18.

Where is BOA Digital Technologies Academy?

BOA Digital Technologies Academy is at 47 Barrack Street, Birmingham, B7 4EU.