King Edward VI High School

King Edward VI High School is a secondary comprehensive academy in the Walton Multi-Academy Trust, inspected for the first time under section 5 in February 2025. The school is judged to require improvement in quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and leadership and management, while sixth-form provision is good. Many pupils are happy and value the school’s strong pastoral care, and attendance has improved, but pupils experience inconsistency in learning and behaviour. Leaders have identified the key knowledge in the curriculum, but teachers do not consistently check understanding or close gaps, and provision for pupils with SEND and reading support is too variable. Behaviour is not managed consistently and oversight of removals from lessons has been weak, although suspensions have fallen. Personal development and wider opportunities are available but not consistently delivered or taken up. The sixth form is a notable strength, with students’ learning and destinations support more consistently positive; safeguarding is effective. The trust and governors are committed, but leaders’ evaluation of impact is not precise enough to drive improvement.

Strengths

• Strong pastoral care and support help many pupils feel happy and safe.
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective.
• Sixth-form provision is good, with more consistent checking of understanding and support for destinations.
• Attendance has improved through a more systematic approach.
• The number of suspensions has fallen.
• The curriculum identifies the key knowledge to be taught.
• Pupils value Life Matters lessons and the wider opportunities on offer.
• Staff are positive about the school’s engagement on workload.
• Trust and governors are committed and have secured additional pastoral staffing.

Areas for Improvement

• Teachers do not consistently check pupils’ understanding or close gaps in knowledge.
• Some pupils do not complete work, contributing to insecure learning.
• Provision for pupils with SEND is too variable and tasks are not consistently adapted.
• Support for pupils who struggle to read is at an early stage and not yet effective.
• The behaviour policy is not consistently applied or understood.
• The school has lacked precise oversight of removals from lessons and poor behaviour.
• Personal development delivery and uptake of wider opportunities are inconsistent.
• Careers provision does not use past destinations information well.
• Leaders do not evaluate the impact of their work strategically.
• Trust and governors do not receive enough precise information to support improvement.

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 King Edward VI High School attended 92.6% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 22.6% 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, 11.3% of pupils at King Edward VI High School were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). 7 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 King Edward VI High School had 16.3 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 10.4% 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, 16.9% of pupils at King Edward VI High School were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 2.2% 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 King Edward VI High School received £7,758 and spent £7,402 for each of its 663 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £224,000 (£337 per pupil).

Across all 2 schools of Walton Multi-Academy Trust, income was £7,183 and spending £7,204 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 Stafford · Staffordshire local authority: places and applications

King Edward VI High School is part of Walton Multi-Academy Trust, which runs 2 schools. The nearest others:

• Walton High School Stafford

What is King Edward VI High School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for King Edward VI High School is Requires Improvement, from an inspection in March 2025.

When was King Edward VI High School last inspected by Ofsted?

King Edward VI High School was last inspected in March 2025.

How many pupils does King Edward VI High School have?

King Edward VI High School has 646 pupils on roll.

What age range does King Edward VI High School cover?

King Edward VI High School for pupils aged 11 to 18.

What are King Edward VI High School's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 39.9, and 27% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is King Edward VI High School?

King Edward VI High School is at Westway, Stafford, Staffordshire, ST17 9YJ.