Blythe Bridge High School

Blythe Bridge High School is a welcoming, calm and well-led school where pupils behave well, attend regularly and feel safe. Safeguarding arrangements meet requirements, and attendance and behaviour are a particular strength. Leaders have high expectations, staff are proud to work at the school, and the school has benefited from effective support from the John Taylor Multi Academy Trust since joining in March 2023. The school uses five alternative provisions, including four unregistered, for a small number of pupils. Overall, the school is performing well. Pupils generally develop secure knowledge and skills across a well-designed curriculum, and most attain in line with national averages. Pupils with SEND make positive progress from their starting points, and sixth-form students mostly achieve well and move on to appropriate destinations. The personal development programme, careers guidance and extra-curricular offer are strong. There are some areas for improvement. Teachers do not consistently develop pupils' writing skills across all subjects, and they do not always address some pupils' barriers to learning swiftly and effectively. Published data also shows A-level attainment and disadvantaged pupils' outcomes in English and maths/Progress 8 below national averages in the most recent year, although the report notes improving trends. The next steps focus on literacy, especially writing, and consistently tackling barriers to learning.

Strengths

• Attendance is high, including for disadvantaged pupils and sixth-form students, and continues to improve.
• Pupils behave very well, are respectful, and bullying is rare and dealt with quickly.
• Leaders have created a calm, orderly and welcoming school environment.
• The curriculum is well designed, logically sequenced and delivered by staff with strong subject expertise.
• Teaching is typically effective, with clear explanations, recap of prior learning and accurate checks for understanding.
• Pupils with SEND make positive progress and receive increasingly effective support to access the curriculum.
• Pupils, including disadvantaged pupils, generally attain in line with national averages across a broad range of subjects.
• Sixth-form students follow an ambitious curriculum and achieve well in vocational qualifications.
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective and pupils feel safe.
• Leaders and governors have a clear understanding of strengths and areas for improvement and use additional funding effectively.
• Staff are proud to work at the school and value leaders' consideration of workload and wellbeing.
• The personal development programme, careers guidance and extra-curricular opportunities are well thought out and inclusive.

Areas for Improvement

• Teachers do not consistently develop pupils' writing skills across all subjects.
• Teachers do not always address some pupils' barriers to learning swiftly and effectively.
• A-level average point scores and value-added measures are below national averages.
• Disadvantaged pupils' English and maths attainment and Progress 8 were below national averages in the latest published data.

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 Blythe Bridge High School attended 93.4% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 17.6% 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, 6.4% of pupils at Blythe Bridge 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 Blythe Bridge High School had 18.2 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 11.1% 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, 11.9% of pupils at Blythe Bridge High School were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 3.2% 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 Blythe Bridge High School received £7,567 and spent £7,529 for each of its 1,035 pupils. It ended the year with a deficit of £407,000 (-£393 per pupil).

Across all 20 schools of John Taylor Mat, income was £7,398 and spending £7,462 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 Stoke-On-Trent · Staffordshire local authority: places and applications

Blythe Bridge High School is part of John Taylor Mat, which runs 21 schools. The nearest others:

• Needwood CofE Primary School Burton-On-Trent
• Rugeley John Taylor Rugeley
• Yoxall St Peter's CofE Primary School Burton-On-Trent
• All Saints CofE (C) Primary School Burton-On-Trent
• The Mosley Academy Burton-On-Trent
• Kingsmead School Cannock
• John Taylor Free School Burton-On-Trent
• Shobnall Primary & Nursery School Burton-On-Trent
• Branston Locks Primary and Nursery School Burton-On-Trent
• John Taylor High School Burton-On-Trent

What is Blythe Bridge High School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Blythe Bridge High School is Expected standard, from an inspection in June 2026.

When was Blythe Bridge High School last inspected by Ofsted?

Blythe Bridge High School was last inspected in June 2026.

How many pupils does Blythe Bridge High School have?

Blythe Bridge High School has 1,049 pupils on roll.

What age range does Blythe Bridge High School cover?

Blythe Bridge High School for pupils aged 11 to 18.

What are Blythe Bridge High School's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 42.9, and 37% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Blythe Bridge High School?

Blythe Bridge High School is at Cheadle Road, Blythe Bridge, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, ST11 9PW.