Birches Green Primary School

Birches Green Primary School is a newly amalgamated school, inspected for the first time since the infant and junior schools merged in September 2023. Inspectors found leadership and governance to be a strong standard: leaders have successfully created one school from two very different predecessors, building a shared identity, higher ambitions and a much-improved culture. Staff feel well led and supported, and governors and trustees know the school well. Personal development and wellbeing are also strong; pupils are happy, safe and respectful, and they are well supported to manage their feelings and behaviour. Safeguarding standards are met. Most other areas are at the expected standard. Achievement has improved markedly, especially for disadvantaged pupils, although the combined reading, writing and mathematics measure remains below national and the most recent phonics screening result is slightly below national. The curriculum is broad and reading is prioritised, but foundational skills such as spelling and handwriting are not applied consistently, errors are not always corrected in the moment, and progress over time is not always evident in pupils' books. Inclusion is a high priority and pupils with SEND are well known and supported. Early years gives children a settled and caring start, but staff do not always extend children's language through high-quality interactions, and some activities lack a clear purpose. Attendance is improving but remains above the national average, and persistent absence is still high. The school's next steps focus on securing consistently effective early reading teaching and assessment, embedding the approach to foundational skills across all classes, sustaining attendance improvements, and strengthening early years language provision. The school is part of Robin Hood Multi Academy Trust and serves a disadvantaged intake, with free school meals eligibility well above average. Overall, this is a school that has come a long way in difficult circumstances, with strong leadership and care, but with remaining inconsistencies in teaching and attendance to address.

Strengths

• Leadership has successfully unified two schools into one community with a shared identity and higher ambitions.
• Governance and trust oversight are strong, well-informed and supportive.
• Staff feel trusted, valued and well supported with workload and professional development.
• Personal development and wellbeing provision helps pupils manage their feelings and behaviour.
• Pupils are happy, safe, respectful and behave well across lessons and playtimes.
• Inclusion is a high priority and pupils with SEND are well known and supported.
• Reading is prioritised, with well-matched books and targeted support for pupils who need help.
• Disadvantaged pupils' achievement in reading, writing and mathematics rose substantially.
• Attendance is improving, including for disadvantaged pupils and those with SEND.
• Early years provides a caring, settled start with warm relationships and clear routines.
• Pupils have broad opportunities through clubs, music, trips and pupil responsibilities.
• Suspensions have fallen, and exclusions are used only as a last resort.

Areas for Improvement

• Foundational skills such as spelling and handwriting are not applied consistently across all classes.
• Pupils' work in books does not always reflect high expectations for foundational knowledge and skills.
• Spelling and sentence errors are not always addressed, and progress over time is not consistently evident.
• The most recent phonics screening result is slightly below the national figure.
• Early reading teaching and assessment need to be consistently effective for all pupils, including those who join mid-year.
• Attendance remains above the national average, and persistent absence is high.
• Early years staff do not always extend children's language through high-quality interactions.
• Some early years activities and continuous provision lack a clear purpose, including outdoors in Nursery.
• Overall achievement in combined reading, writing and mathematics remains below the national average.
• The disadvantage gap remains, although it has narrowed.

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 Birches Green Primary School attended 92.8% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 24.7% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 13.0%).

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, 1.3% of pupils at Birches Green Primary School were suspended at least once (nationally 1.1%). 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 Birches Green Primary School had 24.2 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 5.7% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 15.7%).

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, 17.0% of pupils at Birches Green Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 2.3% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 4.1%).

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 primary schools. Counts are as published, with small numbers not hidden.

In 2024–25 Birches Green Primary School received £7,878 and spent £7,519 for each of its 437 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £266,000 (£608 per pupil).

Across all 9 schools of Robin Hood Multi Academy Trust, income was £6,900 and spending £6,755 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.

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All schools in Birmingham · Birmingham local authority: places and applications

Birches Green Primary School is part of Robin Hood Multi Academy Trust, which runs 9 schools. The nearest others:

• Yenton Primary School Birmingham
• Story Wood School Birmingham
• Yorkswood Primary School Birmingham
• Cedars Academy Birmingham
• Ulverley School Solihull
• Robin Hood Academy Birmingham
• Broadmeadow Infant School Birmingham
• Broadmeadow Junior School Birmingham

What is Birches Green Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Birches Green Primary School is Expected standard, from an inspection in September 2026.

When was Birches Green Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Birches Green Primary School was last inspected in September 2026.

How many pupils does Birches Green Primary School have?

Birches Green Primary School has 442 pupils on roll.

What age range does Birches Green Primary School cover?

Birches Green Primary School for pupils aged 3 to 11.

What are Birches Green Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 51% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Birches Green Primary School?

Birches Green Primary School is at Birches Green Road, Erdington, Birmingham, B24 9SR.