Bishop Challoner Catholic College, Birmingham

Ofsted's report card from its 6 January 2026 inspection grades Bishop Challoner Catholic College on 7 areas: 3 strong standard and 4 expected standard. Report cards replaced single-word judgements in November 2025, on a five-point scale from exceptional to urgent improvement.

Attendance and behaviour - Strong standard. "Everyone places the highest focus on pupils' attendance."

Leadership and governance - Strong standard. "Leaders have a detailed and forensic working knowledge of the school."

Personal development and wellbeing - Strong standard. "Leaders fully considered their school's context when establishing the impressive personal development offer."

Achievement - Expected standard. "Across the curriculum, pupils achieve well."

Curriculum and teaching - Expected standard. "The school's curriculum is broad and ambitious."

Inclusion - Expected standard. "Leaders have established effective systems to accurately identify pupils' needs promptly, including special educational needs and/or disabilities."

Post 16 provision - Expected standard. "The school has created a truly inclusive post-16 provision."

Safeguarding standards were met.

Ofsted's next steps for the school: "Leaders should ensure that staff quickly and effectively identify gaps in pupils' knowledge so that they can adapt their teaching to address these gaps and enable pupils to make strong progress"; "Leaders should ensure that pupils who learn vocational subjects make strong progress in those subjects and achieve well"; "Leaders should continue their focus on ensuring pupils consistently get support in lessons that is well matched to their needs".

From the headteacher's welcome: "A sincere welcome to Bishop Challoner Catholic College, one of the highest performing comprehensive schools in the country. In placing Christ at the centre, our school ensures that our Gospel Values are implicit in daily school life and in the way in which we reach out to serve the wider community."

Clubs and activities named on the school's website include football, netball, tennis, gymnastics, basketball, badminton, swimming and multi-sports.

In 2026, pupils at Bishop Challoner Catholic College averaged an Attainment 8 score of 51.9, the average grade across their best eight GCSEs. The average state school scored 47.5 in Birmingham and 47 across England.

49% passed English and maths at grade 5 or above, against 49% in Birmingham and 47% in England.

That is up from 48.4 in 2025.

Its most recent Progress 8 score, for 2024, was 0.2: pupils made above average progress compared with pupils nationally who started secondary school at the same level. Progress 8 was not published for 2026.

Disadvantaged pupils averaged an Attainment 8 of 44.5, against 56.3 for other pupils at the school - a gap of 11.8 points.

Pupils sat GCSEs in 26 subjects; after English and maths, the most popular were Religious Studies, Combined Science and Geography.

For September 2026 entry, 182 families put Bishop Challoner Catholic College as their first choice and 1025 named it as one of their preferences, for 198 places offered. It had fewer first-choice applications than places. 15 families who put it first were not offered a place there.

The nearest other state secondary schools to Bishop Challoner Catholic College are Wheelers Lane Technology College (0.3 miles, Outstanding, Attainment 8 48.2); King Edward VI Camp Hill School for Girls (0.5 miles, Outstanding, selective, Attainment 8 78.8); King Edward VI Camp Hill School for Boys (0.5 miles, Outstanding, selective, Attainment 8 78.4); and Queensbridge School (0.6 miles, Good, Attainment 8 50.1).

Bishop Challoner Catholic College's 2026 results were higher than 2 of these 4 schools.

142 parents answered Ofsted's Parent View survey about Bishop Challoner Catholic College (as of April 2026): 84% would recommend the school, 85% say their child is happy there and 53% of those with a view say bullying is dealt with well.

The strongest agreement was that their child feels safe (88%); the weakest, that the school deals with bullying well (among parents with a view) (53%).

Of the 193 pupils who finished Year 11 in 2023/24, 88% stayed in education or training for at least two terms, including 36% to a further education college, 3% to an apprenticeship and 1% into work.

Of the 106 students who left the sixth form in 2023/24, 70% went on to university or other higher education, 6% to apprenticeships and 18% into work. 21% went to one of the most selective third of universities.

36.1% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, well above the average state school (25%), according to the 2026 school census.

In 2026, 169 pupils (14.3%) received SEN support and 13 (1.1%) had an education, health and care plan, against 16.2% and 4.6% at the average state school. The most common need among them is social, emotional and mental health needs.

Bishop Challoner Catholic College had 97 teachers in 2026, one for every 13 pupils: more teachers per pupil than a typical secondary school, at about one for every 17.

The nearest railway station is Kings Heath Rail Station, about 720 metres away (roughly a 9-minute walk).

19 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is Catholic College, 150 metres away.

In 2024/25, Bishop Challoner Catholic College issued 167 suspensions, 13.4 for every 100 pupils (the average state school: 6.3), and 1 permanent exclusion.

The primary schools closest to Bishop Challoner Catholic College are St Dunstan's Catholic Primary School (under 0.1 miles), Kings Heath Primary School (0.3 miles), Wheelers Lane Primary School (0.4 miles) and Colmore Infant and Nursery School (0.6 miles). Admission does not depend on which primary a child attends unless the school's policy names feeder schools.