Queen Mary's High School, Walsall

Ofsted's report card from its 17 March 2026 inspection grades Queen Mary's High School on 7 areas: 2 exceptional and 5 strong standard. Report cards replaced single-word judgements in November 2025, on a five-point scale from exceptional to urgent improvement.

Achievement - Exceptional. "Pupils' achievement is truly remarkable."

Personal development and wellbeing - Exceptional. "The school's personal development programme is extremely impressive."

Attendance and behaviour - Strong standard. "Leaders place a firm emphasis on attendance, and the overwhelming majority of pupils attend regularly."

Curriculum and teaching - Strong standard. "Leaders have established a highly ambitious curriculum that meets the needs of pupils."

Inclusion - Strong standard. "Leaders have established sophisticated ways to help identify and assess pupils' needs."

Leadership and governance - Strong standard. "Leaders demonstrate a deep and values-driven commitment to the school and its community."

Post 16 provision - Strong standard. "The sixth form is an integral part of school life."

Safeguarding standards were met.

Ofsted's next steps for the school: "Leaders should continue to ensure that in-year adjustments to the learning plans of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities are consistently shared and enacted across the school".

In 2026, pupils at Queen Mary's High School averaged an Attainment 8 score of 74.1, the average grade across their best eight GCSEs. The average state school scored 43.9 in Walsall and 47 across England.

96% passed English and maths at grade 5 or above, against 39% in Walsall and 47% in England.

That is in line with 2025, when the score was 73.5.

Its most recent Progress 8 score, for 2024, was 0.55: pupils made well 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 73, against 74.5 for other pupils at the school - a gap of 1.5 points.

Pupils sat GCSEs in 19 subjects; after English and maths, the most popular were Chemistry, Biology and Physics.

Queen Mary's High School is a grammar school: places go to children who reach the required standard in its entrance test, and only then are the oversubscription criteria applied.

For September 2026 entry, 263 families put Queen Mary's High School as their first choice and 851 named it as one of their preferences, for 149 places offered. That is 1.8 first choices for every place. 167 families who put it first were not offered a place there.

Queen Mary's High School admits pupils through an entrance test, usually called the 11-plus. Children have to be registered for it in advance, normally in the spring or summer of Year 5; the test itself is usually sat in September of Year 6, and results come out in October, before the 31 October deadline for naming secondary schools.

Passing the test makes a child eligible rather than guaranteeing a place: when more children pass than there are places, Queen Mary's High School ranks them by the criteria in its admissions policy, which can include test score and distance. Check Walsall's admissions pages and the school's own policy for this year's registration deadline - a child who is not registered in time cannot sit the test.

Walsall has 2 state grammar schools in all, so a child who passes may have several selective schools to choose between.

The nearest other state secondary schools to Queen Mary's High School are Walsall Studio School (0.6 miles, Good, Attainment 8 32.8); Blue Coat Church of England Academy (0.6 miles, Good, Attainment 8 36.5); Queen Mary's Grammar School (0.9 miles, Outstanding, selective, Attainment 8 72.6); and West Walsall E-ACT Academy (1.5 miles, Good, Attainment 8 37.9).

Queen Mary's High School's 2026 results were higher than all 4 of them.

Queen Mary's High School is one of 12 schools run by The Mercian Trust, an academy trust.

Across the trust's secondary schools, pupils averaged an Attainment 8 score of 49 in 2024/25.

78 parents answered Ofsted's Parent View survey about Queen Mary's High School (as of April 2026): 92% would recommend the school, 83% say their child is happy there and 92% of those with a view say bullying is dealt with well.

The strongest agreement was that they would recommend the school (92%); the weakest, that their child is happy at the school (83%).

Of the 148 pupils who finished Year 11 in 2023/24, 99% stayed in education or training for at least two terms, including 6% to a further education college and 1% into work.

Of the 97 students who left the sixth form in 2023/24, 77% went on to university or other higher education, 2% to apprenticeships and 8% into work. 37% went to one of the most selective third of universities.

29.1% speak English as an additional language, against 18.8% on average, according to the 2026 school census.

The largest ethnic groups are Asian (58%), White British (13%) and Black (11%).

In 2026, 47 pupils (5%) received SEN support and 2 (0.2%) 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 autism.

The nearest railway station is Walsall Rail Station, about 840 metres away (roughly a 10-minute walk).

12 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is Queen Marys Girls High School (before), 20 metres away.

Measured by the 2025 English Indices of Deprivation, the neighbourhood Queen Mary's High School stands in is among the 10% most deprived neighbourhoods in England. This describes where the school is, not where its pupils live.

In August 2026, police recorded 602 crimes within a mile of the school, most often violence and sexual offences, shoplifting and vehicle crime. That is well above the typical figure around schools in Walsall (297), as is usual near a town centre.

In 2024/25, Queen Mary's High School issued 7 suspensions, 0.7 for every 100 pupils (the average state school: 6.3), and no permanent exclusions.

The primary schools closest to Queen Mary's High School are Butts Primary School (0.1 miles); St Patrick's Catholic Primary School, Walsall (0.4 miles); Chuckery Primary School (0.5 miles); and Blue Coat Church of England Aided Junior School (0.6 miles). Admission does not depend on which primary a child attends unless the school's policy names feeder schools.