St Francis of Assisi Catholic College, Walsall

Ofsted's report card from its 17 March 2026 inspection grades St Francis of Assisi Catholic College on 7 areas: 5 strong standard and 2 expected standard. Report cards replaced single-word judgements in November 2025, on a five-point scale from exceptional to urgent improvement.

Achievement - Strong standard. "Pupils, including those who may face barriers to their learning, achieve very well."

Attendance and behaviour - Strong standard. "There is an impressive culture of high attendance."

Curriculum and teaching - Strong standard. "Leaders have designed a curriculum that is both challenging and engaging."

Inclusion - Strong standard. "Leaders are deliberate in their work to build a clear and comprehensive picture of pupils' individual needs."

Leadership and governance - Strong standard. "Leaders are determined to ensure that pupils receive an education that enhances both their academic and personal growth."

Personal development and wellbeing - Expected standard. "Leaders' work to develop pupils' character is of high quality."

Post 16 provision - Expected standard. "Across the sixth form, students increasingly achieve well."

Safeguarding standards were met.

Ofsted's next steps for the school: "Leaders should ensure that teachers have the necessary subject knowledge, and sufficient time, to deliver the wider personal development curriculum effectively, enabling pupils to develop a deeper and more sophisticated understanding of the key concepts within this subject area".

In its own words: "At St Francis of Assisi we take our motto seriously and use it as the foundation of all decisions and interactions. Staff model excellent manners to students and explicitly teach them because only the best is good enough. The curriculum at St Francis is expertly sequenced and considered because only the best is good enough for SFA students."

In 2026, pupils at St Francis of Assisi Catholic College averaged an Attainment 8 score of 53, the average grade across their best eight GCSEs. The average state school scored 43.9 in Walsall and 47 across England.

56% 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 53.2.

Its most recent Progress 8 score, for 2024, was 0.1: pupils made about 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 47, against 55.7 for other pupils at the school - a gap of 8.7 points.

Pupils sat GCSEs in 20 subjects; after English and maths, the most popular were Religious Studies, Combined Science and History.

For September 2026 entry, 235 families put St Francis of Assisi Catholic College as their first choice and 712 named it as one of their preferences, for 188 places offered. That is 1.3 first choices for every place. 72 families who put it first were not offered a place there.

The nearest other state secondary schools to St Francis of Assisi Catholic College are Aldridge School - A Science College (0.6 miles, Good, Attainment 8 43.4); Ormiston Shelfield Community Academy (2.4 miles, Good, Attainment 8 39.6); The Streetly Academy (2.4 miles, Good, Attainment 8 42.9); and Barr Beacon School (2.5 miles, Good, Attainment 8 50.4).

St Francis of Assisi Catholic College's 2026 results were higher than all 4 of them.

138 parents answered Ofsted's Parent View survey about St Francis of Assisi Catholic College (as of April 2026): 88% would recommend the school, 85% say their child is happy there and 67% of those with a view say bullying is dealt with well.

The strongest agreement was that their child feels safe (91%); the weakest, that the school deals with bullying well (among parents with a view) (67%).

Of the 205 pupils who finished Year 11 in 2023/24, 91% stayed in education or training for at least two terms, including 38% to a further education college, 3% to an apprenticeship and 2% into work.

Of the 100 students who left the sixth form in 2023/24, 72% went on to university or other higher education, 7% to apprenticeships and 14% into work. 21% went to one of the most selective third of universities.

The nearest railway station is Blake Street Rail Station, about 2.8 miles away in a straight line.

4 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is St Francis College (adjacent), 110 metres away.

Measured by the 2025 English Indices of Deprivation, the neighbourhood St Francis of Assisi Catholic College stands in is among the 20% least deprived neighbourhoods in England. This describes where the school is, not where its pupils live.

In August 2026, police recorded 60 crimes within a mile of the school, most often violence and sexual offences, shoplifting and vehicle crime. That is well below the typical figure around schools in Walsall (297).

In 2024/25, St Francis of Assisi Catholic College issued 55 suspensions, 4.9 for every 100 pupils (the average state school: 6.3), and 1 permanent exclusion.

The primary schools closest to St Francis of Assisi Catholic College are St Mary of the Angels Catholic Primary School (0.1 miles), Cooper and Jordan Church of England Primary School (0.4 miles), Whetstone Field Primary School (0.4 miles) and Leighswood School (1 mile). Admission does not depend on which primary a child attends unless the school's policy names feeder schools.