The Heights Academy, Solihull
The Heights Academy is a special school for pupils aged 7 to 16 in Solihull, part of Forward Education Trust.
Data last updated 26 Oct 2026
The Heights Academy in detail
The Heights Academy in its own words
In its own words: "We recognise that each young person on the autism spectrum has unique needs and approaches to learning. Pupils at The Heights Academy have often found mainstream settings overwhelming or overstimulating and therefore they have struggled to access the full range of the curriculum and achieve their potential."
From the headteacher's welcome: "It is a privilege to be the Headteacher of this new and developing school, proudly part of Forward Education Trust family of schools. The school opened it’s doors in September 2023 with the aim to be a specialist provision for children from 8-16 years old with an Education, Health and Care Plan."
Vision and values (school website)Headteacher's welcome (school website)
Source: The school's own website
Compared with nearby schools
The nearest other special schools to The Heights Academy are Castlewood School (0.2 miles, Requires improvement); Merstone School (0.7 miles, Outstanding); Forest Oak School (0.7 miles, Outstanding); and SILVER BIRCH SCHOOL (1.2 miles, Good).
Castlewood SchoolMerstone SchoolForest Oak SchoolSILVER BIRCH SCHOOL
The trust
The Heights Academy is one of 6 schools run by Forward Education Trust, an academy trust.
What parents say
30 parents answered Ofsted's Parent View survey about The Heights Academy (as of September 2025): 27% would recommend the school, 27% say their child is happy there and 10% of those with a view say bullying is dealt with well.
The strongest agreement was that the school supports their child's wider development (33%); the weakest, that the school deals with bullying well (among parents with a view) (10%).
Who goes there
58% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, and 2.9% speak English as an additional language, according to the 2026 school census.
Almost every pupil at The Heights Academy has an education, health and care plan (69 of 69 in 2026). The most common need among them is autism.
Getting there
The nearest railway station is Water Orton Rail Station, about 0.9 miles away in a straight line.
11 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is Hamble Close (adjacent), 100 metres away.
The area around the school
Measured by the 2025 English Indices of Deprivation, the neighbourhood The Heights Academy stands in is among the 10% most deprived neighbourhoods in England. This describes where the school is, not where its pupils live.
Suspensions and exclusions
In 2024/25, The Heights Academy issued 29 suspensions, 59.2 for every 100 pupils, and no permanent exclusions.
Sources: Ofsted Parent View; DfE school census and special educational needs statistics; NaPTAN (Department for Transport); English Indices of Deprivation 2025 (MHCLG); data.police.uk street-level crime; DfE exclusions statistics
Key Information
DfE GIASOfsted Rating
Ofsted · 1 year agoOverall
Quality of Education
Behaviour & Attitudes
Personal Development
Leadership & Management
Ofsted Insights
From Ofsted's May 2025 inspection report.
What This School Does Well
The Heights Academy creates a warm, welcoming environment where pupils with autism and complex needs feel safe, cared for and supported by dedicated staff. The school has a particular strength in reading, with expert support helping even struggling readers become confident and fluent. Staff genuinely care about pupils' wellbeing and the school offers an impressive range of enrichment activities to build confidence and broaden horizons.
Key Strengths
- Strong focus on reading with well-trained staff providing targeted support to help pupils become confident, fluent readers
- Warm, caring school culture with positive relationships between staff and pupils who feel safe and supported
- Ambitious curriculum designed to give pupils breadth similar to mainstream schools and prepare them for formal qualifications
- Wide range of personal development opportunities including theatre work, football teams, trips and visitors to enhance learning
Areas for Improvement
- High pupil absence rates mean students are missing important academic and social learning
- Teachers don't always understand pupils' individual learning needs well enough, leading to activities that don't match what pupils need to learn
- Inconsistent approaches to helping anxious pupils re-engage in lessons, resulting in lost learning time
- Poor communication with some parents has left them feeling dissatisfied and not involved in their children's education
- School hasn't effectively checked the impact of its own work, meaning weaknesses haven't been identified quickly enough
Safeguarding
Safeguarding arrangements are effective, with staff being vigilant and supervising pupils closely while maintaining positive relationships.
Extracurricular Activities
Theatre workshops, football teams playing against local schools, regular trips, visiting professionals
The Heights Academy is a special school for pupils with autism and related needs that provides a warm, caring environment with high expectations. However, inconsistencies in curriculum delivery and safeguarding processes mean pupils are not achieving as well as they could be.
At a Glance
58.0%
Free School Meals
No
Boarding
No
Nursery
No
Sixth Form
No
Special Measures
What Parents Think
30 responsesSource: Ofsted Parent View, responses as at September 2025 - % who strongly agree or agree
How Does This School Compare?
Ranked against 5 nearby schools
Latest from The Heights Academy
Summer Term 1 & 2 - 2026: Weekly Newsletters
9 Jul 2026
Summer Term 2026: Weekly Newsletters
21 Apr 2026
Spring Term 2026 - Weekly Newsletters
10 Mar 2026
Christmas Week at The Heights
5 Dec 2025
Weekly Newsletters: Autumn Term 2025
4 Nov 2025
Newsletter: Autumn Term 1 2025
4 Nov 2025
From The Heights Academy's website. School Signal is not affiliated with the school.
Social & online
Keep up with The Heights Academy
Getting There
Bus Stops
Free school transport
Check free transport to The Heights Academy from your postcode →
You apply to the council where you live. The Heights Academy is in Solihull; for families living there:
Apply to Solihull for free school transport. Its policy is on the council's website.
Safety and surroundings
Road collisions within 500 m (2021 to 2025)
- Collisions
- 12
- Fatal
- 0
- Serious
- 2
- Children hurt
- 3
Within 500 m of the school's mapped location, police recorded 12 road collisions in which someone was injured in 2021 to 2025: none fatal, 2 serious and 10 slight.
3 children aged 0 to 15 were hurt.
1 of the collisions happened on a weekday between 08:00 and 09:30 or 14:45 and 16:30, holidays included.
The typical figure for schools in Solihull is 12 (the median across 90 schools, same distance and years).
Serious and slight counts use the Department for Transport's severity adjustment, which allows for changes in how police forces record injuries; they are estimates, rounded to whole numbers. Distances are in a straight line. Source: Department for Transport, Road Safety Data (STATS19), Open Government Licence v3.0.
Commute and house prices
Capacity & Demand
School Occupancy
59%
Available places
69 pupils
116 places
47 spare places
as recorded on GIAS
Area Demand Pressure - Solihull
Based on MHCLG Live Table 122 (2024-25, last 5 years) for Solihull
Across Solihull council
Places available
3,299
Applications
2,632
Got 1st preference
79.7%
Got preferred school
97.1%
All secondary applications across Solihull council (2026/27), not just this school.
Inspection History
SEND & SEN Provision
SEN Overview
0
SEN Support
69
EHC Plans
100.0%
of Total Pupils
2026 academic year
Provision & Specialist Facilities
Pupils by Need Type
Pupil Demographics
Ethnicity
2026 academic year
Key Indicators
69
Total Pupils
53
Boys
16
Girls
2026 academic year
Workforce
11
Teachers
6.3:1
Pupil-teacher ratio
£45,134
Mean salary
2026 data
Pupil Absence2024/25
28.0%
Overall absence
61.5%
Persistent absence
52
Enrolments
Absence trend
Source: DfE pupil absence statistics. Persistent absence = pupils missing 10%+ sessions.
Feeder Primary Schools
Primary schools that likely feed into this school, based on proximity
The Heights Academy
Showing 10 of 15 linked schools
Questions parents ask about The Heights Academy
What is the catchment area for The Heights Academy?
No fixed boundary. When The Heights Academy is oversubscribed, Solihull allocates places by its published criteria, usually ending with home-to-school distance.
How many pupils go to The Heights Academy?
The Heights Academy has around 69 pupils on roll. 58% are eligible for free school meals.
What is attendance like at The Heights Academy?
28% of sessions were missed at The Heights Academy in 2024/25. 61.5% of pupils were persistently absent (missing 10% or more of sessions).
How do I apply to The Heights Academy?
Apply through Solihull's coordinated admissions process, naming The Heights Academy on your application. The national closing date in England is 31 October for secondary places and 15 January for primary places, in the year before your child starts.
How many road collisions happen near The Heights Academy?
Within 500 m of the school's mapped location, police recorded 12 road collisions in which someone was injured in 2021 to 2025: none fatal, 2 serious and 10 slight. 3 children aged 0 to 15 were hurt. 1 of the collisions happened on a weekday between 08:00 and 09:30 or 14:45 and 16:30, holidays included. The typical figure for schools in Solihull is 12 (the median across 90 schools, same distance and years).
Where is The Heights Academy?
The Heights Academy is at Auckland Drive, Solihull, B36 0DD.
Source: Department for Transport, Road Safety Data (STATS19)