Waverley School, Birmingham

Ofsted's report card from its 10 March 2026 inspection grades Waverley School on 8 areas: 7 expected standard and 1 needs attention. Report cards replaced single-word judgements in November 2025, on a five-point scale from exceptional to urgent improvement.

Achievement - Expected standard. "In the secondary phase, most pupils progress securely through the curriculum from their individual starting points."

Attendance and behaviour - Expected standard. "Leaders understand the reasons why some pupils find it harder to attend school regularly."

Early years - Expected standard. "Leaders prioritise the early years and have an accurate understanding of the quality of education and care provided."

Inclusion - Expected standard. "Leaders make sure that pupils' needs are identified quickly and accurately."

Leadership and governance - Expected standard. "Leaders have a clear understanding of the school's context, what is working well and what needs to be improved."

Personal development and wellbeing - Expected standard. "The school's personal development programme is carefully sequenced so that pupils can build their knowledge in a coherent way."

Post-16 provision - Expected standard. "The sixth form is welcoming and inclusive."

Curriculum and teaching - Needs attention. "Leaders have a broadly accurate view of the strengths and weaknesses in curriculum and teaching."

Safeguarding standards were met.

Ofsted's next steps for the school: "Leaders should continue to reduce persistent absenteeism by checking regularly that their actions are having the intended impact and by acting quickly where individual pupils' attendance is not improving"; "Leaders should ensure that staff have the expertise to implement the curriculum effectively so that more pupils achieve consistently high standards across a wider range of subjects as they progress from key stage 2 to key stage 4"; "Leaders should ensure that staff use timely checks on learning to identify gaps and provide the practice pupils need to embed important knowledge securely"; "Leaders should ensure that staff maximise high-quality interactions with children in the early years".

In its own words: "Waverley School is an all-through academy for pupils aged 4-19, with a resource base for pupils with cognition and learning needs. The school operates from a purpose-built site with modern, state-of-the-art facilities available for learning, teaching, and training. Waverley School makes its inclusive vision a reality. We have high expectations of behaviour, attendance, uniform, achievement, and attainment."

In 2026, pupils at Waverley School averaged an Attainment 8 score of 40.1, the average grade across their best eight GCSEs. The average state school scored 47.5 in Birmingham and 47 across England.

36% passed English and maths at grade 5 or above, against 49% in Birmingham and 47% in England.

That is down from 41.9 in 2025.

Its most recent Progress 8 score, for 2024, was -0.04: 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 38.3, against 42.6 for other pupils at the school - a gap of 4.3 points.

Pupils sat GCSEs in 22 subjects; after English and maths, the most popular were Religious Studies, Combined Science and History.

For September 2026 entry, 90 families put Waverley School as their first choice and 905 named it as one of their preferences, for 120 places offered. It had fewer first-choice applications than places. 6 families who put it first were not offered a place there.

The nearest other state secondary schools to Waverley School are Eden Girls' Leadership Academy, Birmingham (0.2 miles, Outstanding, Attainment 8 63.6); Waverley Studio College (0.2 miles, Good, Attainment 8 16.6); Starbank School (0.4 miles, Good, Attainment 8 46.4); and Saltley Academy (0.6 miles, Good, Attainment 8 39.8).

Waverley School's 2026 results were higher than 2 of these 4 schools.

Waverley School is one of 2 schools run by The Waverley Education Foundation Ltd, an academy trust.

29 parents answered Ofsted's Parent View survey about Waverley School (as of April 2026): 45% would recommend the school, 52% say their child is happy there and 29% of those with a view say bullying is dealt with well.

The strongest agreement was that their child feels safe (62%); the weakest, that the school deals with bullying well (among parents with a view) (29%).

Of the 217 pupils who finished Year 11 in 2023/24, 85% stayed in education or training for at least two terms, including 38% to a further education college.

Of the 58 students who left the sixth form in 2023/24, 66% went on to university or other higher education, 3% to apprenticeships and 9% into work. 2% went to one of the most selective third of universities.

53.1% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, well above the average state school (25%), and 60.6% speak English as an additional language, against 18.8% on average, according to the 2026 school census.

The largest ethnic groups are Asian (66%), Black (15%) and other ethnic groups (9%).

Waverley School has a resourced provision for specific learning difficulties such as dyslexia, speech, language and communication needs, autism, moderate learning difficulties and severe learning difficulties: 67 places, 67 pupils on roll.

Waverley School had 133 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 Stechford Rail Station, about 1 mile away in a straight line.

6 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is Elmbank Court, 110 metres away.

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

In 2024/25, Waverley School issued 213 suspensions, 12.6 for every 100 pupils (the average state school: 6.3), and 4 permanent exclusions.

The primary schools closest to Waverley School are Alston Primary School (0.4 miles), Bordesley Green Primary School (0.4 miles), St Bernadette's Catholic Primary School (0.4 miles) and Blakesley Hall Primary School (0.6 miles). Admission does not depend on which primary a child attends unless the school's policy names feeder schools.