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Plantsbrook School

Secondary · Sutton Coldfield · B72 1RB

Data updated

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Good (2019)

Last grade Ofsted published, no newer grade exists

Ofsted graded this school Good in 2019. Every inspection since has been ungraded, and an ungraded inspection cannot change a grade. The most recent found “Standards maintained”. Ofsted's current data file lists only graded inspections from September 2019 onwards, so this grade has dropped out of it, but it is still the school's grade of record, and still on Ofsted's own report page. It is old, so weigh it against the more recent evidence on this page.

Inspected 4 June 2019

Read the Ofsted report ↗

At a glance

1,574 pupils · 105% of 1,498 capacity (over capacity) (January 2026 census)

School type
Academy converter
Age range
11–18
Gender
Mixed
Admissions
Non-selective
Free school meals
17.9% of pupils (January 2026)
English as additional language
8.5% of pupils (2024/2025)
SEN support
13.6% of pupils (2024/2025)
EHC plan
3% of pupils (2024/2025)
Sixth form
Yes
Website
http://plantsbrookschool.co.uk/
URN
137053

In figures

For September 2026 entry, 273 families named it first for 270 Year 7 places, 1.01 first choices per place. Its last Year 7 place offered on distance for 2026 entry went to 2662 m (≈1.65 mi); distance decided places in 6 of the 6 years of Year 7 rounds we hold, 2021 to 2026. The last grade Ofsted published for it is Good, from 2019. In the 2025/26 autumn and spring terms its pupils missed 7.1% of sessions, against 6.6% across England.

Admissions demand: Year 7 entry, September 2026

1.01 first-choice applications per place

270 places offered · 273 first-choice applications · oversubscribed

First-choice applications per place, by entry year

19/20
20/21
21/22
22/23
23/24
24/25
25/26
26/27

Source: DfE applications and offers on national offer day · how demand is measured

Catchment area

Catchment area: not named in the council's figures. Places by distance, last offered at 2662 m (≈1.65 mi) for 2026 entry.

Admissions cutoff distance: Year 7

Last child offered a place under the distance criterion (2026 entry) lived within 2662 m (≈1.65 mi)

measured in a straight line.

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Would you have got in? Check your postcode

One free check a month, no account needed: your postcode against this school's cutoff history. Premium adds unlimited checks, the nearby schools you would be inside, and the address check across every school at once.

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Source: the admissions authority's published figures · how cutoffs work

GCSE results (2024/2025)

233 pupils at the end of key stage 4 in 2024/2025

Attainment 8 score
51.8
England 46.1
Grade 4 or above in English & maths GCSEs
77.7%
England 64.8%
Grade 5 or above in English & maths GCSEs
59.7%
England 45.4%
EBacc average point score
4.9
England 4.1

Progress 8 is suspended nationally for 2024/25 and 2025/26. These cohorts sat no key stage 2 tests (COVID), so there is no baseline to measure progress from.

A-level results (2024/2025)

A-level points per entry (England: 35 ≈ B-) C
30.1
England 35

Source: DfE performance tables 2024/2025 · what “suppressed” means

Schools with a similar intake

Attainment 8, 2024/2025

This school51.8
Median of its 12 closest peers48.4
Birmingham average47.7
England46.1

On attainment 8, this school is ahead of the schools that teach a comparable intake.

They are matched on intake, not location, so most are not local: see nearby schools for those you could apply to.

SchoolOfstedAttainment 8
Thomas Gainsborough SchoolSudbury · 115 miles awayGood46.1
King James's SchoolKnaresborough · 101 miles awayGood46.1
Upton-by-Chester High SchoolChester · 63 miles awayNo current grade48.8
Wildern SchoolSouthampton · 115 miles awayGood48.6
Huntington SchoolYork · 104 miles awayOutstanding48.2
Saint George's Church of England SchoolGravesend · 121 miles awayGood41.3
Lytchett Minster SchoolPoole · 126 miles awayGood46.8
The Cotswold AcademyCheltenham · 46 miles awayOutstanding53
Ashlyns SchoolBerkhamsted · 77 miles awayGood57.9
Twynham SchoolChristchurch · 126 miles awayGood53.5
LeventhorpeSawbridgeworth · 98 miles awayGood49.6
Chipping Campden SchoolChipping Campden · 35 miles awayGood47.3

It is not a ranking. Source: DfE performance tables 2024/2025 · how the matching works

Special educational needs

Needs this school records that it caters for, in the order it lists them.

Provision type: Resourced provision.

Pupils by ethnicity (January 2026)

White British 65% (Birmingham 22%, England 59%) · Asian Pakistani 4% (Birmingham 25%, England 5%) · Asian Indian 4% (Birmingham 6%, England 4%) · Mixed White and Black Caribbean 4% (Birmingham 3%, England 2%) · Asian Chinese 3% (Birmingham 1%, England 1%) · Any other Mixed background 3% (Birmingham 4%, England 3%) · Any other White background 3% (Birmingham 4%, England 7%) · Mixed White and Asian 2% (Birmingham 2%, England 2%) · Black Caribbean 2% (Birmingham 3%, England 1%) · Black African 2% (Birmingham 10%, England 5%) · Not recorded 2% (Birmingham 2%, England 2%) · Any other ethnic group 2% (Birmingham 7%, England 3%) · Any other Asian background 1% (Birmingham 3%, England 3%) · other groups together 1%

Source: DfE schools, pupils and their characteristics, January 2026 census · how to read these figures

Attendance (2025/26 autumn and spring terms)

Sessions missed (overall absence)
7.1%
England 6.6%
Pupils missing 10%+ of sessions (persistent absence)
19.5%
England 17.5%

Suspensions and permanent exclusions (2024/25)

9.24 suspensions per 100 pupils and 1 permanent exclusion · England, secondary schools: 21.24 suspensions and 0.23 permanent exclusions per 100 pupils · Birmingham: 15.08 suspensions and 0.24 permanent exclusions per 100 pupils

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Source: DfE pupil absence data, autumn and spring terms, and DfE suspensions and permanent exclusions, school-level file · how absence is measured · how to read exclusions

Staffing

Pupils per qualified teacher
16.9
England 18.5

Full-time-equivalent, 2025/26.

Teacher retention (2024/25)

88% of teachers stayed at the school the following year · 2% moved to another state school · 10% left the state-funded sector

Vacancies (November 2025)

0% of teaching posts vacant, 0% filled temporarily · England, secondary academies: 0.45% vacant, 0.33% temporary

Teacher sickness absence (reported in the November 2024 census)

77.7% of teachers took sickness absence, 6.4 days each on average · England, all state-funded schools: 61.8%, 8.1 days

Teacher pay (November 2025)

Mean salary of full-time qualified teachers £54,463; 5.9% on the leadership pay range · England, secondary schools: £53,766, 11.3%

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Source: DfE School Workforce Census · how these figures are counted

Spending per pupil (2024-25)

This school£6,529
Typical secondary school£7,846

Where the money went (2024-25)

Share of spending, with the median for secondary schools in brackets: Staff 81% (77%) · premises 4% (5%) · occupation (energy, rates, cleaning) 4% (6%) · supplies and services 11% (11%) · educational supplies 9% (6%) · bought-in professional services 0% (1%) · catering 1% (3%)

Reserves (2024-25)

Revenue reserve £0; in-year balance +£1,408,000

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Higher spending is not a measure of quality. Source: academy finance return, 2024-25, DfE · how spending is compared

Where pupils go after GCSEs

In sustained education, work or training
94%
Continuing in education
89%
Apprenticeship
4%
Employment
1%

Where students go after sixth form

To university / higher education
51%
Apprenticeship
8%
Employment
24%
Any sustained destination
84%

Destinations measured the year after leaving, DfE destination measures in the 2024/2025 performance tables.

Inspection history since 2015

Source: Ofsted management information · ungraded visits and the two inspection systems

The area around the school

Child poverty (IDACI)
6/10around the middle for England
Overall deprivation (IMD)
6/10around the middle for England
Census 2021This areaEngland
Adults with a degree or higher41.9%33.9%
Adults with no qualifications15.8%18.1%
In managerial or professional work43.8%33.2%
Households deprived in two or more ways15.4%18.1%
Residents in very good health52.8%48.5%
Homes owned by the occupier70.3%62.3%
Social housing5.5%17.1%
Privately rented24.2%20.5%
Detached houses6.4%22.9%
Flats27.6%22.2%
Homes with four or more bedrooms18.9%21.1%
Households with no car or van23.1%23.5%

These figures describe the area, not the pupils. Source: Census 2021 (ONS) and English Indices of Deprivation 2025 (MHCLG) for small area E01009451 · how to read area figures

What homes cost nearby

Median sale price
£315,000373 sales within 1 km, January 2024 to September 2026
Typical range
£182,000–£420,000the middle half of sales
England median
£300,000all sales over the same period
Detached (76)£480,000
Semi-detached (102)£375,000
Terraced (81)£287,500
Flat (114)£151,000

Homes around this school are dearer than most school neighbourhoods in England, comparing the median within 1 km across every state school.

Inside the Year 7 cutoff distance (2.66 km, 2026 entry): 1,994 sales, median £361,000. The homes that would have got a child in that year, at the straight-line distance the school last filled to.

Source: HM Land Registry sales within 1 km since January 2024 · how sales are counted. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. This data is licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Postcodes located with OS Code-Point Open: contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026; contains Royal Mail data © Royal Mail copyright and database right 2026; contains National Statistics data © Crown copyright and database right 2026.

Roads around the school

Child pedestrian casualties
4an urban school averages 2.0
Collisions at school-run times
9an urban school averages 5.7
All reported collisions
21an urban school averages 30.5
Of those, serious or fatal
6an urban school averages 6.1

A high count usually reflects traffic, not an unsafe school. Source: DfT road casualty statistics (STATS19), collisions within 500 m, 2021–2025 · what is counted

Nearby schools