Bishop Challoner Catholic College
Institute Road, Kings Heath, Birmingham, B14 7EG
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Voluntary aided school
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- Roman Catholic
- Principal
- Dr James Coughlan
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Diocese
- Archdiocese of Birmingham
- Constituency
- Birmingham Hall Green and Moseley
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,304
- Pupils on roll
- 1,184
- URN
- 103560
- Local authority
- Birmingham
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01214444161
About this school
Bishop Challoner Catholic College is a Roman Catholic voluntary aided secondary school in Birmingham. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 1,184 pupils on roll.
You can read Ofsted's latest judgement for the school below. Where the Department for Education has published them, its results and pupil characteristics appear below. Numbers and a report only go so far, so visit in person before you apply.
Ofsted judgement
Ofsted no longer gives schools a single overall grade. Each area of the school's work is graded on a five-point scale, and safeguarding is judged separately.
- Inclusion
- Expected standard
- Curriculum and teaching
- Expected standard
- Achievement
- Expected standard
- Attendance and behaviour
- Strong standard
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Strong standard
- Leadership and governance
- Strong standard
- Post-16 provision
- Expected standard
- Safeguarding
- Met
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 192 | 193 | 191 |
| Attainment 8 score | 52.0 | 53.1 | 48.4 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.16 -0.04 to +0.36 | +0.20 0.00 to +0.41 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 56% | 62.2% | 53.4% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 73% | 83.9% | 68.6% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 61% | 51.8% | 54.5% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 4.6 | 4.8 | 4.3 |
Progress 8 is paused nationally for the 2024/25 and 2025/26 school years. Those pupils sat no key stage 2 tests during the Covid pandemic, so there is no starting point to measure progress from. A blank figure here is not missing school data.
Trends over time
How Bishop Challoner Catholic College has moved over recent years against the local and national picture. Every figure is shown in the table beneath its chart.
| Year | This school | Birmingham average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 52 | 40.1 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 53.1 | 40.3 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 48.4 | 40.6 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 8.2% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 8.1% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 7.2% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,228 |
| 2023/24 | 1,237 |
| 2024/25 | 1,246 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Bishop Challoner Catholic College compares
Bishop Challoner Catholic College ranked 30th of 85 secondary schools in Birmingham for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 70% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 23% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 48.4 | 7.2% | 38.8% | 1,184 | — |
| Wheelers Lane Technology College | 48.4 | 7% | 38.4% | 672 | 0.3 miles |
| King Edward VI Camp Hill School for Girls | 80.4 | 5.9% | 31.3% | 1,118 | 0.5 miles |
| King Edward VI Camp Hill School for Boys | 75.7 | 5.7% | 30.8% | 1,059 | 0.5 miles |
| Queensbridge School | 48.5 | 8.1% | 34.1% | 911 | 0.6 miles |
| Swanshurst School | — | 6.9% | 47% | 1,928 | 0.6 miles |
Results reflect each school's cohort as much as its teaching, and free school meals share is context, not a judgement. Small gaps between neighbouring schools are rarely meaningful on their own.
Inspection history
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 38.83%
- English as an additional language
- 16%
- Overall absence
- 7.22%
- Persistent absence
- 23.07%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Wheelers Lane Technology College0.3 miles
Secondary · Birmingham
-
King Edward VI Camp Hill School for Girls0.5 miles
Secondary · Birmingham
-
King Edward VI Camp Hill School for Boys0.5 miles
Secondary · Birmingham
-
Queensbridge School0.6 miles
Secondary · Birmingham
-
Swanshurst School0.6 miles
Secondary · Birmingham
Other schools in Birmingham
Bishop Challoner Catholic College ranks 24th of the 87 ranked secondary schools in Birmingham.
- Archbishop Ilsley Catholic School Secondary
- Arena Academy Secondary
- Ark Boulton Academy Secondary
- Ark St Alban's Academy Secondary
- Aston Manor Academy Secondary
- Aston University Engineering Academy Secondary
- Bartley Green School Secondary
- Birmingham Ormiston Academy Secondary
- BOA Digital Technologies Academy Secondary
- Bordesley Green Girls' School & Sixth Form Secondary
- Broadway Academy Secondary
- Cardinal Wiseman Catholic School Secondary
Common questions
- What year groups does Bishop Challoner Catholic College teach?
- Bishop Challoner Catholic College teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Birmingham.
- Who is the principal of Bishop Challoner Catholic College?
- The principal of Bishop Challoner Catholic College is Dr James Coughlan, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Bishop Challoner Catholic College last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Bishop Challoner Catholic College, and its latest judgement is set out in the inspection section on this page, with the framework and the date it was made.
- How big is Bishop Challoner Catholic College?
- Bishop Challoner Catholic College has 1,184 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is Bishop Challoner Catholic College full?
- Bishop Challoner Catholic College has capacity for 1,304 pupils and 1,184 on roll (91%), so it has space against its published capacity. Places are allocated through the local authority's admissions process, so capacity alone does not tell you whether a place is available.
- Is Bishop Challoner Catholic College a faith school?
- Yes. Bishop Challoner Catholic College is designated Roman Catholic, in the Archdiocese of Birmingham.
- Is Bishop Challoner Catholic College a selective school?
- No. Bishop Challoner Catholic College is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- How have Bishop Challoner Catholic College's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 52 in 2022/23 and 48.4 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Bishop Challoner Catholic College rank locally?
- Bishop Challoner Catholic College ranked 30th of 85 secondary schools in Birmingham for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 70% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 23% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Bishop Challoner Catholic College's absence rate?
- Bishop Challoner Catholic College's overall absence rate is 7.2% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Bishop Challoner Catholic College's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Bishop Challoner Catholic College's key stage results are shown in the results section on this page, with the last three years so you can see the trend rather than a single year.
School details come from the Department for Education's Get Information About Schools register. Inspection outcomes come from Ofsted, and exam results from the Department for Education's school performance service. This page was last updated on 6 July 2026.