Priestley Smith School
Perry Beeches Campus, Beeches Road, Birmingham, B42 2PY
- Phase
- Special schools
- School type
- Community special school
- Ages
- 2 to 19
- Gender
- Mixed
- Headteacher
- Mrs Joanna Garvey
- Nursery provision
- Has Nursery Classes
- SEN provision
- VI - Visual Impairment
- Constituency
- Birmingham Erdington
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 90
- Pupils on roll
- 94
- URN
- 103614
- Local authority
- Birmingham
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01213253900
About this school
Priestley Smith School is a community special school in Birmingham. It teaches children aged 2 to 19 and has 94 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Priestley Smith School, and its latest judgement is set out 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's most recent visit was a short inspection on 9 October 2024, where inspectors found that standards have been maintained. The school's last full inspection took place before September 2019, so its area grades are not part of Ofsted's current published data. Older reports are on the school's Ofsted page.
Exam results
Key stage 2 (end of primary school)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 2 | 7 | 9 | 10 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Expected standard in reading | 0% | 22% | 10% |
| Expected standard in maths | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 0% | 0% | 20% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 94.0 | 97.0 | 87.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 91.0 | 88.0 | 89.0 |
| Reading progress | - | - | - |
| Writing progress | -6.80 | - | - |
| Maths progress | - | - | - |
Progress measures ended nationally after the 2022/23 school year, when the key stage 1 assessments they were based on were stopped. Blank progress figures in later years are not missing school data.
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 7 | 14 | 5 |
| Attainment 8 score | 7.0 | 5.1 | - |
| Progress 8 score | -1.35 -2.48 to -0.22 | -1.71 -2.48 to -0.94 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 0% | 14.3% | - |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 14% | 14.3% | - |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 0% | 0% | - |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 0.5 | 0.4 | - |
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 Priestley Smith School 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 | 0% | 55.7% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 0% | 58.3% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 0% | 60.1% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | Birmingham average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 7 | 40.1 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 5.1 | 40.3 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | — | 40.6 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 18.9% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 14.4% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 11.4% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 86 |
| 2023/24 | 84 |
| 2024/25 | 89 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 54.41%
- English as an additional language
- 38.2%
- Overall absence
- 11.41%
- Persistent absence
- 41.79%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Aspire AP School 21.1 miles
Independent schools · Smethwick
-
Oscott Academy1.7 miles
Independent schools · Birmingham
-
The Bridge School1.8 miles
Academies · Birmingham
-
The Hive College1.8 miles
Other types · Birmingham
-
Wilson Stuart School1.8 miles
Academies · Birmingham
Other schools in Birmingham
- Baskerville School Special schools
- Beaufort School Special schools
- Beaufort School Academies
- Braidwood School for the Deaf Special schools
- Brays School Academies
- Calthorpe Academy Academies
- Castlewood School Academies
- Cherry Oak School Special schools
- City of Birmingham School Local authority maintained schools
- East Birmingham Network Academy Free Schools
- Ebn Academy 2 Free Schools
- Everything Education School Special schools
Common questions
- What ages does Priestley Smith School teach?
- Priestley Smith School teaches children aged 2 to 19. It is a special school in Birmingham.
- Who is the headteacher of Priestley Smith School?
- The headteacher of Priestley Smith School is Mrs Joanna Garvey, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Priestley Smith School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Priestley Smith School, and its latest judgement is set out in the inspection section on this page, with the framework and the date it was made.
- How many pupils are at Priestley Smith School?
- Priestley Smith School has 94 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 2 to 19.
- Is Priestley Smith School full?
- Priestley Smith School has capacity for 90 pupils and 94 on roll (104%), so it is at or above 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 Priestley Smith School a faith school?
- No. Priestley Smith School has no designated religious character.
- What SEN provision does Priestley Smith School have?
- The schools register lists Priestley Smith School's special educational needs provision as: VI - Visual Impairment. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have Priestley Smith School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 0% in 2022/23 and 0% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- What is Priestley Smith School's absence rate?
- Priestley Smith School's overall absence rate is 11.4% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Priestley Smith School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Priestley Smith School'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 29 June 2026.