Merstone School
Windward Way, Smith's Wood, Birmingham, B36 0UE
- Phase
- Special schools
- School type
- Community special school
- Ages
- 2 to 19
- Gender
- Mixed
- Headteacher
- Mr Kieran Ryan-Grealish
- Nursery provision
- Has Nursery Classes
- SEN provision
- SLD - Severe Learning Difficulty, PMLD - Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulty
- Constituency
- Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 166
- Pupils on roll
- 166
- URN
- 104133
- Local authority
- Solihull
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01217171040
About this school
Merstone School is a community special school in Birmingham. It teaches children aged 2 to 19 and has 166 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Merstone School, and its latest judgement is set out below. Where the Department for Education has published them, its results and pupil characteristics appear below. Seeing a school for yourself shows what no page can, so arrange a visit 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
- Strong standard
- Curriculum and teaching
- Strong standard
- Achievement
- Strong standard
- Attendance and behaviour
- Strong standard
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Strong standard
- Leadership and governance
- Strong standard
- Early years
- Strong standard
- Post-16 provision
- Strong standard
- Safeguarding
- Met
Exam results
Key stage 2 (end of primary school)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 2 | 11 | 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% | 0% | 0% |
| Expected standard in maths | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Average scaled score in reading | - | - | - |
| Average scaled score in maths | - | - | - |
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 4 | 10 | 10 |
| Attainment 8 score | - | - | - |
| Progress 8 score | - | - | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | - | - | - |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | - | - | - |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | - | - | - |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | - | - | - |
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 Merstone 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 | Solihull average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 0% | 58.1% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 0% | 59.2% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 0% | 62.3% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 12.2% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 11.2% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 12.6% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 148 |
| 2023/24 | 165 |
| 2024/25 | 171 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
Inspection history
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 60.29%
- English as an additional language
- 5.8%
- Overall absence
- 12.64%
- Persistent absence
- 42.74%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Forest Oak School0.0 miles
Special schools · Birmingham
-
The Heights Academy0.7 miles
Free Schools · Solihull
-
Castlewood School1.0 miles
Academies · Birmingham
-
SILVER BIRCH SCHOOL1.1 miles
Special schools
-
Leycroft Academy1.4 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 Merstone School teach?
- Merstone School teaches children aged 2 to 19. It is a special school in Birmingham.
- Who is the headteacher of Merstone School?
- The headteacher of Merstone School is Mr Kieran Ryan-Grealish, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Merstone School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Merstone 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 Merstone School?
- Merstone School has 166 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 2 to 19.
- Is Merstone School full?
- Merstone School has capacity for 166 pupils and 166 on roll (100%), 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 Merstone School a faith school?
- No. Merstone School has no designated religious character.
- What SEN provision does Merstone School have?
- The schools register lists Merstone School's special educational needs provision as: SLD - Severe Learning Difficulty; PMLD - Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulty. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have Merstone 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 Merstone School's absence rate?
- Merstone School's overall absence rate is 12.6% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Merstone School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Merstone 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 15 July 2026.