Grace Academy Darlaston
Herberts Park Road, Wednesbury, WS10 8QJ
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy sponsor led
- Ages
- 11 to 19
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- TOVE LEARNING TRUST
- Principal
- Mr Henry Holland
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Religious ethos
- None
- Sponsor
- Tove Learning Trust
- Constituency
- Wolverhampton South East
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,075
- Pupils on roll
- 1,059
- URN
- 135956
- Local authority
- Walsall
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01215683300
About this school
Grace Academy Darlaston is a secondary academy in Wednesbury. It teaches children aged 11 to 19 and has 1,059 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Grace Academy Darlaston, 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 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
- Expected standard
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Strong standard
- Leadership and governance
- Expected 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 | 175 | 173 | 172 |
| Attainment 8 score | 46.3 | 42.1 | 41.2 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.07 -0.15 to +0.29 | -0.04 -0.25 to +0.18 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 36% | 30.1% | 29.7% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 62% | 61.3% | 54.1% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 14% | 8.7% | 5.2% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.8 | 3.5 | 3.4 |
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 Grace Academy Darlaston has moved over recent years against the local and national picture. Every figure is shown in the table beneath its chart.
| Year | This school | Walsall average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 46.3 | 44.2 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 42.1 | 44.3 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 41.2 | 43 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 9% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 9.9% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 10.7% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 984 |
| 2023/24 | 1,028 |
| 2024/25 | 1,068 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Grace Academy Darlaston compares
Grace Academy Darlaston ranked 10th of 19 secondary schools in Walsall for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 43% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 6% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 41.2 | 10.7% | 52% | 1,059 | — |
| St Thomas More Catholic School, Willenhall | 41.4 | 9.7% | 43.7% | 1,464 | 0.4 miles |
| Moseley Park | 44.8 | 8.1% | 51.1% | 1,069 | 1.1 miles |
| Gospel Oak School | 32.8 | 9.2% | 46.4% | 1,140 | 1.4 miles |
| Ormiston SWB Academy | 42 | 8.9% | 53.4% | 1,209 | 1.4 miles |
| Stuart Bathurst Catholic High School | 41.4 | 10.7% | 43.8% | 807 | 1.8 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)
- 51.96%
- English as an additional language
- 14.2%
- Overall absence
- 10.74%
- Persistent absence
- 35.62%
Location
Nearby schools
-
St Thomas More Catholic School, Willenhall0.4 miles
Secondary · Willenhall
-
Moseley Park1.1 miles
Secondary · Bilston
-
Gospel Oak School1.4 miles
Secondary · Tipton
-
Ormiston SWB Academy1.4 miles
Secondary · Bilston
-
Stuart Bathurst Catholic High School1.8 miles
Secondary · Wednesbury
Other schools in Wednesbury
- Stuart Bathurst Catholic High School Secondary
- Wodensborough Ormiston Academy Secondary
- Wood Green Academy Secondary
- Rowley View Nursery School Nursery
- Albert Pritchard Infant School Primary
- Holyhead Primary Academy Primary
- Kings Hill Primary School Primary
- Mesty Croft Primary Primary
- Old Church Church of England C Primary School Primary
- Old Park Primary School Primary
- Park Hill Primary School Primary
- Pinfold Street Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What ages does Grace Academy Darlaston teach?
- Grace Academy Darlaston teaches children aged 11 to 19. It is a secondary school in Wednesbury.
- Who is the principal of Grace Academy Darlaston?
- The principal of Grace Academy Darlaston is Mr Henry Holland, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Grace Academy Darlaston been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Grace Academy Darlaston, 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 Grace Academy Darlaston?
- Grace Academy Darlaston has 1,059 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 19.
- Is Grace Academy Darlaston full?
- Grace Academy Darlaston has capacity for 1,075 pupils and 1,059 on roll (99%), so it is close to full. Places are allocated through the local authority's admissions process, so capacity alone does not tell you whether a place is available.
- Is Grace Academy Darlaston a faith school?
- No. Grace Academy Darlaston has no designated religious character.
- Is Grace Academy Darlaston a selective school?
- No. Grace Academy Darlaston is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Is Grace Academy Darlaston part of an academy trust?
- Grace Academy Darlaston is part of TOVE LEARNING TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Grace Academy Darlaston's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 46.3 in 2022/23 and 41.2 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Grace Academy Darlaston compare with other schools in Walsall?
- Grace Academy Darlaston ranked 10th of 19 secondary schools in Walsall for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 43% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 6% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Grace Academy Darlaston's absence rate?
- Grace Academy Darlaston's overall absence rate is 10.7% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Grace Academy Darlaston's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Grace Academy Darlaston'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.