Arden
Station Road, Knowle, Solihull, B93 0PT
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- ARDEN MULTI ACADEMY TRUST
- Principal
- Mr David Warwood
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- Arden Multi Academy Trust
- Constituency
- Meriden and Solihull East
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,490
- Pupils on roll
- 1,812
- URN
- 136333
- Local authority
- Solihull
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01564773348
About this school
Arden is a secondary academy in Solihull. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 1,812 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Arden, 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
Overall judgement at the last full inspection
This inspection took place under the previous framework, which gave a single overall grade. Ofsted now publishes report cards instead, so newer inspections of other schools will look different. How Ofsted report cards work
- Quality of education
- Good
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Good
- Personal development
- Good
- Leadership and management
- Good
- Sixth form
- Good
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 295 | 304 | 296 |
| Attainment 8 score | 57.0 | 57.7 | 59.6 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.61 +0.45 to +0.78 | +0.59 +0.43 to +0.75 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 64% | 67.8% | 73.3% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 83% | 82.2% | 88.5% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 43% | 40.1% | 45.6% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 4.9 | 5.0 | 5.3 |
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 Arden 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 | 57 | 42.2 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 57.7 | 44.5 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 59.6 | 44.3 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 6.1% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 6.5% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 5.5% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,805 |
| 2023/24 | 1,820 |
| 2024/25 | 1,817 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Arden compares
Arden ranked 1st of 15 secondary schools in Solihull for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 93% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 49% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 59.6 | 5.5% | 12.6% | 1,812 | — |
| St Peter's Catholic School | 53.4 | 7.6% | 17.9% | 1,306 | 2.5 miles |
| Tudor Grange Academy, Solihull | 58.7 | 5.8% | 10.6% | 1,730 | 2.7 miles |
| Alderbrook School | 54.2 | 6.4% | 19.2% | 1,701 | 2.9 miles |
| Lode Heath School | 50.6 | 8.5% | 25% | 1,096 | 3.3 miles |
| Heart of England School | 47.2 | 8.5% | 18.7% | 1,185 | 3.8 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.
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 12.58%
- English as an additional language
- 8.1%
- Overall absence
- 5.49%
- Persistent absence
- 11.49%
Location
Nearby schools
-
St Peter's Catholic School2.5 miles
Secondary · Solihull
-
Tudor Grange Academy, Solihull2.7 miles
Secondary · Solihull
-
Alderbrook School2.9 miles
Secondary · Solihull
-
Lode Heath School3.3 miles
Secondary · Solihull
-
Heart of England School3.8 miles
Secondary · Coventry
Other schools in Solihull
Arden ranks 1st of the 8 ranked secondary schools in Solihull.
- Alderbrook School Secondary
- Langley School Secondary
- Light Hall School Secondary
- Lode Heath School Secondary
- Lyndon School Secondary
- St Peter's Catholic School Secondary
- Tudor Grange Academy, Solihull Secondary
- Bentley Heath Church of England Primary School Primary
- Blossomfield Infant and Nursery School Primary
- Burman Infant School Primary
- Cheswick Green Primary School Primary
- Coppice Academy Primary
Common questions
- What ages does Arden teach?
- Arden teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Solihull.
- Who is the principal of Arden?
- The principal of Arden is Mr David Warwood, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Arden been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Arden, 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 Arden?
- Arden has 1,812 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is Arden full?
- Arden has capacity for 1,490 pupils and 1,812 on roll (122%), 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 Arden a faith school?
- No. Arden has no designated religious character.
- Is Arden a selective school?
- No. Arden is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Is Arden part of an academy trust?
- Arden is part of ARDEN MULTI ACADEMY TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Arden's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 57 in 2022/23 and 59.6 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Arden compare with other schools in Solihull?
- Arden ranked 1st of 15 secondary schools in Solihull for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 93% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 49% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Arden's absence rate?
- Arden's overall absence rate is 5.5% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Arden's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Arden'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 1 July 2026.