John Henry Newman Catholic College
Chelmsley Road, Chelmsley Wood, Birmingham, B37 5GA
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy sponsor led
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- Roman Catholic
- Trust
- OUR LADY AND ALL SAINTS CATHOLIC MULTI ACADEMY COMPANY
- Principal
- Mrs Katherine Clarke
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Religious ethos
- None
- Diocese
- Archdiocese of Birmingham
- Constituency
- Meriden and Solihull East
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,200
- Pupils on roll
- 1,273
- URN
- 136347
- Local authority
- Solihull
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01217705331
About this school
John Henry Newman Catholic College is a Roman Catholic secondary academy in Birmingham. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 1,273 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. 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
- Expected standard
- Curriculum and teaching
- Expected standard
- Achievement
- Expected standard
- Attendance and behaviour
- Expected standard
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Expected standard
- Leadership and governance
- Expected standard
- Post-16 provision
- Needs attention
- Safeguarding
- Met
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 215 | 215 | 232 |
| Attainment 8 score | 45.8 | 47.1 | 43.6 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.19 -0.38 to 0.00 | -0.25 -0.44 to -0.06 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 47% | 44.7% | 37.5% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 60% | 64.7% | 62.5% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 18% | 33% | 28.4% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.8 | 4.1 | 3.7 |
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 John Henry Newman 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 | Solihull average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 45.8 | 42.2 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 47.1 | 44.5 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 43.6 | 44.3 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 9.7% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 9.4% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 9.9% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,322 |
| 2023/24 | 1,306 |
| 2024/25 | 1,301 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How John Henry Newman Catholic College compares
John Henry Newman Catholic College ranked 12th of 15 secondary schools in Solihull for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 51% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 8% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 43.6 | 9.9% | 41.6% | 1,273 | — |
| Tudor Grange Academy Kingshurst | 31.9 | 12.8% | 58.8% | 1,151 | 0.2 miles |
| WMG Academy for Young Engineers (Solihull) | 30.8 | 13.5% | 52.5% | 394 | 0.4 miles |
| Grace Academy Solihull | 44.2 | 12.6% | 50% | 884 | 0.6 miles |
| Tile Cross Academy | 35.6 | 10.6% | 74.7% | 620 | 0.7 miles |
| Smith's Wood Academy | 32.2 | 14.2% | 64.9% | 697 | 1.0 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)
- 41.62%
- English as an additional language
- 17.7%
- Overall absence
- 9.85%
- Persistent absence
- 28.05%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Tudor Grange Academy Kingshurst0.2 miles
Secondary · Birmingham
-
WMG Academy for Young Engineers (Solihull)0.4 miles
Secondary · Birmingham
-
Grace Academy Solihull0.6 miles
Secondary · Birmingham
-
Tile Cross Academy0.7 miles
Secondary · Birmingham
-
Smith's Wood Academy1.0 miles
Secondary · Birmingham
Other schools in Birmingham
John Henry Newman Catholic College ranks 50th 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
- Bishop Challoner Catholic College Secondary
- BOA Digital Technologies Academy Secondary
- Bordesley Green Girls' School & Sixth Form Secondary
- Broadway Academy Secondary
Common questions
- What year groups does John Henry Newman Catholic College teach?
- John Henry Newman Catholic College teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Birmingham.
- Who is the principal of John Henry Newman Catholic College?
- The principal of John Henry Newman Catholic College is Mrs Katherine Clarke, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was John Henry Newman Catholic College last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected John Henry Newman 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 John Henry Newman Catholic College?
- John Henry Newman Catholic College has 1,273 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is John Henry Newman Catholic College full?
- John Henry Newman Catholic College has capacity for 1,200 pupils and 1,273 on roll (106%), 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 John Henry Newman Catholic College a faith school?
- Yes. John Henry Newman Catholic College is designated Roman Catholic, in the Archdiocese of Birmingham.
- Is John Henry Newman Catholic College a selective school?
- No. John Henry Newman Catholic College is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs John Henry Newman Catholic College?
- John Henry Newman Catholic College is part of OUR LADY AND ALL SAINTS CATHOLIC MULTI ACADEMY COMPANY. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have John Henry Newman Catholic College's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 45.8 in 2022/23 and 43.6 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does John Henry Newman Catholic College rank locally?
- John Henry Newman Catholic College ranked 12th of 15 secondary schools in Solihull for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 51% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 8% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is John Henry Newman Catholic College's absence rate?
- John Henry Newman Catholic College's overall absence rate is 9.9% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are John Henry Newman Catholic College's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, John Henry Newman 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 1 July 2026.