Fairfax
Fairfax Road, Sutton Coldfield, B75 7JT
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- FAIRFAX MULTI ACADEMY TRUST
- Head of Academy
- Mr Sean Castle
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- Fairfax
- SEN provision
- OTH - Other Difficulty/Disability, HI - Hearing Impairment, ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder, PD - Physical Disability, MLD - Moderate Learning Difficulty
- Constituency
- Sutton Coldfield
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,584
- Pupils on roll
- 1,581
- URN
- 136908
- Local authority
- Birmingham
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01213781288
About this school
Fairfax is a secondary academy in Sutton Coldfield. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 1,581 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. Numbers and a report only go so far, so visit in person 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
- Outstanding
- Leadership and management
- Outstanding
- 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 | 246 | 269 | 255 |
| Attainment 8 score | 47.5 | 48.6 | 49.1 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.17 -0.35 to +0.01 | -0.13 -0.30 to +0.04 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 48% | 47.6% | 52.5% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 70% | 74.7% | 74.5% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 41% | 28.3% | 28.6% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 4.3 | 4.3 | 4.3 |
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 Fairfax 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 | 47.5 | 40.1 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 48.6 | 40.3 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 49.1 | 40.6 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 8.2% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 8% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 7.2% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,570 |
| 2023/24 | 1,565 |
| 2024/25 | 1,571 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Fairfax compares
Fairfax ranked 25th of 85 secondary schools in Birmingham for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 73% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 24% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 49.1 | 7.2% | 24.2% | 1,581 | — |
| The Royal Sutton School | 39.7 | 11.6% | 48.2% | 966 | 0.1 miles |
| Plantsbrook School | 51.8 | 7% | 17.4% | 1,574 | 0.9 miles |
| Bishop Walsh Catholic School | 56 | 6.2% | 16.1% | 1,076 | 1.1 miles |
| Bishop Vesey's Grammar School | 77.1 | 5.1% | 14.3% | 1,455 | 1.1 miles |
| Sutton Coldfield Grammar School for Girls | 79.4 | 4.2% | 14.4% | 1,236 | 1.4 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)
- 24.16%
- English as an additional language
- 8.1%
- Overall absence
- 7.19%
- Persistent absence
- 20.18%
Location
Nearby schools
-
The Royal Sutton School0.1 miles
Secondary · Sutton Coldfield
-
Plantsbrook School0.9 miles
Secondary · Sutton Coldfield
-
Bishop Walsh Catholic School1.1 miles
Secondary · Sutton Coldfield
-
Bishop Vesey's Grammar School1.1 miles
Secondary · Sutton Coldfield
-
Sutton Coldfield Grammar School for Girls1.4 miles
Secondary · Sutton Coldfield
Other schools in Sutton Coldfield
Fairfax ranks 6th of the 8 ranked secondary schools in Sutton Coldfield.
- Bishop Vesey's Grammar School Secondary
- Bishop Walsh Catholic School Secondary
- Plantsbrook School Secondary
- Sutton Coldfield Grammar School for Girls Secondary
- The Arthur Terry School Secondary
- The Royal Sutton School Secondary
- The Streetly Academy Secondary
- Blackwood School Primary
- Boldmere Infant School and Nursery Primary
- Boldmere Junior School Primary
- Coppice Primary School Primary
- Curdworth Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Fairfax teach?
- Fairfax teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Sutton Coldfield.
- Who is the head of academy of Fairfax?
- The head of academy of Fairfax is Mr Sean Castle, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Fairfax last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Fairfax, 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 Fairfax?
- Fairfax has 1,581 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is Fairfax full?
- Fairfax has capacity for 1,584 pupils and 1,581 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 Fairfax a faith school?
- No. Fairfax has no designated religious character.
- Is Fairfax a selective school?
- No. Fairfax is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs Fairfax?
- Fairfax is part of FAIRFAX MULTI ACADEMY TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- What SEN provision does Fairfax have?
- The schools register lists Fairfax's special educational needs provision as: OTH - Other Difficulty/Disability; HI - Hearing Impairment; ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder; PD - Physical Disability; MLD - Moderate Learning Difficulty. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have Fairfax's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 47.5 in 2022/23 and 49.1 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Fairfax rank locally?
- Fairfax ranked 25th of 85 secondary schools in Birmingham for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 73% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 24% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Fairfax's absence rate?
- Fairfax's overall absence rate is 7.2% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Fairfax's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Fairfax'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.