Plantsbrook School
Upper Holland Road, Sutton Coldfield, B72 1RB
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- BROADLEAF PARTNERSHIP TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mrs Kerensa Neal
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- Plantsbrook School
- SEN provision
- VI - Visual Impairment
- Constituency
- Sutton Coldfield
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,498
- Pupils on roll
- 1,574
- URN
- 137053
- Local authority
- Birmingham
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01213627310
About this school
Plantsbrook School is a secondary academy in Sutton Coldfield. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 1,574 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Plantsbrook School, 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's most recent visit was a short inspection on 26 February 2025, where inspectors found that standards have been maintained. The school's last full inspection took place before September 2019, so its area grades are not part of Ofsted's current published data. Older reports are on the school's Ofsted page.
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 222 | 229 | 233 |
| Attainment 8 score | 50.9 | 50.8 | 51.8 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.06 -0.13 to +0.25 | -0.01 -0.19 to +0.18 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 61% | 60.7% | 59.7% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 74% | 77.7% | 77.7% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 78% | 78.2% | 71.7% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 4.7 | 4.8 | 4.9 |
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 Plantsbrook 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 | Birmingham average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 50.9 | 40.1 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 50.8 | 40.3 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 51.8 | 40.6 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 7.7% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 7.4% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 7% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,532 |
| 2023/24 | 1,553 |
| 2024/25 | 1,570 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Plantsbrook School compares
Plantsbrook School ranked 20th of 85 secondary schools in Birmingham for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 81% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 26% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 51.8 | 7% | 17.4% | 1,574 | — |
| Sutton Coldfield Grammar School for Girls | 79.4 | 4.2% | 14.4% | 1,236 | 0.6 miles |
| Bishop Vesey's Grammar School | 77.1 | 5.1% | 14.3% | 1,455 | 0.7 miles |
| Bishop Walsh Catholic School | 56 | 6.2% | 16.1% | 1,076 | 0.8 miles |
| Fairfax | 49.1 | 7.2% | 24.2% | 1,581 | 0.9 miles |
| The Royal Sutton School | 39.7 | 11.6% | 48.2% | 966 | 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.
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 17.43%
- English as an additional language
- 8.5%
- Overall absence
- 6.96%
- Persistent absence
- 19.84%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Sutton Coldfield Grammar School for Girls0.6 miles
Secondary · Sutton Coldfield
-
Bishop Vesey's Grammar School0.7 miles
Secondary · Sutton Coldfield
-
Bishop Walsh Catholic School0.8 miles
Secondary · Sutton Coldfield
-
Fairfax0.9 miles
Secondary · Sutton Coldfield
-
The Royal Sutton School1.0 miles
Secondary · Sutton Coldfield
Other schools in Sutton Coldfield
Plantsbrook School ranks 5th of the 8 ranked secondary schools in Sutton Coldfield.
- Bishop Vesey's Grammar School Secondary
- Bishop Walsh Catholic School Secondary
- Fairfax 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 ages does Plantsbrook School teach?
- Plantsbrook School teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Sutton Coldfield.
- Who is the headteacher of Plantsbrook School?
- The headteacher of Plantsbrook School is Mrs Kerensa Neal, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Plantsbrook School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Plantsbrook 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 Plantsbrook School?
- Plantsbrook School has 1,574 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is Plantsbrook School full?
- Plantsbrook School has capacity for 1,498 pupils and 1,574 on roll (105%), 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 Plantsbrook School a faith school?
- No. Plantsbrook School has no designated religious character.
- Is Plantsbrook School a selective school?
- No. Plantsbrook School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Is Plantsbrook School part of an academy trust?
- Plantsbrook School is part of BROADLEAF PARTNERSHIP TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- What SEN provision does Plantsbrook School have?
- The schools register lists Plantsbrook School's special educational needs provision as: VI - Visual Impairment. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have Plantsbrook School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 50.9 in 2022/23 and 51.8 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Plantsbrook School compare with other schools in Birmingham?
- Plantsbrook School ranked 20th of 85 secondary schools in Birmingham for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 81% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 26% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Plantsbrook School's absence rate?
- Plantsbrook School's overall absence rate is 7% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Plantsbrook School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Plantsbrook 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 1 July 2026.