Nishkam High School
Great King Street North, Birmingham, B19 2LF
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Free schools
- Ages
- 11 to 19
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- Sikh
- Trust
- NISHKAM SCHOOLS MULTI ACADEMY TRUST
- Principal
- Co Headteacher Co – Principal Chris Deeks Co – Principal Emma Wilks
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Religious ethos
- None
- Constituency
- Birmingham Ladywood
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 700
- Pupils on roll
- 668
- URN
- 138586
- Local authority
- Birmingham
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01213487660
About this school
Nishkam High School is a Sikh secondary academy in Birmingham. It teaches children aged 11 to 19 and has 668 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Nishkam High School, 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
Ofsted did not give an overall grade. Between September 2024 and September 2025 inspections graded each area of a school's work without a single overall judgement, ahead of the move to report cards. How Ofsted report cards work
- Quality of education
- Outstanding
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Outstanding
- Personal development
- Outstanding
- Leadership and management
- Outstanding
- Sixth form
- Outstanding
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 100 | 102 | 108 |
| Attainment 8 score | 56.4 | 52.8 | 51.3 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.94 +0.66 to +1.22 | +0.69 +0.40 to +0.97 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 68% | 64.7% | 54.6% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 84% | 76.5% | 75.9% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 86% | 83.3% | 78.7% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 5.4 | 5.0 | 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 Nishkam High 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 | 56.4 | 40.1 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 52.8 | 40.3 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 51.3 | 40.6 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 7.4% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 7.1% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 5.6% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 652 |
| 2023/24 | 671 |
| 2024/25 | 670 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Nishkam High School compares
Nishkam High School ranked 21st of 85 secondary schools in Birmingham for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 79% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 47% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 51.3 | 5.6% | 32.6% | 668 | — |
| Holte School | 39.4 | 8.3% | 64% | 1,127 | 0.4 miles |
| Aston Manor Academy | 44.6 | 8.1% | 70.6% | 990 | 0.7 miles |
| King Edward VI Handsworth School | 74.2 | 6% | 24.4% | 1,365 | 0.8 miles |
| Jewellery Quarter Academy | 35.2 | 8.8% | 65% | 556 | 0.8 miles |
| Aston University Engineering Academy | 44.1 | 7% | 50.2% | 1,010 | 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)
- 32.62%
- English as an additional language
- 32.5%
- Overall absence
- 5.58%
- Persistent absence
- 12.59%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Holte School0.4 miles
Secondary · Birmingham
-
Aston Manor Academy0.7 miles
Secondary · Birmingham
-
King Edward VI Handsworth School0.8 miles
Secondary · Birmingham
-
Jewellery Quarter Academy0.8 miles
Secondary · Birmingham
-
Aston University Engineering Academy1.0 miles
Secondary · Birmingham
Other schools in Birmingham
Nishkam High School ranks 16th 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 ages does Nishkam High School teach?
- Nishkam High School teaches children aged 11 to 19. It is a secondary school in Birmingham.
- Who is the principal of Nishkam High School?
- The principal of Nishkam High School is Co Headteacher Co – Principal Chris Deeks Co – Principal Emma Wilks, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Nishkam High School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Nishkam High 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 Nishkam High School?
- Nishkam High School has 668 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 19.
- Is Nishkam High School full?
- Nishkam High School has capacity for 700 pupils and 668 on roll (95%), 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 Nishkam High School a faith school?
- Yes. Nishkam High School is designated Sikh.
- Is Nishkam High School a selective school?
- No. Nishkam High School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Is Nishkam High School part of an academy trust?
- Nishkam High School is part of NISHKAM SCHOOLS MULTI ACADEMY TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Nishkam High School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 56.4 in 2022/23 and 51.3 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Nishkam High School compare with other schools in Birmingham?
- Nishkam High School ranked 21st of 85 secondary schools in Birmingham for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 79% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 47% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Nishkam High School's absence rate?
- Nishkam High School's overall absence rate is 5.6% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Nishkam High School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Nishkam High 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.