King Edward VI Handsworth Wood Girls' Academy
Church Lane, Handsworth, Birmingham, B20 2HL
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Girls
- Trust
- KING EDWARD VI ACADEMY TRUST BIRMINGHAM
- Headteacher
- Kiran Takhar
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- King Edward VI Foundation
- Constituency
- Birmingham Perry Barr
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,021
- Pupils on roll
- 1,052
- URN
- 138937
- Local authority
- Birmingham
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01215548122
About this school
King Edward VI Handsworth Wood Girls' Academy is a girls' secondary academy in Birmingham. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 1,052 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected King Edward VI Handsworth Wood Girls' Academy, 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 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
- 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 | 159 | 160 | 160 |
| Attainment 8 score | 49.0 | 50.0 | 48.0 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.49 +0.26 to +0.71 | +0.43 +0.21 to +0.66 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 49% | 45% | 45.6% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 69% | 68.8% | 70.6% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 18% | 53.1% | 68.1% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 4.1 | 4.6 | 4.5 |
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 King Edward VI Handsworth Wood Girls' Academy 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 | 49 | 40.1 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 50 | 40.3 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 48 | 40.6 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 7.6% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 7.3% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 8.5% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,014 |
| 2023/24 | 1,058 |
| 2024/25 | 1,065 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How King Edward VI Handsworth Wood Girls' Academy compares
King Edward VI Handsworth Wood Girls' Academy ranked 32nd of 85 secondary schools in Birmingham for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 69% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 13% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 48 | 8.5% | 53.8% | 1,052 | — |
| King Edward VI Handsworth Grammar School for Boys | 72 | 5.4% | 19.7% | 1,054 | 0.7 miles |
| King Edward VI Handsworth School | 74.2 | 6% | 24.4% | 1,365 | 0.8 miles |
| St John Wall Catholic School | 44.7 | 8% | 60.3% | 591 | 1.0 miles |
| Holyhead School | 43.2 | 6.7% | 62% | 1,257 | 1.0 miles |
| Windsor Olympus Academy | — | 6.8% | 69.4% | 533 | 1.2 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)
- 53.78%
- English as an additional language
- 59.5%
- Overall absence
- 8.5%
- Persistent absence
- 29.02%
Location
Nearby schools
-
King Edward VI Handsworth Grammar School for Boys0.7 miles
Secondary · Birmingham
-
King Edward VI Handsworth School0.8 miles
Secondary · Birmingham
-
St John Wall Catholic School1.0 miles
Secondary · Birmingham
-
Holyhead School1.0 miles
Secondary · Birmingham
-
Windsor Olympus Academy1.2 miles
Secondary · Birmingham
Other schools in Birmingham
King Edward VI Handsworth Wood Girls' Academy ranks 26th 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 King Edward VI Handsworth Wood Girls' Academy teach?
- King Edward VI Handsworth Wood Girls' Academy teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Birmingham.
- Who is the headteacher of King Edward VI Handsworth Wood Girls' Academy?
- The headteacher of King Edward VI Handsworth Wood Girls' Academy is Kiran Takhar, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has King Edward VI Handsworth Wood Girls' Academy been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected King Edward VI Handsworth Wood Girls' Academy, 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 King Edward VI Handsworth Wood Girls' Academy?
- King Edward VI Handsworth Wood Girls' Academy has 1,052 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is King Edward VI Handsworth Wood Girls' Academy full?
- King Edward VI Handsworth Wood Girls' Academy has capacity for 1,021 pupils and 1,052 on roll (103%), 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 King Edward VI Handsworth Wood Girls' Academy a faith school?
- No. King Edward VI Handsworth Wood Girls' Academy has no designated religious character.
- Is King Edward VI Handsworth Wood Girls' Academy a selective school?
- No. King Edward VI Handsworth Wood Girls' Academy is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Is King Edward VI Handsworth Wood Girls' Academy part of an academy trust?
- King Edward VI Handsworth Wood Girls' Academy is part of KING EDWARD VI ACADEMY TRUST BIRMINGHAM. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have King Edward VI Handsworth Wood Girls' Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 49 in 2022/23 and 48 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does King Edward VI Handsworth Wood Girls' Academy compare with other schools in Birmingham?
- King Edward VI Handsworth Wood Girls' Academy ranked 32nd of 85 secondary schools in Birmingham for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 69% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 13% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is King Edward VI Handsworth Wood Girls' Academy's absence rate?
- King Edward VI Handsworth Wood Girls' Academy's overall absence rate is 8.5% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are King Edward VI Handsworth Wood Girls' Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, King Edward VI Handsworth Wood Girls' Academy'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.