Bishop Walsh Catholic School
Wylde Green Road, Sutton Coldfield, B76 1QT
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- Roman Catholic
- Trust
- ST. JOHN PAUL II MULTI ACADEMY COMPANY
- Principal
- Mrs Natalie Brodie
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Diocese
- Archdiocese of Birmingham
- Sponsor
- The John Paul II MAC (Sutton Coldfield)
- Constituency
- Sutton Coldfield
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,000
- Pupils on roll
- 1,076
- URN
- 140524
- Local authority
- Birmingham
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01213513215
About this school
Bishop Walsh Catholic School is a Roman Catholic secondary academy in Sutton Coldfield. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 1,076 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Bishop Walsh Catholic 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 8 January 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 | 158 | 157 | 172 |
| Attainment 8 score | 52.3 | 54.9 | 56.0 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.20 -0.03 to +0.42 | +0.41 +0.19 to +0.63 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 60% | 62.4% | 64.5% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 80% | 86.6% | 80.2% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 24% | 15.3% | 22.7% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 4.3 | 4.6 | 4.7 |
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 Bishop Walsh Catholic 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 | 52.3 | 40.1 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 54.9 | 40.3 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 56 | 40.6 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 6.9% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 6.5% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 6.2% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,030 |
| 2023/24 | 1,050 |
| 2024/25 | 1,081 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Bishop Walsh Catholic School compares
Bishop Walsh Catholic School ranked 15th of 85 secondary schools in Birmingham for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 89% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 35% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 56 | 6.2% | 16.1% | 1,076 | — |
| Plantsbrook School | 51.8 | 7% | 17.4% | 1,574 | 0.8 miles |
| Sutton Coldfield Grammar School for Girls | 79.4 | 4.2% | 14.4% | 1,236 | 0.9 miles |
| The Royal Sutton School | 39.7 | 11.6% | 48.2% | 966 | 1.1 miles |
| Fairfax | 49.1 | 7.2% | 24.2% | 1,581 | 1.1 miles |
| St Edmund Campion Catholic School | 45.8 | 7.9% | 46.9% | 1,158 | 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)
- 16.14%
- English as an additional language
- 11.1%
- Overall absence
- 6.23%
- Persistent absence
- 16.53%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Plantsbrook School0.8 miles
Secondary · Sutton Coldfield
-
Sutton Coldfield Grammar School for Girls0.9 miles
Secondary · Sutton Coldfield
-
The Royal Sutton School1.1 miles
Secondary · Sutton Coldfield
-
Fairfax1.1 miles
Secondary · Sutton Coldfield
-
St Edmund Campion Catholic School1.4 miles
Secondary · Birmingham
Other schools in Sutton Coldfield
Bishop Walsh Catholic School ranks 3rd of the 8 ranked secondary schools in Sutton Coldfield.
- Bishop Vesey's Grammar School Secondary
- Fairfax 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 ages does Bishop Walsh Catholic School teach?
- Bishop Walsh Catholic School teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Sutton Coldfield.
- Who is the principal of Bishop Walsh Catholic School?
- The principal of Bishop Walsh Catholic School is Mrs Natalie Brodie, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Bishop Walsh Catholic School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Bishop Walsh Catholic 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 Bishop Walsh Catholic School?
- Bishop Walsh Catholic School has 1,076 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is Bishop Walsh Catholic School full?
- Bishop Walsh Catholic School has capacity for 1,000 pupils and 1,076 on roll (108%), 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 Bishop Walsh Catholic School a faith school?
- Yes. Bishop Walsh Catholic School is designated Roman Catholic, in the Archdiocese of Birmingham.
- Is Bishop Walsh Catholic School a selective school?
- No. Bishop Walsh Catholic School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Is Bishop Walsh Catholic School part of an academy trust?
- Bishop Walsh Catholic School is part of ST. JOHN PAUL II MULTI ACADEMY COMPANY. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Bishop Walsh Catholic School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 52.3 in 2022/23 and 56 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Bishop Walsh Catholic School compare with other schools in Birmingham?
- Bishop Walsh Catholic School ranked 15th of 85 secondary schools in Birmingham for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 89% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 35% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Bishop Walsh Catholic School's absence rate?
- Bishop Walsh Catholic School's overall absence rate is 6.2% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Bishop Walsh Catholic School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Bishop Walsh Catholic 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.