Highfields School
Boundary Way, Penn, Wolverhampton, WV4 4NT
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- LYKOS MULTI ACADEMY TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mr Simon Cope
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Constituency
- Wolverhampton West
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,791
- Pupils on roll
- 1,765
- URN
- 142317
- Local authority
- Wolverhampton
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01902556530
About this school
Highfields School is a secondary academy in Wolverhampton. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 1,765 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
Ofsted no longer gives schools a single overall grade. Each area of the school's work is graded on a five-point scale, and safeguarding is judged separately.
- Inclusion
- Strong standard
- Curriculum and teaching
- Expected standard
- Achievement
- Strong standard
- Attendance and behaviour
- Strong standard
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Expected standard
- Leadership and governance
- Expected standard
- Post-16 provision
- Expected standard
- Safeguarding
- Met
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 256 | 273 | 276 |
| Attainment 8 score | 51.3 | 50.0 | 51.7 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.38 +0.20 to +0.55 | +0.30 +0.13 to +0.47 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 58% | 56% | 59.1% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 75% | 76.9% | 80.4% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 12% | 7% | 6.9% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.1 |
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 Highfields 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 | Wolverhampton average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 51.3 | 41 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 50 | 39.7 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 51.7 | 39.9 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 7.4% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 7.5% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 6.6% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,690 |
| 2023/24 | 1,735 |
| 2024/25 | 1,781 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Highfields School compares
Highfields School ranked 3rd of 20 secondary schools in Wolverhampton for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 80% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 30% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 51.7 | 6.6% | 32.2% | 1,765 | — |
| Smestow Academy | 42.6 | 8.3% | 54.8% | 589 | 1.1 miles |
| St Peter's Collegiate Academy | 44.8 | 6.7% | 37.2% | 1,329 | 1.6 miles |
| Colton Hills Community School | 39.2 | 8.9% | 56.3% | 1,163 | 1.7 miles |
| St Edmund's Catholic Academy | 50.2 | 4.5% | 45.1% | 1,171 | 1.8 miles |
| Wolverhampton Girls' High School | 75.4 | 4.6% | 15.6% | 1,211 | 2.0 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.
Inspection history
-
Graded inspection report3 February 2026
- 19 October 2021
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 32.21%
- English as an additional language
- 15%
- Overall absence
- 6.57%
- Persistent absence
- 17.22%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Smestow Academy1.1 miles
Secondary · Wolverhampton
-
St Peter's Collegiate Academy1.6 miles
Secondary · Wolverhampton
-
Colton Hills Community School1.7 miles
Secondary · Wolverhampton
-
St Edmund's Catholic Academy1.8 miles
Secondary · Wolverhampton
-
Wolverhampton Girls' High School2.0 miles
Secondary · Wolverhampton
Other schools in Wolverhampton
Highfields School ranks 3rd of the 20 ranked secondary schools in Wolverhampton.
- Aldersley High School Secondary
- Codsall Community High School Secondary
- Colton Hills Community School Secondary
- Coppice Performing Arts School Secondary
- Heath Park Secondary
- Moreton School Secondary
- Ormiston NEW Academy Secondary
- Our Lady and St Chad Catholic Academy Secondary
- Smestow Academy Secondary
- St Edmund's Catholic Academy Secondary
- St Matthias School Secondary
- St Peter's Collegiate Academy Secondary
Common questions
- What year groups does Highfields School teach?
- Highfields School teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Wolverhampton.
- Who is the headteacher of Highfields School?
- The headteacher of Highfields School is Mr Simon Cope, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Highfields School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Highfields 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 big is Highfields School?
- Highfields School has 1,765 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is Highfields School full?
- Highfields School has capacity for 1,791 pupils and 1,765 on roll (99%), 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 Highfields School a faith school?
- No. Highfields School has no designated religious character.
- Is Highfields School a selective school?
- No. Highfields School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs Highfields School?
- Highfields School is part of LYKOS MULTI ACADEMY TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Highfields School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 51.3 in 2022/23 and 51.7 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Highfields School rank locally?
- Highfields School ranked 3rd of 20 secondary schools in Wolverhampton for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 80% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 30% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Highfields School's absence rate?
- Highfields School's overall absence rate is 6.6% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Highfields School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Highfields 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 2 July 2026.