Smith's Wood Academy
Windward Way, Smith's Wood, Birmingham, B36 0UE
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy sponsor led
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- FAIRFAX MULTI ACADEMY TRUST
- Head of Academy
- Mr Stephen Huntington
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- Fairfax
- Constituency
- Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,000
- Pupils on roll
- 697
- URN
- 143895
- Local authority
- Solihull
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01217884100
About this school
Smith's Wood Academy is a secondary academy in Birmingham. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 697 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Smith's Wood 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 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
- Expected standard
- Curriculum and teaching
- Needs attention
- Achievement
- Needs attention
- Attendance and behaviour
- Expected standard
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Expected standard
- Leadership and governance
- 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 | 174 | 145 | 156 |
| Attainment 8 score | 23.9 | 30.0 | 32.2 |
| Progress 8 score | -1.83 -2.04 to -1.62 | -1.52 -1.76 to -1.28 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 7% | 16.6% | 18.6% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 23% | 42.1% | 36.5% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 17% | 31.7% | 25.6% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 2.1 | 2.9 | 3.0 |
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 Smith's Wood 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 | Solihull average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 23.9 | 42.2 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 30 | 44.5 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 32.2 | 44.3 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 19.3% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 14.7% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 14.2% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 899 |
| 2023/24 | 781 |
| 2024/25 | 744 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Smith's Wood Academy compares
Smith's Wood Academy ranked 13th of 15 secondary schools in Solihull for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 23% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 2% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 32.2 | 14.2% | 64.9% | 697 | — |
| Tudor Grange Academy Kingshurst | 31.9 | 12.8% | 58.8% | 1,151 | 0.9 miles |
| John Henry Newman Catholic College | 43.6 | 9.9% | 41.6% | 1,273 | 1.0 miles |
| WMG Academy for Young Engineers (Solihull) | 30.8 | 13.5% | 52.5% | 394 | 1.1 miles |
| Park Hall Academy | 45.6 | 9.8% | 34.4% | 1,269 | 1.2 miles |
| Tile Cross Academy | 35.6 | 10.6% | 74.7% | 620 | 1.5 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 report13 January 2026
- 7 March 2023
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 64.92%
- English as an additional language
- 8.6%
- Overall absence
- 14.18%
- Persistent absence
- 43.28%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Tudor Grange Academy Kingshurst0.9 miles
Secondary · Birmingham
-
John Henry Newman Catholic College1.0 miles
Secondary · Birmingham
-
WMG Academy for Young Engineers (Solihull)1.1 miles
Secondary · Birmingham
-
Park Hall Academy1.2 miles
Secondary · Birmingham
-
Tile Cross Academy1.5 miles
Secondary · Birmingham
Other schools in Birmingham
Smith's Wood Academy ranks 82nd 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 Smith's Wood Academy teach?
- Smith's Wood Academy teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Birmingham.
- Who is the head of academy of Smith's Wood Academy?
- The head of academy of Smith's Wood Academy is Mr Stephen Huntington, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Smith's Wood Academy been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Smith's Wood 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 Smith's Wood Academy?
- Smith's Wood Academy has 697 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is Smith's Wood Academy full?
- Smith's Wood Academy has capacity for 1,000 pupils and 697 on roll (70%), so it has space against 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 Smith's Wood Academy a faith school?
- No. Smith's Wood Academy has no designated religious character.
- Is Smith's Wood Academy a selective school?
- No. Smith's Wood Academy is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Is Smith's Wood Academy part of an academy trust?
- Smith's Wood Academy is part of FAIRFAX MULTI ACADEMY TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Smith's Wood Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 23.9 in 2022/23 and 32.2 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Smith's Wood Academy compare with other schools in Solihull?
- Smith's Wood Academy ranked 13th of 15 secondary schools in Solihull for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 23% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 2% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Smith's Wood Academy's absence rate?
- Smith's Wood Academy's overall absence rate is 14.2% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Smith's Wood Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Smith's Wood 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 10 July 2026.