Holyhead Primary Academy
Holyhead Road, Wednesbury, WS10 7PZ
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Academy sponsor led
- Ages
- 2 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- SHIRELAND COLLEGIATE ACADEMY TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mrs Natalie Shipley
- Nursery provision
- Has Nursery Classes
- Sponsor
- Shireland Collegiate Academy Trust
- Constituency
- Tipton and Wednesbury
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 244
- Pupils on roll
- 261
- URN
- 144630
- Local authority
- Sandwell
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01215560114
About this school
Holyhead Primary Academy is a primary academy in Wednesbury. It teaches children aged 2 to 11 and has 261 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Holyhead Primary Academy, 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 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
- Expected standard
- Attendance and behaviour
- Expected standard
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Expected standard
- Leadership and governance
- Expected standard
- Early years
- Expected standard
- Safeguarding
- Met
Exam results
Key stage 2 (end of primary school)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 2 | 29 | 31 | 30 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 55% | 65% | 60% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 0% | 3% | 10% |
| Expected standard in reading | 76% | 71% | 77% |
| Expected standard in maths | 76% | 81% | 73% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 52% | 81% | 60% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 103.0 | 105.0 | 103.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 102.0 | 106.0 | 106.0 |
| Reading progress | -1.80 | - | - |
| Writing progress | -0.90 | - | - |
| Maths progress | -1.40 | - | - |
Progress measures ended nationally after the 2022/23 school year, when the key stage 1 assessments they were based on were stopped. Blank progress figures in later years are not missing school data.
Trends over time
How Holyhead Primary 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 | Sandwell average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 55% | 55% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 65% | 57.7% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 60% | 60.1% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 6.3% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 5% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 4.8% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 208 |
| 2023/24 | 246 |
| 2024/25 | 253 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Holyhead Primary Academy compares
Holyhead Primary Academy ranked 48th of 84 primary schools in Sandwell for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 40% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 64% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 60% | 4.8% | 49.1% | 261 | — |
| St Mary's Catholic Primary School | 52% | 4.3% | 27.3% | 232 | 0.5 miles |
| Old Park Primary School | 68% | 5.8% | 28.9% | 471 | 0.5 miles |
| St John's Church of England Primary Academy | 73% | 7.2% | 40.1% | 193 | 0.6 miles |
| Wood Green Junior School | 60% | 5.4% | 42.1% | 340 | 0.7 miles |
| Kings Hill Primary School | 74% | 7.8% | 41.4% | 459 | 0.7 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 report21 April 2026
- 12 January 2022
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 49.05%
- English as an additional language
- 24.9%
- Overall absence
- 4.82%
- Persistent absence
- 11.54%
Location
Nearby schools
-
St Mary's Catholic Primary School0.5 miles
Primary · Wednesbury
-
Old Park Primary School0.5 miles
Primary · Wednesbury
-
St John's Church of England Primary Academy0.6 miles
Primary · Wednesbury
-
Wood Green Junior School0.7 miles
Primary · Wednesbury
-
Kings Hill Primary School0.7 miles
Primary · Wednesbury
Other schools in Wednesbury
Holyhead Primary Academy ranks 9th of the 14 ranked primary schools in Wednesbury.
- Albert Pritchard Infant School Primary
- Kings Hill Primary School Primary
- Mesty Croft Primary Primary
- Old Church Church of England C Primary School Primary
- Old Park Primary School Primary
- Park Hill Primary School Primary
- Pinfold Street Primary School Primary
- Salisbury Primary School Primary
- St John's Church of England Primary Academy Primary
- St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Darlaston Primary
- St Mary's Catholic Primary School Primary
- Tameside Primary Academy Primary
Common questions
- What ages does Holyhead Primary Academy teach?
- Holyhead Primary Academy teaches children aged 2 to 11. It is a primary school in Wednesbury.
- Who is the headteacher of Holyhead Primary Academy?
- The headteacher of Holyhead Primary Academy is Mrs Natalie Shipley, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Holyhead Primary Academy been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Holyhead Primary 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 Holyhead Primary Academy?
- Holyhead Primary Academy has 261 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 2 to 11.
- Is Holyhead Primary Academy full?
- Holyhead Primary Academy has capacity for 244 pupils and 261 on roll (107%), 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 Holyhead Primary Academy a faith school?
- No. Holyhead Primary Academy has no designated religious character.
- Does Holyhead Primary Academy have a nursery?
- Yes. The schools register records Holyhead Primary Academy as having nursery classes.
- Is Holyhead Primary Academy part of an academy trust?
- Holyhead Primary Academy is part of SHIRELAND COLLEGIATE ACADEMY TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Holyhead Primary Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 55% in 2022/23 and 60% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Holyhead Primary Academy compare with other schools in Sandwell?
- Holyhead Primary Academy ranked 48th of 84 primary schools in Sandwell for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 40% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 64% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Holyhead Primary Academy's absence rate?
- Holyhead Primary Academy's overall absence rate is 4.8% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Holyhead Primary Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Holyhead Primary 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 15 July 2026.