The Royal Sutton School
Reddicap Heath Road, Sutton Coldfield, B75 7DY
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy sponsor led
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- THE ARTHUR TERRY LEARNING PARTNERSHIP
- Headteacher
- Mrs Nicola Gould
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- The Arthur Terry Learning Partnership
- Constituency
- Sutton Coldfield
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,141
- Pupils on roll
- 966
- URN
- 144721
- Local authority
- Birmingham
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01213781946
About this school
The Royal Sutton School is a secondary academy in Sutton Coldfield. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 966 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected The Royal Sutton School, 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
Overall judgement at the last full inspection
This inspection took place under the previous framework, which gave a single overall grade. Ofsted now publishes report cards instead, so newer inspections of other schools will look different. How Ofsted report cards work
- Quality of education
- Good
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Good
- Personal development
- Good
- Leadership and management
- Good
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 187 | 186 | 152 |
| Attainment 8 score | 34.1 | 35.9 | 39.7 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.73 -0.94 to -0.51 | -0.74 -0.96 to -0.53 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 24% | 22% | 32.9% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 48% | 43% | 52.6% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 21% | 46.8% | 9.2% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.0 | 3.2 | 3.2 |
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 The Royal Sutton 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 | 34.1 | 40.1 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 35.9 | 40.3 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 39.7 | 40.6 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 15.2% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 14% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 11.6% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 924 |
| 2023/24 | 948 |
| 2024/25 | 972 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How The Royal Sutton School compares
The Royal Sutton School ranked 68th of 85 secondary schools in Birmingham for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 37% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 4% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 39.7 | 11.6% | 48.2% | 966 | — |
| Fairfax | 49.1 | 7.2% | 24.2% | 1,581 | 0.1 miles |
| Plantsbrook School | 51.8 | 7% | 17.4% | 1,574 | 1.0 miles |
| Bishop Walsh Catholic School | 56 | 6.2% | 16.1% | 1,076 | 1.1 miles |
| Bishop Vesey's Grammar School | 77.1 | 5.1% | 14.3% | 1,455 | 1.3 miles |
| Sutton Coldfield Grammar School for Girls | 79.4 | 4.2% | 14.4% | 1,236 | 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.
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 48.15%
- English as an additional language
- 16.7%
- Overall absence
- 11.55%
- Persistent absence
- 37.14%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Fairfax0.1 miles
Secondary · Sutton Coldfield
-
Plantsbrook School1.0 miles
Secondary · Sutton Coldfield
-
Bishop Walsh Catholic School1.1 miles
Secondary · Sutton Coldfield
-
Bishop Vesey's Grammar School1.3 miles
Secondary · Sutton Coldfield
-
Sutton Coldfield Grammar School for Girls1.5 miles
Secondary · Sutton Coldfield
Other schools in Sutton Coldfield
The Royal Sutton School ranks 8th of the 8 ranked secondary schools in Sutton Coldfield.
- Bishop Vesey's Grammar School Secondary
- Bishop Walsh Catholic School Secondary
- Fairfax Secondary
- Plantsbrook School Secondary
- Sutton Coldfield Grammar School for Girls Secondary
- The Arthur Terry 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 The Royal Sutton School teach?
- The Royal Sutton School teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Sutton Coldfield.
- Who is the headteacher of The Royal Sutton School?
- The headteacher of The Royal Sutton School is Mrs Nicola Gould, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has The Royal Sutton School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected The Royal Sutton 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 The Royal Sutton School?
- The Royal Sutton School has 966 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is The Royal Sutton School full?
- The Royal Sutton School has capacity for 1,141 pupils and 966 on roll (85%), 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 The Royal Sutton School a faith school?
- No. The Royal Sutton School has no designated religious character.
- Is The Royal Sutton School a selective school?
- No. The Royal Sutton School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Is The Royal Sutton School part of an academy trust?
- The Royal Sutton School is part of THE ARTHUR TERRY LEARNING PARTNERSHIP. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have The Royal Sutton School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 34.1 in 2022/23 and 39.7 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does The Royal Sutton School compare with other schools in Birmingham?
- The Royal Sutton School ranked 68th of 85 secondary schools in Birmingham for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 37% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 4% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is The Royal Sutton School's absence rate?
- The Royal Sutton School's overall absence rate is 11.6% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are The Royal Sutton School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, The Royal Sutton 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 10 July 2026.