Arena Academy
Beeches Road, Great Barr, Birmingham, B42 2PY
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy sponsor led
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- CORE EDUCATION TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mr Raj Mann
- Sponsor
- Core Education Trust
- Constituency
- Birmingham Erdington
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 900
- Pupils on roll
- 969
- URN
- 145580
- Local authority
- Birmingham
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01217297310
About this school
Arena Academy is a secondary academy in Birmingham. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 969 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Arena 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 did not give an overall grade. Between September 2024 and September 2025 inspections graded each area of a school's work without a single overall judgement, ahead of the move to report cards. 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 | 179 | 233 | 233 |
| Attainment 8 score | 42.8 | 41.7 | 44.5 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.25 -0.46 to -0.04 | -0.36 -0.55 to -0.17 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 36% | 36.1% | 39.9% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 58% | 56.7% | 62.7% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 68% | 10.3% | 6.9% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.7 | 3.6 | 3.7 |
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 Arena 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 | Birmingham average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 42.8 | 40.1 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 41.7 | 40.3 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 44.5 | 40.6 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 10.2% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 8.7% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 7.9% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,108 |
| 2023/24 | 1,105 |
| 2024/25 | 1,039 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Arena Academy compares
Arena Academy ranked 48th of 85 secondary schools in Birmingham for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 55% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 18% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 44.5 | 7.9% | 39.5% | 969 | — |
| Fortis Academy | 37.9 | 9.8% | 59.2% | 1,210 | 0.4 miles |
| Cardinal Wiseman Catholic School | 47 | 8.2% | 51.3% | 788 | 1.0 miles |
| E-ACT North Birmingham Academy | 43.9 | 3.5% | 61.5% | 1,167 | 1.3 miles |
| Prince Albert High School | — | 10.7% | 50.8% | 950 | 1.5 miles |
| Barr Beacon School | 51 | 6.9% | 23.2% | 1,469 | 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)
- 39.46%
- English as an additional language
- 16.4%
- Overall absence
- 7.85%
- Persistent absence
- 23.35%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Fortis Academy0.4 miles
Secondary · Birmingham
-
Cardinal Wiseman Catholic School1.0 miles
Secondary · Birmingham
-
E-ACT North Birmingham Academy1.3 miles
Secondary · Birmingham
-
Prince Albert High School1.5 miles
Secondary · Birmingham
-
Barr Beacon School1.5 miles
Secondary · Walsall
Other schools in Birmingham
Arena Academy ranks 43rd of the 87 ranked secondary schools in Birmingham.
- Archbishop Ilsley Catholic School 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
- Cardinal Wiseman Catholic School Secondary
Common questions
- What ages does Arena Academy teach?
- Arena Academy teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Birmingham.
- Who is the headteacher of Arena Academy?
- The headteacher of Arena Academy is Mr Raj Mann, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Arena Academy been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Arena 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 Arena Academy?
- Arena Academy has 969 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is Arena Academy full?
- Arena Academy has capacity for 900 pupils and 969 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 Arena Academy a faith school?
- No. Arena Academy has no designated religious character.
- Is Arena Academy part of an academy trust?
- Arena Academy is part of CORE EDUCATION TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Arena Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 42.8 in 2022/23 and 44.5 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Arena Academy compare with other schools in Birmingham?
- Arena Academy ranked 48th of 85 secondary schools in Birmingham for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 55% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 18% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Arena Academy's absence rate?
- Arena Academy's overall absence rate is 7.9% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Arena Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Arena 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.