Birches Head Academy
Birches Head Road, Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, ST2 8DD
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- FRANK FIELD EDUCATION TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mrs Louise Toach
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- Frank Field Education Trust
- Constituency
- Stoke-on-Trent Central
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,040
- Pupils on roll
- 925
- URN
- 148220
- Local authority
- Stoke-on-Trent
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01782233595
About this school
Birches Head Academy is a secondary academy in Stoke-on-Trent. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 925 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
- Needs attention
- Curriculum and teaching
- Needs attention
- Achievement
- Needs attention
- Attendance and behaviour
- Needs attention
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Needs attention
- Leadership and governance
- Needs attention
- Safeguarding
- Met
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 179 | 210 | 199 |
| Attainment 8 score | 30.8 | 30.2 | 31.3 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.87 -1.09 to -0.65 | -0.95 -1.15 to -0.75 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 15% | 15.7% | 17.1% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 35% | 31.9% | 39.2% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 37% | 44.3% | 25.6% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 2.4 | 2.5 | 2.6 |
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 Birches Head 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 | Stoke-on-Trent average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 30.8 | 31.4 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 30.2 | 29.6 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 31.3 | 30.5 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 14.1% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 15.2% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 11.9% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,024 |
| 2023/24 | 1,045 |
| 2024/25 | 953 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Birches Head Academy compares
Birches Head Academy ranked 14th of 14 secondary schools in Stoke-on-Trent 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 4% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 31.3 | 11.9% | 47.2% | 925 | — |
| The Excel Academy | 37.5 | 10.7% | 34.8% | 1,184 | 0.5 miles |
| Haywood Academy | 36.1 | 12.2% | 46.7% | 1,080 | 1.8 miles |
| St Peter's CofE Academy | 34.4 | 8.5% | 48.7% | 1,052 | 2.5 miles |
| Co-op Academy Stoke-On-Trent | 42.7 | 10.2% | 52.1% | 1,300 | 2.5 miles |
| Discovery Academy | 37.4 | 9.3% | 50.7% | 1,435 | 2.7 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 report23 June 2026
- 3 October 2023
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 47.22%
- English as an additional language
- 26.7%
- Overall absence
- 11.85%
- Persistent absence
- 36.16%
Location
Nearby schools
-
The Excel Academy0.5 miles
Secondary · Stoke-on-Trent
-
Haywood Academy1.8 miles
Secondary · Stoke-on-Trent
-
St Peter's CofE Academy2.5 miles
Secondary · Stoke-on-Trent
-
Co-op Academy Stoke-On-Trent2.5 miles
Secondary · Stoke-on-Trent
-
Discovery Academy2.7 miles
Secondary · Stoke-on-Trent
Other schools in Stoke-on-Trent
Birches Head Academy ranks 23rd of the 23 ranked secondary schools in Stoke-on-Trent.
- Alsager School Secondary
- Biddulph High School Secondary
- Blythe Bridge High School Secondary
- Co-op Academy Florence MacWilliams Secondary
- Co-op Academy Stoke-On-Trent Secondary
- Discovery Academy Secondary
- Endon High School Secondary
- Haywood Academy Secondary
- Kidsgrove Secondary School Secondary
- Moorside High School Secondary
- Ormiston Meridian Academy Secondary
- Ormiston Sir Stanley Matthews Academy Secondary
Recorded changes at this school
Previous headteacher: Mr Paul Masher (until September 2026).
- Headteacher changed from Mr Paul Masher to Mrs Louise Toach recorded 3 Sep 2026
Common questions
- What year groups does Birches Head Academy teach?
- Birches Head Academy teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Stoke-on-Trent.
- Who is the headteacher of Birches Head Academy?
- The headteacher of Birches Head Academy is Mrs Louise Toach, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Birches Head Academy last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Birches Head 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 big is Birches Head Academy?
- Birches Head Academy has 925 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is Birches Head Academy full?
- Birches Head Academy has capacity for 1,040 pupils and 925 on roll (89%), 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 Birches Head Academy a faith school?
- No. Birches Head Academy has no designated religious character.
- Is Birches Head Academy a selective school?
- No. Birches Head Academy is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs Birches Head Academy?
- Birches Head Academy is part of FRANK FIELD EDUCATION TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Birches Head Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 30.8 in 2022/23 and 31.3 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Birches Head Academy rank locally?
- Birches Head Academy ranked 14th of 14 secondary schools in Stoke-on-Trent 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 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 Birches Head Academy's absence rate?
- Birches Head Academy's overall absence rate is 11.9% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Birches Head Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Birches Head 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 3 September 2026.