Smestow Academy
Windmill Crescent, Wolverhampton, WV3 8HU
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- MATRIX ACADEMY TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mr Ian Chamberlain
- Sponsor
- Matrix Academy Trust
- Constituency
- Wolverhampton West
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,010
- Pupils on roll
- 589
- URN
- 149635
- Local authority
- Wolverhampton
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01902539500
About this school
Smestow Academy is a secondary academy in Wolverhampton. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 589 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Smestow 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
- Expected standard
- Achievement
- Expected standard
- Attendance and behaviour
- Strong standard
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Strong standard
- Leadership and governance
- Strong standard
- Post-16 provision
- Expected standard
- Safeguarding
- Met
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 92 | 90 |
| Attainment 8 score | 44.3 | 42.6 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.31 -0.01 to +0.63 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 43.5% | 31.1% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 60.9% | 60% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 10.9% | 45.6% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.5 | 3.8 |
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 Smestow 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 | Wolverhampton average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | — | 41 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 44.3 | 39.7 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 42.6 | 39.9 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 13.4% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 10.2% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 8.3% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 654 |
| 2023/24 | 614 |
| 2024/25 | 552 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Smestow Academy compares
Smestow Academy ranked 13th of 20 secondary schools in Wolverhampton for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 47% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 15% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 42.6 | 8.3% | 54.8% | 589 | — |
| St Peter's Collegiate Academy | 44.8 | 6.7% | 37.2% | 1,329 | 1.0 miles |
| Highfields School | 51.7 | 6.6% | 32.2% | 1,765 | 1.1 miles |
| St Edmund's Catholic Academy | 50.2 | 4.5% | 45.1% | 1,171 | 1.1 miles |
| St Regis Church of England Academy | 36.5 | 7.3% | 53.9% | 798 | 1.2 miles |
| Wolverhampton Girls' High School | 75.4 | 4.6% | 15.6% | 1,211 | 1.4 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 report11 November 2025
- 21 September 2022
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 54.84%
- English as an additional language
- 42.2%
- Overall absence
- 8.29%
- Persistent absence
- 26.75%
Location
Nearby schools
-
St Peter's Collegiate Academy1.0 miles
Secondary · Wolverhampton
-
Highfields School1.1 miles
Secondary · Wolverhampton
-
St Edmund's Catholic Academy1.1 miles
Secondary · Wolverhampton
-
St Regis Church of England Academy1.2 miles
Secondary · Wolverhampton
-
Wolverhampton Girls' High School1.4 miles
Secondary · Wolverhampton
Other schools in Wolverhampton
Smestow Academy ranks 13th of the 20 ranked secondary schools in Wolverhampton.
- Aldersley High School Secondary
- Codsall Community High School Secondary
- Colton Hills Community School Secondary
- Coppice Performing Arts School Secondary
- Heath Park Secondary
- Highfields School Secondary
- Moreton School Secondary
- Ormiston NEW Academy Secondary
- Our Lady and St Chad Catholic Academy Secondary
- St Edmund's Catholic Academy Secondary
- St Matthias School Secondary
- St Peter's Collegiate Academy Secondary
Common questions
- What ages does Smestow Academy teach?
- Smestow Academy teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Wolverhampton.
- Who is the headteacher of Smestow Academy?
- The headteacher of Smestow Academy is Mr Ian Chamberlain, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Smestow Academy been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Smestow 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 Smestow Academy?
- Smestow Academy has 589 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is Smestow Academy full?
- Smestow Academy has capacity for 1,010 pupils and 589 on roll (58%), 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 Smestow Academy a faith school?
- No. Smestow Academy has no designated religious character.
- Is Smestow Academy part of an academy trust?
- Smestow Academy is part of MATRIX ACADEMY TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Smestow Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 44.3 in 2023/24 and 42.6 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Smestow Academy compare with other schools in Wolverhampton?
- Smestow Academy ranked 13th of 20 secondary schools in Wolverhampton for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 47% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 15% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Smestow Academy's absence rate?
- Smestow Academy's overall absence rate is 8.3% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Smestow Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Smestow 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.