Royal Sutton Coldfield’s state schools are in the top tenth: better results than 96% of towns in England
Across their best eight GCSEs, pupils in Royal Sutton Coldfield score 56.9 on Attainment 8, above both West Midlands’ towns (44) and towns in England (45.9). 32 state-funded schools are located in Royal Sutton Coldfield’s built-up area. Royal Sutton Coldfield grades A+ for schools, on Department for Education Key Stage 2 and GCSE results: #1 of 35 in West Midlands. Ofsted is shown, not graded.
Royal Sutton Coldfield’s secondary results beat 95% of English towns; its primary results beat 94%. 74% of the large town’s 11-year-olds meet the expected standard in reading, writing and maths, against 62% at the average school in England and 62% across Birmingham. The spread between primaries is wide: 91% at Four Oaks Primary School, 48% at Sutton Park Primary. Every school’s result ↓
Popular schools are full
18 of 30 mainstream schools have at least as many pupils as their official capacity, including Bishop Vesey's Grammar, Bishop Walsh, Plantsbrook, Sutton Coldfield Grammar School for Girls and The Arthur Terry among the secondaries. A full school gives places by its admissions rules, usually by distance after siblings. Getting a place ↓
Grammar schools in town
Bishop Vesey's Grammar School and Sutton Coldfield Grammar School for Girls admit pupils by a test at 11. Their results count in Royal Sutton Coldfield’s School Grade, as they are state schools many local children attend. After 16 ↓
Wylde Green beats its intake
Schools with more pupils on free school meals usually get lower results. At Wylde Green Primary School, 30% of pupils are on free school meals and 81% meet the expected standard; a typical school in England with that intake reaches 60%. Results and intake ↓
Written from the Department for Education and Ofsted data on this page.
School Grade
Royal Sutton Coldfield grades A+ for schools
Against every town in England with results; Wales publishes none.
Primary: reading, writing and maths at 11 (74% meet the standard)Better than 94% of towns in England
Secondary: Attainment 8 and grade 5+ English and maths (56.9 and 64%)Better than 95% of towns in England
Each of Royal Sutton Coldfield’s 21 primaries: % meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (2023–25)
Each of Royal Sutton Coldfield’s 7 secondaries: Attainment 8 (2025/26)
England’s average schoolBirmingham’s average school
The primary figure: 21 primaries in the town, 3,725 pupils in results over three years. The secondary figure: 7 secondaries in the town, 1,478 pupils in results. Mainstream state schools only (grammar schools included); special schools, alternative provision, nurseries and 16–19 colleges are listed below but not graded. Each school’s results are compared with every school in England, then weighted by its pupils.
Map
Where Royal Sutton Coldfield’s 32 state schools are
Each school at its address, coloured by its own letter and sized by pupils. Open a school for its own page. The dashed shape is Royal Sutton Coldfield’s built-up area.
PrimarySecondary (named)Special, nursery, 16–19Size: pupilsABCDNo letter
Most schools give places by distance once siblings are in, so the schools nearest a home matter more than any league table. The 7 secondaries are named.
Results and intake
Which schools do better than their intake suggests
Schools with more pupils on free school meals tend to get lower results. The dashed line is the typical school in England for each level of free school meals; the band holds the middle two-thirds. A dot above the band is doing better than schools like it.
Primaries: KS2 reading, writing and maths against free school meals
Secondaries: Attainment 8 against free school meals
The share of pupils on free school meals runs from 4% at St Nicholas Catholic Primary School to 58% at Sutton Park Primary. Against schools with the same intake, Sutton Coldfield Grammar School for Girls does best: 81 with 17% on free school meals, where a typical school would reach 52. 16 of 20 primaries and 3 of 7 secondaries are above the line.
Free school meals: pupils eligible now, DfE January 2026 census. The typical-school line is a straight-line fit across every graded school in England. It describes; it doesn’t grade: the School Grade uses results alone.
Getting a place
How school places work in Royal Sutton Coldfield
Birmingham Council handles applications for every state school in Royal Sutton Coldfield, academies included. You apply to the council where you live, even for a school in another area.
Secondary (starting at 11)Apply by 31 October of Year 6. Offers on 1 March.
Primary (starting in Reception)Apply by 15 January before the September your child starts. Offers on 16 April.
Moving mid-yearApply to the council for an in-year place; it tells you which schools have room.
When a school is full
Every school publishes its admissions rules. Children in care come first, then, at most schools, brothers and sisters of current pupils, then those who live nearest. 5 of Royal Sutton Coldfield’s 30 mainstream schools have a religious character; some of them give priority by church attendance, so check each school’s rules. Infant classes are limited to 30 by law. If you’re refused a place, you can appeal to an independent panel.
Pupils on roll as a share of the school’s official capacity. The black tick is 100%; 18 schools are at or over it.
St Joseph's170%
Sutton Coldfield Grammar School for Girls149%
The Arthur Terry119%
Walmley Infant incl. nursery117%
Boldmere Infant incl. nursery114%
Bishop Walsh108%
Bishop Vesey's Grammar107%
Boldmere Junior105%
Plantsbrook105%
Little Sutton103%
Show all 29 schools
New Oscott incl. nursery103%
Moor Hall102%
Wylde Green101%
Walmley Junior101%
Mere Green incl. nursery100%
Maney Hill100%
Four Oaks100%
St Nicholas100%
Fairfax100%
Coppice99%
Holy Cross97%
Penns97%
Hollyfield95%
The Deanery incl. nursery94%
Whitehouse Common incl. nursery93%
Hill West93%
The Royal Sutton85%
New Hall76%
Sutton Park incl. nursery71%
DfE register of schools (GIAS), January 2026 census. Capacity often excludes a nursery class, so a school with a nursery can show over 100%.
The schools
32 state schools in Royal Sutton Coldfield
Each school’s own letter compares its results with every state school in England of the same phase: Key Stage 2 for primaries, GCSEs for secondaries. Open a school for its results, how its letter is worked out, Ofsted and a map.
Letters of Royal Sutton Coldfield’s schoolsA17B8C3D04 without a letter
Key result: Attainment 8 and grade 5+ English and maths (GCSEs, 2025/26 provisional) for secondaries; the share meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (KS2, DfE’s three-year average) for primaries. Pupils: the January 2026 school census. No letter: an infant or first school (no KS2 tests), a new school, a small cohort DfE suppresses, or a special school, nursery or college. Independent schools aren’t included.
Ofsted
Ofsted report cards
Each school’s latest inspection; report cards replace one-word judgements as schools are re-inspected.
Outstanding 2Good 10Report card 2Ungraded inspection only 17No published grade 1
Ofsted stopped giving one-word judgements in 2024. Until a school is re-inspected, its last overall judgement is its most recent single grade; a school judged years ago may have changed a lot since.
Since November 2025 Ofsted gives each area of a school one of five grades (exceptional, strong standard, expected standard, needs attention, urgent improvement) and says whether safeguarding is met, instead of one overall word. 2 of Royal Sutton Coldfield’s 32 state schools have a report card so far; the others show their last inspection under the old framework. Ofsted is never part of the School Grade.
Academies are state schools run by a trust rather than the council: the trust employs the staff and can set its own curriculum and term dates. Admissions still go through the council.
Run by
Schools
Pupils
Their letters
Four Oaks Learning Trust for ExcellenceWhitehouse Common, Moor Hall, Four Oaks, Little Sutton, Coppice, Hollyfield, Langley
7
2,663
AA+A+A+A+C+
Arthur Terry Learning PartnershipThe Arthur Terry, The Royal Sutton, Mere Green, Hill West
4
3,535
A−C−B−A
St. John Paul II Multi Academy CompanyBishop Walsh, St Joseph's, St Nicholas, Holy Cross
4
1,847
A−BBA−
Broadleaf Partnership TrustPlantsbrook, New Oscott, Town House
Sutton Coldfield Grammar School for Girls Academy TrustSutton Coldfield Grammar School for Girls
1
1,236
A+
Deanery Church of England Primary SchoolThe Deanery
1
444
A
Pa Community TrustSutton Park
1
297
C−
Forward Education TrustThe Bridge
1
91
—
Birmingham CouncilWylde Green, Maney Hill, Boldmere Junior, Walmley Junior, Walmley Infant, Boldmere Infant, New Hall, Penns
8
2,719
AABAB−A
After 16
Where Royal Sutton Coldfield’s teenagers go at 16
In England young people stay in education or training until 18: a sixth form, a college, or an apprenticeship.
6 of Royal Sutton Coldfield’s 7 state secondaries have sixth forms: Bishop Vesey's Grammar, Bishop Walsh, Fairfax, Plantsbrook, Sutton Coldfield Grammar School for Girls and The Arthur Terry. The nearest college is Birmingham Metropolitan College, a further-education college 6.2 miles away.
Special schools and alternative provision in Royal Sutton Coldfield
Royal Sutton Coldfield has 2 special schools (Langley and The Bridge: 228 pupils). A special-school place isn’t applied for like a mainstream one: for a child with an education, health and care plan (EHCP), Birmingham Council names the school in the plan, after asking the family’s preference. These schools have no letter, because their results don’t compare with mainstream schools’. Their cards ↑
Birmingham Council’s SEND Local Offer lists support beyond these schools.
Towns its size
2nd of 79 English towns and cities of 65,000 to 126,000
Ranked by School Grade, best first: the towns and cities either side of Royal Sutton Coldfield, and the top and bottom of the group.
Water Orton 1 school · uses schools within 3 km · 5.1 mi
C−
60%
39.2
Shenstone 1 school · uses schools within 3 km · 5.2 mi
A
69%
—
Stonnall 1 school · uses schools within 3 km · 5.5 mi
C+
64%
42.4
Royal Sutton Coldfield’s schools are graded at least as well as any neighbour’s. Small places often use the schools within 3 km, so neighbours can share schools.
How to read these numbers
What this data can and can’t tell you
•
Expected standard at Key Stage 2. The share of 11-year-olds who reach the expected standard in reading, writing and maths together, in tests and teacher assessment at the end of primary school. We use DfE’s three-year average (2023–2025) to steady small schools.
•
Higher standard. The share working at greater depth in all three. In Royal Sutton Coldfield: 14% (England’s average school: 8%).
•
Attainment 8. A pupil’s GCSE grades across eight subjects, with English and maths counted twice, added up. 50 is roughly a grade 5 in every subject.
•
Grade 5+ in English and maths. A strong pass in both. Grade 4 is a standard pass.
•
Provisional. 2025/26 GCSE figures are DfE’s first release; revised figures follow in February, usually within a point.
•
Progress 8. Not shown: there is none for 2025/26, because these pupils sat no KS2 tests in 2020 (Covid).
•
Free school meals. Pupils eligible for free school meals now, from the January census: the usual measure of how many pupils come from low-income homes.
•
Independent schools. Not included: they publish no results comparable with state schools’.
Questions about schools in Royal Sutton Coldfield
Are schools in Royal Sutton Coldfield good?
Royal Sutton Coldfield’s state schools earn an A+ against schools across England: primary results beat 94% of towns in England; secondary results beat 95% of towns in England, on Department for Education Key Stage 2 and GCSE results. School places are handled by Birmingham council.
What is the best secondary school in Royal Sutton Coldfield?
On 2025/26 GCSE results, Sutton Coldfield Grammar School for Girls: Attainment 8 of 80.5 and 99% with grade 5+ in English and maths, against 47.3 at the average school in England. Results are one measure; distance decides most places.
What is the best primary school in Royal Sutton Coldfield?
On Key Stage 2 results over 2023–25, Four Oaks Primary School: 91% of pupils meet the expected standard in reading, writing and maths, against 62% at the average school in England.
Do Royal Sutton Coldfield secondary schools have sixth forms?
6 of 7 do.
How do I apply for a school place in Royal Sutton Coldfield?
Through Birmingham Council, for every state school including academies. Secondary applications close on 31 October (offers 1 March); primary on 15 January (offers 16 April).
How many schools in Royal Sutton Coldfield are full?
18 of 29 mainstream schools have at least as many pupils as places, on DfE’s January 2026 census. A full school still admits by its rules, usually distance after siblings.
How many state schools are in Royal Sutton Coldfield?
32 open state-funded schools are located in Royal Sutton Coldfield’s built-up area: 23 primary, 7 secondary and 2 other (special schools, alternative provision, nurseries and 16–19). Independent schools aren’t included.
Sources: DfE Get Information about Schools (16 October 2026), Key Stage 2 performance tables (2023–2025, three-year average) and Key Stage 4 (2025/26, provisional); Ofsted state-funded school inspections as at 30 September 2026 · DfE Get Information about Schools (16 October 2026), further-education and sixth-form colleges · TownRatings grades: our own summary of the data, ranked against UK towns only. All under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
