Bartley Green School Review 2026: A community-focused 11 to 16 secondary with strong pastoral and SEND support

Bartley Green School serves the Bartley Green community in south-west Birmingham as an 11 to 16 mixed secondary, with a published capacity of 955 students. It is an academy with no boarding and no sixth form, so all students move on at 16.

The current headteacher is Jane Chan, appointed in January 2015.

The latest Ofsted inspection (07 March 2023) judged the school Good overall, with Good judgements across quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and leadership and management.

A clear theme across the school’s published information is structured support for transition and wellbeing, including its OWL Centre for pastoral interventions and a SEND Hub that opens from 8.30am.

The school’s public messaging is explicit about standards and belonging, framed through six core values: Aspiration, Achievement, Acceptance, Respect, Resilience, Reward. Those values are not presented as abstract statements. They are linked to routines that reward attendance, behaviour, and effort, and a pastoral model that treats confidence and regulation as prerequisites for learning.

Pastoral care is organised around practical support rather than slogans. The OWL Centre is described as a safe and calm space, with one-to-one and group interventions that can include themed programmes such as anger management, anxiety, emotional literacy, social skills, and self-harm awareness, reviewed and adapted based on student need. For parents, the implication is a school that expects challenges to arise in adolescence and has a defined toolkit to respond, rather than relying solely on sanctions or informal mentoring.

For students with special educational needs and disabilities, the published detail goes further than many mainstream secondaries. The SEND Hub is open from 8.30am and staffed by teaching assistants, and Homework Club is available at lunchtime and after school for an hour each day, again with trained support staff. This matters in day-to-day terms: it creates predictable, staffed spaces at the start of day, during social times, and immediately after lessons, which can be a decisive factor for students who find transitions and unstructured time difficult.

The school’s wider identity is also tied to its place in Birmingham’s post-war education expansion. A Birmingham City Council historical record of local schools lists “Bartley Green County Modern School, Adams Hill, Bartley Green” as opening in 1955, which aligns with the school’s long-standing role as a local secondary on the Adams Hill site. That history is relevant mainly because it signals continuity: this is a long-established community school rather than a new free school or recently opened provision with limited track record.

This review uses FindMySchool rankings and metrics as the definitive source for outcomes and comparisons.

Bartley Green School is ranked 3046th in England for GCSE outcomes (FindMySchool ranking based on official data), and ranked 79th among Birmingham secondary schools. In plain English, that places outcomes below England average overall, and it is a signal for families to look closely at progress measures and curriculum fit, not just raw grades.

The published Attainment 8 score is 38.2. Attainment 8 is a broad measure across eight GCSE slots; for parents, the practical implication is that average grades across those slots are typically not as high as at many Birmingham schools, particularly those with selective entry or more advantaged intakes.

Progress 8 is -0.46. This is an important figure because it adjusts for prior attainment at primary. A negative score means that, on average, students’ GCSE outcomes are below what would be expected given their starting points, compared with students nationally who had similar Key Stage 2 results. That does not describe every child’s experience, but it does mean parents should ask sharper questions about how the school targets progress in English and mathematics, how it uses intervention time, and how it supports students who arrive behind age-related expectations.

In the English Baccalaureate space, the school’s average EBacc APS is 3.31, and 11.6% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above across the EBacc. The implication is that the EBacc pathway is not currently a high-output route here for most students, so families who are strongly committed to a traditional EBacc-heavy academic profile should explore how the school builds language uptake, humanities choices, and higher-tier entry.

The school describes an ambitious and well-sequenced curriculum for all pupils, which is a useful starting point because it signals that subject plans are intentionally structured rather than left to individual departments to improvise. On its own, that statement is not enough for parents, so it is the practical implementation that matters. One tangible indicator is how support is built into the timetable and the wider day, especially for literacy, numeracy, and SEND.

Several school documents point to predictable intervention routes. The SEND Hub homework provision runs both at lunchtime and after school, with trained teaching assistants supporting pupils’ learning. In parallel, the school’s pupil premium strategy refers to a summer school for new Year 7 pupils, combining daily literacy and numeracy sessions with enrichment and transition activity, with a staffed SEND department in operation during the programme. For families, the implication is a school that attempts to close gaps early in Key Stage 3, rather than waiting until Year 11 to intensify support.

Subject support also appears in the published guidance for key stages, including named support sessions such as Maths Support Club and lunchtime revision provision. Parents considering the school should ask how these sessions are targeted, for example whether they prioritise students below expected standards, higher-tier entry, or specific groups such as disadvantaged students and those with SEND.

Because the school’s age range ends at 16, destinations are primarily about transition to post-16 education, training, or employment. The school publishes careers planning content that includes an Enterprise Adviser role supporting the careers leader to develop and evaluate the careers plan, explicitly bringing an employer perspective. In addition, school communications reference work experience activity for Year 10, with external visitors delivering workplace-focused sessions when some pupils remain on-site.

In practical terms, this points to a “next steps” model built around exposure and guidance, rather than assuming all students will follow the same academic route. That suits families who want structured support around decision-making at 14 and 16, including technical pathways and apprenticeships, especially given the school’s relatively low Progress 8 score, where a single “GCSE-only” definition of success would not fit every learner.

The limitation is that published destination statistics for leavers are not publicly available provided for this school, so parents should ask directly about the balance of sixth form, college, and apprenticeship routes, and how the school supports applications, interviews, and subject choices at Key Stage 4.

Admissions for Year 7 entry are coordinated through Birmingham City Council for families resident in Birmingham, with families outside the city applying via their home local authority.

The school publishes a specific admissions timeline for September 2026 entry. It notes open evenings typically running in October, and it highlights 31 October 2025 as the final deadline for submitting the Birmingham preference form for September 2026 entry. Birmingham’s own admissions timetable confirms that the statutory closing date for applications was 31 October 2025, with National Offer Day on 02 March 2026.

Demand indicators in the available admissions data point to competition for places. The most recent published figures show 682 applications and 182 offers, which equates to 3.75 applications per offered place. This does not guarantee the same pressure for every cohort, but it does mean parents should treat the school as oversubscribed and be realistic about preference strategy across Birmingham schools. For families shortlisting, the FindMySchoolMap Search is a practical way to compare location-based plausibility alongside stated criteria, even when distance cut-offs are not published for a given year.

No verified “last distance offered” figure is available in the data provided for this school, so it is sensible to use Birmingham’s published admissions guidance and the school’s own policy documents when deciding how risky the preference is from a given address.

Pastoral systems are described with unusual specificity for a large mainstream secondary. The OWL Centre is positioned as the hub for calm-space support and intervention, including one-to-one and group work, a Year 6 to Year 7 transition programme, and solution-focused mentoring. The school also states that referrals can be made to a school counsellor and an emotional health and wellbeing practitioner or consultant, alongside signposting to external agencies.

For parents, the key question is not whether these services exist, but how they are accessed and measured. The published description suggests a structured pathway rather than ad hoc support, with interventions reviewed to reflect current needs. This is likely to suit students who benefit from predictable adult support and explicit coping strategies, particularly during Key Stage 3 transition and the pressures that build in Key Stage 4.

SEND support is also defined in terms of routines. The SEND Hub opening from 8.30am and the availability of Homework Club at lunchtime and after school indicate additional scaffolding around the edges of the day, which can matter as much as classroom differentiation for many learners.

Enrichment here is best understood as a mix of broad participation, targeted clubs, and structured experiences that extend curriculum learning. One example is the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, which is referenced as a valued opportunity for pupils, and described in school communications as becoming embedded, with Year 10 pupils taking part in the expedition element. The implication is clear: students who respond well to challenge, teamwork, and practical responsibility can find a meaningful outlet beyond classroom performance.

Music and performance appear in school communications through events such as winter concerts, with specific ensembles including Steel-Pan and Orchestra mentioned as part of showcases. For students who may not see themselves primarily as academic high-flyers, belonging to a named ensemble can become a stabilising “anchor” that improves attendance, confidence, and peer relationships.

The school’s published documents also reference named clubs and groups that speak to inclusion and identity. Examples include a Language Learners club introduced for Key Stage 3, and a Sisters’ group run at lunchtime to support Muslim girls, giving a structured space for peer support. These types of groups matter because they create adult-supported belonging for students who might otherwise opt out of enrichment due to confidence, culture, or social anxiety.

Trips are another tangible enrichment route, with opportunities referenced for subject areas such as science, modern foreign languages and art, including trips to Geneva and London. This kind of curriculum-linked travel tends to benefit students who learn best through concrete experiences, and it can lift engagement for groups who are less motivated by purely classroom-based instruction.

This is a state school with no tuition fees. It is a mixed secondary for ages 11 to 16, with no sixth form and no boarding, and a published capacity of 955 students.

The school publishes detailed information across pastoral care and SEND support, but daily start and finish times are not clearly displayed in the text of the school day page as captured here, so families should confirm the current timetable directly with the school before planning travel and childcare.

For families who drive, the school advertises free on-site car parking for staff, which suggests a sizeable site, but visitor parking expectations are not stated in a way that can be verified from the published pages reviewed.

• Progress and intervention need close attention. A Progress 8 score of -0.46 indicates that, on average, students’ outcomes are below the national benchmark for pupils with similar starting points. Families should ask how progress is tracked, how interventions are targeted, and how impact is evaluated across English and mathematics.

• EBacc outcomes are currently low. With 11.6% achieving grade 5 or above across the EBacc and an EBacc APS of 3.31, families who prioritise an EBacc-heavy academic route should discuss language uptake, humanities pathways, and higher-tier entry decisions early.

• Oversubscription can be a real constraint. The available demand data shows 682 applications and 182 offers, which is 3.75 applications per offered place. That level of demand can make preference strategy and realistic alternatives important.

• All students move on at 16. With no sixth form, the post-16 transition is a built-in change point. That suits many students, but families should plan early for colleges, school sixth forms, or apprenticeships, especially if a stable peer group through Year 13 is important to your child.

Bartley Green School reads as a purposeful, community-facing secondary with clearly described pastoral structures and unusually specific SEND routines, including a staffed SEND Hub from 8.30am and a defined intervention offer through the OWL Centre.

It is best suited to families who want a mainstream 11 to 16 school that places visible weight on wellbeing, transition, and inclusive support, alongside enrichment routes such as Duke of Edinburgh, music ensembles, and identity-based student groups.

The key trade-off is that outcomes, particularly Progress 8, indicate that academic progress is an area parents should probe carefully, and oversubscription can limit access even for local families.