Saltley Academy Review 2026: Rights-Respecting Secondary Academy with a Clear Oracy Focus

A large, non-selective secondary academy serving Bordesley Green and surrounding Birmingham neighbourhoods, Saltley Academy’s story is one of steady rebuilding and clear priorities. Leadership places strong emphasis on respectful relationships, inclusion, and pupils’ rights, backed by external recognition as a UNICEF Rights Respecting School (Gold).

Academically, outcomes sit broadly in line with the middle of England’s state secondary picture, with room for improvement in the depth of learning in a small number of subjects and in reading support for weaker readers. The most recent Ofsted inspection (May 2023) confirmed the school remained Good, with effective safeguarding.

Families considering Saltley are usually weighing three practical questions: whether the school’s ambitious curriculum approach and strong expectations feel right for their child, how well the school supports additional needs, and how smoothly the post-16 transition works, given there is no sixth form.

Saltley’s public-facing identity is built around dignity, rights, and belonging, rather than around a narrow academic brand. The Rights Respecting framework is not presented as a badge, it is used as the organising language for how pupils are expected to treat one another and how staff respond when things go wrong. This shapes everyday expectations around behaviour, inclusion, and how disagreements are resolved.

The school’s internal language also matters here. Pupils are encouraged to develop “Outstanding Learner Qualities”, with explicit emphasis on communication and confidence, not just grades. In practice, that aligns with the school’s deliberate focus on oracy, so pupils can explain their thinking, speak with clarity, and take part in discussion across subjects.

As a large setting, Saltley needs systems that keep pupils known, visible, and supported. Official evidence points to staff knowing pupils well and acting quickly when concerns arise, including around bullying. The overall tone is one of a structured community that expects pupils to behave well and provides staff-led support when they need it.

Leadership is currently listed as Mr Paul Marano.

For GCSE outcomes, Saltley sits close to the midpoint of England’s state secondary distribution. Ranked 2,193rd in England and 50th in Birmingham for GCSE outcomes (FindMySchool ranking based on official data), the school’s results are best described as solid and broadly typical relative to national patterns, rather than consistently high-performing.

At GCSE level, the key measures available indicate:

• Attainment 8 score of 42.4.

• Progress 8 score of -0.07, suggesting outcomes close to expected progress overall, with a slight negative variance.

• 18.8% achieving grade 5 or above in EBacc subjects, with an EBacc average point score of 3.9.

For parents, the practical implication is that Saltley is not defined by unusually high headline results. The case for the school rests more on its culture, curriculum ambition, and the way teaching is structured to help pupils recall and use knowledge well, especially for pupils who benefit from clear routines and explicit teaching.

If you are comparing local options, FindMySchool’s Local Hub and Comparison Tool can help you place Saltley’s GCSE measures alongside nearby schools using the same metrics and time window.

Teaching and curriculum design at Saltley are anchored in ambition, with the English Baccalaureate positioned as central to the school’s model. The intent is for pupils to build a broad base of knowledge and leave with a curriculum that keeps pathways open, rather than narrowing too early.

Two named curriculum structures help illustrate how the school tries to make this work in practice:

• Connections (Year 9) is designed to consolidate knowledge from Years 7 and 8, supporting recall and helping pupils make links across topics before GCSE pathways firm up. The implication for families is a deliberate attempt to reduce the common GCSE problem of pupils forgetting earlier key stage learning, although external review indicates the depth of time allocated to a few subjects still needs attention.

• Outstanding learner projects (Years 7 and 8) sit alongside careers and personal development planning, with a stated emphasis on pupils developing confidence, articulation, and readiness for life beyond school. For pupils who need structured prompts to build confidence and communication, this can be a meaningful feature, especially in a large school.

Reading is also positioned as a priority, with leaders identifying pupils who need additional help and building a wider reading culture. Formal evaluation indicates there is more work to do to ensure all weaker readers receive consistent, systematic support, which is a key point for families to explore during visits.

With provision ending at Year 11, Saltley’s destination story is about transition, guidance, and readiness rather than about A-level outcomes. The school runs a detailed careers programme that begins early and is framed as a long runway rather than a late sprint in Year 11. This matters in an 11 to 16 setting, because the quality of advice and the strength of post-16 preparation can shape whether students move confidently into sixth form, further education, or training.

Formal evidence highlights a strong emphasis on careers education and on ensuring pupils understand education and training routes beyond GCSE, including technical and apprenticeship pathways. That is a positive signal for families who want practical, structured guidance rather than relying on informal knowledge.

Parents looking for a seamless 11 to 18 journey should note the lack of an internal sixth form. That does not make the school weaker, but it does mean families should plan earlier for post-16 choices and ensure their child is clear about which colleges or school sixth forms they are aiming for.

Year 7 admissions are coordinated through Birmingham City Council rather than directly by the academy, with the standard local authority timetable applying. For September 2026 entry, applications opened on 01 September 2025 and the closing date was 31 October 2025. National Offer Day for Birmingham’s secondary allocation process was 02 March 2026.

For families planning a future application cycle, the practical takeaway is that Birmingham’s secondary admissions process follows a predictable annual rhythm, with applications typically opening in early September and closing at the end of October in the year before entry. Appeals deadlines and hearings then run into the spring and early summer.

Because distance and oversubscription patterns can shift year to year, families typically benefit from checking their likely eligibility early. FindMySchool’s Map Search is useful for estimating distance-based priority where relevant, then verifying final criteria against the council’s published arrangements.

Pastoral strength at Saltley is rooted in visibility and clear safeguarding practice. The school has a large safeguarding structure, with staff trained to identify concerns, escalate quickly, and put support in place for pupils at risk. Pupils report feeling safe and being able to speak to staff if something is wrong.

Support for additional needs is also a defining practical feature. The school operates specialist spaces including The Hive and a dedicated autism resource base known as The Bridge, intended to provide targeted support alongside mainstream learning where appropriate. For families of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities, these named provisions provide specific lines of enquiry: how pupils are identified, what daily support looks like in lessons, and how progress and wellbeing are monitored.

Workload and staff culture also matter to pupils, because they affect consistency of teaching and behaviour management. Formal evidence indicates staff feel supported and positive about working at the school, which can contribute to stability in routines and expectations.

Extracurricular life at Saltley is framed less as a fixed menu and more as a responsive offer shaped by pupil voice. External review notes that leaders developed clubs and activities in response to what pupils asked for, and that these activities are intended to broaden pupils’ horizons as well as complement classroom learning.

The school’s wider enrichment story is strongly tied to its rights-respecting identity. Pupils’ involvement in local charities and citizenship education is part of the core offer, not a fringe activity, and this fits with a school that is deliberately preparing pupils for participation in modern multicultural Britain.

For families, the key question is fit. Pupils who respond well to clear expectations, structured opportunities to practise communication, and values-based framing often do well in settings like this. Pupils who need a highly niche extracurricular pathway, for example an elite sport pipeline or intensive performing arts timetable, may need to check whether the current programme aligns with their priorities.

Saltley Academy serves the Bordesley Green area of Birmingham and is a large secondary setting.

Because the school is an academy, term dates and the detailed daily timetable can differ from local authority community schools. Families should check start and finish times directly with the school, especially if arranging transport or childcare around the school day. For travel planning, most families use local bus routes serving Bordesley Green and surrounding roads, and build in contingency for peak-time traffic.

• Depth of learning in a small number of subjects. Formal evaluation indicates that in a few areas pupils have not had enough curriculum time to study topics in sufficient depth, which can affect recall and confidence later on. Families should ask how curriculum time has been adjusted since the last inspection.

• Reading support consistency. Leaders have strengthened reading support but there is acknowledged work still to do so that weaker readers are consistently identified and helped to become fluent. This is especially important for pupils whose progress is held back by literacy barriers.

• No sixth form. Post-16 transition planning is essential because pupils move on at 16. For some families this is ideal, for others it adds complexity and increases the importance of early planning.

• Large-school dynamics. With over 1,300 pupils on roll reported in official documentation, this is a busy setting that relies on strong systems. Some pupils thrive with the social breadth and structure; others prefer a smaller environment.

Saltley Academy is a values-led Birmingham secondary that has put inclusion, respectful relationships, and communication skills at the centre of its offer, while maintaining an academically ambitious curriculum model. GCSE outcomes are broadly typical for England, so the decision is less about chasing top-end results and more about whether the school’s culture, structure, and support match your child.

Best suited to families who want a clear behaviour culture, an explicit rights-based ethos, and structured development of oracy and learning habits, and who are comfortable planning for a post-16 move at the end of Year 11.