Tile Cross Academy Review 2026: A small 11 to 16 academy with an unusually broad opportunity offer

Tile Cross Academy is an 11 to 16 secondary in Tile Cross, east Birmingham, built on a site with a long local education lineage and re-opened as an academy in May 2017.

The school’s current leadership pages and headteacher welcome identify Gurt Sanghera as headteacher (sometimes titled Head of Academy across school materials). The school does not publish a clear “appointed on” date for his headship on the public pages reviewed, so families who need precise tenure detail should request it directly at open events or via governance channels.

For parents, the headline picture is balanced. The school sits below England average overall for GCSE outcomes in the FindMySchool rankings, yet the latest inspection evidence points to a school that has strengthened its culture, routines, and personal development offer, with particular emphasis on behaviour, attendance, reading support, and inclusion.

The defining feature is how seriously the school takes access to enrichment. Cadets, Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, large-scale international partnerships, and a structured character programme are not add-ons here, they are central to how the school keeps students engaged and looking beyond their immediate horizons.

A small secondary can feel either compressed or cohesive. Here, the school leans hard into cohesion through explicit routines, a strong form and house structure, and a consistent language around behaviour and character.

The house system is not cosmetic. Students are placed into one of four houses, Central, Martineau, Kenrick, and International, explicitly chosen to reflect predecessor schools on the site. That choice matters because it gives students a shared narrative that connects present-day school life to a wider local story, rather than treating the academy as a brand-new institution with no roots.

Pastoral systems are described in practical, everyday terms rather than marketing language. Form tutors monitor attendance, punctuality, appearance, attitude to work, and behaviour, with escalation through Heads of Year, Pastoral Managers, and safeguarding staff. Parents are encouraged to raise concerns early, and the school emphasises appointments because staff timetables are tight.

Two themes recur across the school’s own messaging and the latest external evidence. First, expectations are clear, with behaviour positioned as a precondition for learning. Second, the school wants students to feel they belong, including students from a wide range of backgrounds and cultures, and it uses the language of respect and equal treatment frequently across its pages and programmes.

Performance data and rankings in this section reflect FindMySchool analysis of official datasets and are not replaced by third-party sources.

GCSE ranking (FindMySchool)

Ranked 3,223rd in England and 84th in Birmingham for GCSE outcomes. This places the school below England average overall, within the bottom 40% of schools in England on this ranking measure.

On the metrics available:

• Attainment 8: 38.1

• Progress 8: -0.26, indicating students made less progress than peers with similar starting points on average.

• EBacc average point score: 3.36, below the England average of 4.08.

• EBacc grade 5+ measure: 6.5% (as published used here).

What this means for parents is that the academic story is a work in progress. The outcome profile suggests that sustained focus on attendance, behaviour, and high-quality instruction remains central if the school is to lift headline results. At the same time, a school can improve outcomes materially without changing its intake overnight, particularly when curriculum sequencing, reading support, and consistent classroom routines become embedded over several years.

Parents comparing local options should use the FindMySchool Local Hub and Comparison Tool to view nearby schools side by side on Attainment 8, Progress 8, and the FindMySchool ranking context, then treat school visits as the tie-breaker.

The curriculum is described as a three-year Key Stage 3 followed by a two-year Key Stage 4, with a deliberate focus on sequencing knowledge and revisiting content to support retention. The school explicitly links curriculum design to literacy, speaking, and confidence, aiming for students to leave as articulate young adults with strong habits for employment and further learning.

A practical detail that stands out is the school’s explicit adoption of a whole-school oracy focus. Tile Cross describes itself as a Voice 21 Oracy School, framing spoken language as a core capability alongside literacy and numeracy, and promising more structured opportunities for students to use talk to support learning across lessons. For families whose child is quiet, anxious about speaking in front of others, or learning English as an additional language, a coherent oracy approach can be materially helpful if implemented consistently.

External evidence also highlights several teaching and learning priorities that align with this direction: curriculum review, clearer identification of core knowledge, improved reading assessment on entry, and well-targeted support for students who need to catch up in reading. Provision for students with SEND is described as a strength, including good use of pupil information to support learning in class.

A fair caveat is also clear. Assessment practice is not yet consistently precise across classrooms, which can allow gaps and misconceptions to persist when they are missed. That is a familiar improvement target in schools strengthening consistency, and parents should ask how assessment informs re-teaching in their child’s subjects, particularly in English and mathematics.

Tile Cross Academy is an 11 to 16 school, so the critical transition is post-16. The school positions careers guidance as a whole-school responsibility with dedicated staffing, including a named Careers Leader and a programme of careers events throughout the year. It also states that students have access to independent careers guidance on a weekly basis during term time.

For families, the practical implication is that the school is set up to guide students into a realistic next step rather than treating Year 11 as a finish line. Students in Birmingham typically progress into sixth forms, further education colleges, or apprenticeships, and the school’s stated approach is to help students understand course requirements and apply early, particularly where popular college courses fill up.

One useful prompt for parents is to ask, in Year 9 and Year 10, what the school expects students to have in place by Christmas of Year 11, such as shortlist of courses, open day attendance, predicted grades, and application timelines. Where schools get this right, it reduces stress and improves progression quality even when GCSE outcomes are uneven.

Tile Cross Academy follows Birmingham’s coordinated admissions route for Year 7, with the Local Authority’s process determining application submission and national offer timing. For September 2026 entry, Birmingham’s published timetable indicates applications opened on 01 September 2025, with the statutory closing date 31 October 2025, and National Offer Day on 02 March 2026.

The school’s published oversubscription approach mirrors the typical Birmingham order of priority:

1. looked-after and previously looked-after children,

2. siblings, then

3. distance from the school.

Demand indicators available for this review suggest the school has been oversubscribed in the latest available admissions figures, with around 4.02 applications per place and 507 applications for 126 offers recorded in the admissions data provided. The ratio between first preferences and first preference offers is 1.16, suggesting meaningful competition even among families naming the school first.

Because the last offered distance is not published in the available data for this school, parents should avoid assuming a “safe” radius. If you are considering a move, use the FindMySchool Map Search to calculate your likely home-to-school distance and then cross-check Birmingham’s latest admissions materials when they are released for the relevant cycle.

Pastoral support is structured around form tutors and year teams, with the house system providing an additional identity layer that can help new Year 7 students settle quickly. Weekly assemblies by year group, with senior leadership presence, are positioned as part of how the school sets expectations and reinforces routines.

Safeguarding information is presented with named roles, including a Designated Safeguarding Lead and safeguarding support staff, plus a substantial set of resources on online safety, health, wellbeing services, and risks such as exploitation. Students also have access to Tootoot, described as a route to report concerns.

On mental health, the school signposts specific partner services and provides supporting materials, with content framed around practical issues such as anxiety and exam pressure, rather than generic wellbeing slogans.

This is where Tile Cross Academy differentiates itself most clearly. The school does not treat enrichment as occasional trips and a few clubs. It presents a deliberately broad set of opportunities that aim to widen horizons for students who might not otherwise access them.

Cadets

The cadet programme has real substance. The school joined the government Cadet Expansion Programme in 2017, later switching in September 2021 to the Army section of Solihull School Combined Cadet Force. Training runs after school on Mondays, with a syllabus including shooting, map reading, first aid, fieldcraft, and adventurous activities. Cadets can count this towards Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, and the programme includes weekend residential camps and a weeklong summer camp. The school also describes international experiences linked to cadets, including an exchange connected to an American cadet camp in the USA, with activities described as heavily subsidised and uniform provided.

For families, the implication is clear. This will suit students who respond well to structured challenge, practical skills, and belonging to a team. It can also be a powerful motivator for attendance and engagement, particularly for students who do not see themselves as purely academic.

International projects and exchanges

International activity is unusually extensive for a non-selective, non-fee-paying 11 to 16. The school describes grant-funded projects designed to keep participation affordable, including Erasmus+ staff mobility projects, partnerships with European schools, and a multi-country STEM initiative called Space Race, designed around coding, design technology, and problem-solving with partner schools in several countries.

There is also a British Council Connecting Classrooms partnership with Pakistan Scouts Cadet College, and the school describes exchanges and visits, including projects tied to remembrance and international understanding.

This matters because international work can become a meaningful driver of aspiration. Students see post-16 and post-18 pathways not as abstract ideas but as routes that connect to tangible experiences, languages, and real-world contexts.

Heritage and place-based identity

The school’s connection to the Bryntail Cottage charity, rooted in a predecessor school’s historic link to countryside learning experiences, is another example of how the school tries to offer students a wider world, while still grounding itself in Birmingham history.

The school day is structured with form time starting at 08:40, and families are asked to ensure students are in school by 08:30. The published timetable shows Period 5 ending at 15:10.

After-school activity is clearly built into the routine. The school indicates that clubs typically run 15:00 to 16:00, and that students can attend by turning up at the stated location.

For travel, the school highlights several public bus routes serving the area, including 94, 14, and 97, and it sets expectations for student conduct on public transport when wearing uniform.

This is a state school with no tuition fees. Families should still plan for the normal associated costs of secondary education, including uniform, transport, and optional trips or enrichment experiences.

• Outcomes remain the main challenge. The FindMySchool ranking places the school below England average overall for GCSE outcomes, with Progress 8 at -0.26. Families should ask how the school is translating improved culture and routines into sustained improvements in examination outcomes.

• Consistency in assessment is still developing. External evidence indicates that assessment practice is not yet consistently precise across lessons, which can allow gaps to persist. This is particularly relevant for students who need regular feedback to stay on track.

• Behaviour and attendance expectations are firm. The school’s culture is built around clear standards, and it is explicit that joining the school means buying into behaviour expectations. That suits many students, but a small minority may find the adjustment difficult at first.

• Some web pages show mixed leadership naming. The headteacher welcome and leadership pages identify Gurt Sanghera as headteacher, but other sections still display older information. Parents who place high weight on leadership continuity should seek clarity on current roles and responsibilities in person.

Tile Cross Academy is best understood as a school that has strengthened its foundations and built an unusually broad opportunity offer for a state 11 to 16, particularly through cadets, international projects, and a structured character programme. The academic outcome picture is not yet where many families will want it to be, but the direction of travel in culture, inclusion, reading support, and personal development is clearer than the headline numbers alone suggest.

Who it suits

students who benefit from clear routines, pastoral structure through form and house systems, and who are likely to engage with practical, team-based enrichment alongside their GCSE programme. For families deciding between local options, this is a school where a visit matters, not to hear generic promises, but to test whether classroom expectations and learning routines match the ambition of its broader opportunity offer.