St James Academy Review 2026, Central Dudley secondary with improving culture and a strong careers focus

A central Dudley secondary with a long local lineage and a clear modern identity, this is an 11 to 16 academy that has spent the past few years tightening routines, sharpening teaching, and raising expectations. The current principal, Mr Ian Moore, has been in post since 2019, and much of the school’s story in 2026 is about steady consolidation rather than headline reinvention.

Parents deciding whether it is the right fit will want to weigh two things at the same time. First, the school’s outcomes place it below England average on FindMySchool’s GCSE ranking, even while Dudley comparisons look stronger, so your judgement depends on whether you are benchmarking locally or nationally. Second, external evaluation points to a calmer, more orderly day than many families might expect from past reputation, with teaching routines and reading support becoming more consistent, although attendance and engagement with clubs remain areas to improve.

A key part of the school’s identity is its place in Dudley’s education history. The site’s story begins with Dudley Grammar School, founded in 1562, later becoming a mixed comprehensive in 1975, then Castle High School in 1989, before joining Dudley Academies Trust in 2017 and being re-branded as St James Academy in August 2018.

Today’s tone is shaped by trust-wide approaches. The school describes a shared behaviour framework called Values Driven Expectations, used across the secondary schools in the trust. Alongside this, it references a “SMART curriculum” and continued estate upgrades, including improvements such as heating and roofing, and investment in computing equipment including refurbished computer rooms and suites of laptops used across subject areas.

What this means for families in practice is a school that leans into structure and clarity. The teaching approach is presented as a consistent framework with a shared language, and the school explicitly ties this to evidence-informed practice, aiming for staff consistency across classrooms. For students who benefit from clear routines, predictable expectations, and teachers who check understanding frequently, that can be reassuring.

The June 2024 Ofsted inspection judged the school to be Good overall, and Good in each graded area.

Beyond the headline grade, a useful takeaway for parents is that the wider feel is described as inclusive and welcoming, with students confident they can seek help from trusted adults, and with behaviour in most lessons calm and orderly, although the report also notes that low-level disruption can occur in certain circumstances.

This review uses FindMySchool’s rankings for comparative performance, alongside the school’s published performance measures. In the FindMySchool GCSE ranking (based on official data), St James Academy is ranked 3,041st in England and 3rd in Dudley for GCSE outcomes. This places performance below England average (within the lower-performing 40% of schools in England by this measure).

The metrics available here underline a mixed picture. The school’s Attainment 8 score is 38.1, and Progress 8 is -0.11, indicating students make slightly below-average progress from their starting points across the eight subjects measured. The average EBacc APS is 3.39, and 11% of pupils achieved grades 5 or above in the EBacc measure.

For parents, the practical implication is that many students will do well here, but the school is not yet consistently delivering top-end outcomes at national level across the whole cohort. The strongest case for choosing the school is typically about fit, support, and the direction of travel, rather than purely about maximising GCSE metrics.

A clear theme is deliberate instruction and consistency. The school describes an “SJA Pedagogical” approach, rooted in evidence-informed principles and applied through a shared framework and language, intended to improve lesson quality across subjects. It also defines learning explicitly as a change in long-term memory, which signals an emphasis on checking understanding, revisiting prior learning, and securing recall.

External evaluation supports the idea that teaching has become more systematic. Classroom routines that help students revisit and remember previous learning are described as a school-wide improvement, with teachers addressing misconceptions well, and examples given of adaptive teaching and regular checks for understanding in core subjects.

Reading receives explicit focus. Students who need additional support are identified on entry and receive specialist reading provision, and reading for pleasure is built into form time. For families, that matters because literacy gaps often sit behind weaker performance across multiple GCSE subjects, and early intervention can shift a student’s whole secondary trajectory.

With no sixth form, the school’s end point is Year 11, so the destination question becomes, “How well does the school set students up for post-16 routes?”

Careers guidance is presented as a core strength. The school runs a structured careers and progression programme under the name CareerFit, with resources for CV writing, interview preparation, labour market information, and destination information.

Alongside the in-curriculum guidance, the school’s wider messaging encourages students to think ambitiously about next steps, with an emphasis on planning and making informed choices, rather than drifting into whatever is easiest.

Students choosing between sixth form and college will also care about the practical preparation for GCSEs in Year 11. The school runs an after-school intervention programme for Year 11 that operates on three evenings each week, focused on English, mathematics, and science, with additional targeted sessions during weekends and holidays in some periods.

St James Academy is a state-funded secondary, so places are allocated through the local authority’s coordinated admissions process rather than direct fee-paying entry. The school’s admissions page notes that Year 7 applications are made through Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council, and highlights a typical deadline of 31 October in the preceding year.

For September 2026 entry specifically, Dudley’s published timetable sets out the full application window and decision timeline. Applications open on 01 September 2025; the closing date is 31 October 2025 (with separate deadlines for paper and online submissions); and decision emails are scheduled for 02 March 2026.

Demand is an important part of the admissions story. In the latest admissions dataset available here, the school was oversubscribed, with 288 applications for 174 offers, which equates to 1.66 applications per offer. For families, that means you should treat admission as competitive rather than automatic, especially if your circumstances do not place you high in the oversubscription criteria.

Parents shortlisting locally can use the FindMySchoolMap Search to sanity-check travel time and day-to-day practicality alongside admissions rules, particularly if you are weighing multiple Dudley schools with similar commutes.

Pastoral support is described as a strength, both in school communications and in formal evaluation. The school highlights classroom support as a key feature and describes a pastoral team working across the academy so that students can access help when needed.

SEND support is framed as a whole-school responsibility, with provision ranging from in-class support to one-to-one support and specialist intervention programmes, delivered by a mix of class teachers, learning support assistants, mentors, and external agencies depending on need.

English as an additional language provision is also described as substantial, with an ESOL programme supported by Dudley College of Technology.

The safeguarding message is straightforward. The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

A realistic area for families to explore in visits and conversations is attendance. Attendance is identified as a continuing challenge for some students, with a clear link to gaps in learning. The school is taking action and working with families and external agencies, but families should still ask how attendance is tracked, what early intervention looks like, and what support is available if a student’s attendance begins to slip.

The school has a broad offer on paper, and the detail matters here because it signals whether activities are generic or genuinely embedded.

Sport is a major pillar. The school describes activity running before school, at lunchtimes, and after school, with both recreational and competitive options. It references participation in football, basketball, netball, rounders, cricket, and athletics, plus weekly satellite clubs including basketball and boxing with specialist coaching. Access to a 3G pitch at Dudley College is highlighted for football training, and trust-wide events include tournaments and a Dudley Academies Trust sports day at the Dell Stadium.

Performing arts and music provision is unusually specific for a mainstream 11 to 16. The music department lists guitar club and performance opportunities, and it sets out facilities in detail: two main music rooms, four adjacent practice rooms, and software and equipment including Cubase, Reason, and Sibelius 7.5 alongside MIDI keyboards, plus MacBooks used for music creation in GarageBand.

Reading culture is supported by a dedicated library space. The school describes a new library intended as a quiet area for independent reading, accessible before school, after school, and during breaks. It runs regular events including an annual Scholastic Book Fair, and a range of activities such as book reviews, read-aloud sessions, poetry competitions, and book cover design competitions.

Students also have routes into leadership. The Student Leadership team is presented as a practical, working group that supports events, tours, assemblies, “staying safe” initiatives, charity events, and even aspects of staff recruitment, with reporting lines that include trust and local governance structures.

A note of realism is helpful, because it explains why some families feel the “offer” and the “take-up” do not always match. Formal evaluation states that there are clubs and activities such as law competitions and basketball, but that more work is needed to ensure a greater number of pupils benefit from the extracurricular programme.

For parents, the right question is not just “What is available?” but “What percentage of students actually participate weekly, and what is done to remove barriers such as cost, confidence, or transport?”

The school day starts at 08:40 and ends at 15:10, with a 20-minute break and a 40-minute lunch. The timetable is structured around five one-hour lessons, and the school also sets out a Year 11 intervention slot running from 15:10 to 16:10 on set days.

Transport is one of the simpler selling points. The school notes it is a short walk from Dudley’s main bus station, which is served by routes from across the West Midlands.

Families driving should still assume typical town-centre peak congestion at drop-off and pick-up, and plan a dry-run if your child will be commuting independently.

• Below-average progress overall. A Progress 8 score of -0.11 indicates students make slightly below-average progress across the GCSE suite, so families seeking consistently high national outcomes may want to compare alternatives carefully.

• Attendance remains a key risk factor. Some students do not attend as regularly as they should, and this creates noticeable gaps in learning; ask what attendance support looks like and how quickly intervention begins.

• Extracurricular take-up is uneven. Sport, music, and library enrichment are well-described, but external evaluation notes not enough pupils currently benefit from wider activities; this matters if you want clubs to be central to your child’s week.

• No sixth form. Post-16 planning matters earlier, and you will want clarity by Year 10 on likely college or sixth form routes, entry requirements, and how the school supports applications.

St James Academy is best understood as a structured, steadily improving Dudley secondary with strong emphasis on careers guidance, literacy support, and a more consistent teaching framework than its history might lead some families to expect. It will suit students who respond well to clear routines, benefit from purposeful intervention in Year 11, and want accessible opportunities in sport, music, and leadership. The key trade-off is that GCSE performance sits below England average by FindMySchool’s ranking, so families prioritising the highest national outcomes should compare carefully, while those prioritising local accessibility and support may see a good fit.