Trinity High School and Sixth Form Centre Review 2026: A high school with a clear ethos and strong leadership

This is a 13 to 18 high school serving central Redditch, with roots that stretch back to the former Redditch County High School and a long tradition of a house system and broad co-curricular life. The main buildings on the site opened in 1932, designed by Henry Walter Simister, and the school’s modern identity includes its relaunch as Trinity High School and Sixth Form Centre in 2001 and academy conversion in 2011.

The school is part of Bordesley Multi-Academy Trust and is led by Headteacher Mr Nigel Ford, who was in post by April 2022.

The most recent inspection (March 2024) confirmed a Good overall judgement, with leadership and management graded Outstanding and sixth form provision graded Good.

The strongest organising idea here is the school’s HEART values, happiness, excellence, ambition, respect and tolerance, which are embedded as a common language for behaviour, routines, and personal development. Pupils report feeling safe, and the external evaluation describes respectful relationships, focused lessons, and a calm social atmosphere where staff respond quickly to bullying concerns.

Pastoral support is structured rather than informal. The HEART Centre operates as an inclusion, wellbeing, and early-help hub. Its published offer includes a mental health and wellbeing service (Happiness at HEART), mindfulness clinics, careers guidance routing, restorative work through Refocus, and targeted programmes such as violence prevention, anti-social behaviour, staying safe online, and diversity education. For families, the implication is clear: support pathways are visible, named, and designed to intervene early, rather than relying on ad hoc escalation.

Leadership stability has mattered. Mr Nigel Ford’s appointment is linked, in the school’s own communications, to a renewed emphasis on shared vision and consistency across a school serving multiple age groups and pathways.

Performance is mixed across key measures, and it is important to separate leadership strength from exam outcomes. On GCSE measures, the school’s most recent data shows an Attainment 8 score of 40.9 and a Progress 8 score of -0.3, which indicates that, on average, pupils make slightly less progress than pupils with similar starting points across England.

Ranked 3,111th in England and 4th in Redditch for GCSE outcomes (FindMySchool ranking based on official data), the school sits below England average overall.

At A-level, the picture is similarly challenging. 28.65% of grades were A* to B in the most recent dataset, compared with an England average of 47.2%. The A* rate is 1.04%.

Ranked 2,254th in England and 4th in Redditch for A-level outcomes (FindMySchool ranking based on official data), results sit below England average overall.

This does not mean ambitions are low. It does mean families should focus hard on fit: students who thrive with structured teaching, strong routines, and well-defined support may do well, while those needing consistently high-attaining peer effects should ask detailed questions about set pathways, sixth form subject cohorts, and the school’s improvement trajectory.

Curriculum intent is a clear strength. The latest inspection describes a broad and ambitious curriculum, with careful sequencing of knowledge, and a design that places the English Baccalaureate at the centre, alongside growth in humanities and modern languages participation. Teaching is described as strongly informed by subject knowledge, with concepts broken down into manageable steps and regular assessment used to close gaps quickly.

Reading has a daily footprint in the timetable. From September 2023 the school day includes a Reading School slot each morning, following registration. For students who arrive with weaker literacy, the inspection evidence points to additional phonics support, and sixth formers supporting younger readers, which is a practical model for building a reading culture in a 13 to 18 setting.

For pupils with special educational needs and disabilities, the external picture is encouraging. Teaching is expected to adapt to need using shared information, and pupils report that teachers support them well. The implication for families is that SEND support is part of the mainstream classroom model, not something that only happens outside lessons.

The school does not publish a full university destinations breakdown with named institutions and student counts in the sources reviewed, so the most useful destination evidence here is the 2023/24 leaver picture. In that cohort, 49% progressed to university, 22% entered employment, and 7% started apprenticeships.

Alongside this, Oxford and Cambridge outcomes in the same measurement period show two applications and one acceptance, specifically one Cambridge acceptance. This is a small pipeline rather than a defining feature, but it indicates that students do pursue highly selective routes when the fit is right.

The practical implication is that post-16 guidance should be a focus for families. Where a cohort has a broad mix of destinations, strong careers education, clear entry requirements by subject, and effective personal guidance typically matter as much as raw headline grades.

This is a high school in a local three-tier context, drawing the majority of its intake from Birchensale Middle School, Woodfield Academy and Walkwood. The published admission limit is 252, and the school notes that it is positioned as the provided high school for those feeders.

For September 2026 entry via Worcestershire coordinated admissions, the county’s published closing date is 31 October 2025, with offers issued on 02 March 2026. Because allocations depend on cohort distribution and preferences each year, families should treat the timetable as fixed but the outcomes as variable.

Sixth form admissions operate on a separate timeline. For Year 12 entry in September 2026, the sixth form admissions policy sets a closing date of 30 November 2025 for applications made through the school website.

Open events follow a predictable seasonal pattern rather than a single fixed date. The school describes an open evening in late September each year, an open morning shortly afterwards by appointment, and a sixth form open evening after autumn half-term in early November.

A practical tip: where distance can matter and patterns shift across years, families can use FindMySchool’s Map Search to sense-check travel practicality and nearby alternatives as part of shortlisting, rather than relying on assumptions about catchment.

Pastoral provision is unusually explicit in its architecture. The HEART Centre functions as the hub for wellbeing, inclusion, mental health support, and behaviour restoration. Happiness at HEART is presented as the school’s mental health service delivered through the same centre, with a stated aim of reducing stigma and building coping strategies.

Behaviour expectations are high and aligned to the ethos, with restorative and educational responses for more serious incidents. The inspection evidence supports this direction, noting reductions in suspensions and an approach that helps pupils manage behaviour through consistent strategies. Safeguarding is confirmed as effective.

For parents, the key question is not whether support exists, it clearly does, but how quickly it is accessed, how it is staffed, and how it integrates with teaching time. Those are good questions to raise at open events.

Co-curricular life has two layers: large, high-profile opportunities and the weekly routine of accessible clubs. On the flagship side, the school offers the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award up to Gold level, provides trips including an academically-linked visit to Paris, and sixth formers can access wider experiences such as World Challenge. Pupils can also take on leadership roles including HEART ambassador.

On the routine side, the published extra-curricular timetable for Autumn 2024 includes Breakfast Club, a Social Club based in the HEART inclusion space, Fitness for All sessions in the fitness suite, a Homework Club in the library, Chess Club, Basketball, Badminton, and Trinity Rainbow Alliance (LGBTQ+). The point for families is that there are entry-level options that do not depend on being in a team or a top set, alongside targeted academic catch-up sessions.

One area to watch is participation tracking. The inspection notes that around half of pupils did not take part in the extra-curricular programme, and that leaders should identify and engage those who would benefit most. That is a useful prompt for families to ask how clubs are promoted and how barriers such as transport, confidence, or competing responsibilities are handled.

The compulsory school day runs from 8.40am to 3.10pm (32.5 hours per week). The timetable includes Registration followed by Reading School, then five teaching periods with break and lunch.

The school describes its site as centrally located and unusually accessible, close to central Redditch.

Wraparound in a secondary context is limited, but there is evidence of a Breakfast Club in the morning and a structured after-school window where clubs typically run to around 4.15pm.

• Outcomes versus leadership strength. Leadership and management is graded Outstanding, but GCSE and A-level indicators sit below England average overall. Families should ask what is changing, which subjects are improving fastest, and how progress is tracked through Years 9 to 11 and Year 12 to 13.

• Attendance and consistency. Attendance improvement is described as a major focus, with targeted support and a reported upward trend. It is worth asking how this translates into day-to-day classroom continuity, particularly for students who need strong routines.

• Co-curricular engagement is not universal. The school offers a wide menu, but external review indicates that roughly half of pupils may not participate. If clubs are an important part of your child’s motivation, ask how non-participation is identified and addressed.

• High school entry timing. Entry at age 13 is a different transition point from a standard 11 to 18 secondary. Families should consider how their child manages change, friendship shifts, and travel patterns at that stage.

Trinity High School and Sixth Form Centre is a long-established Redditch high school with a clear ethos, well-defined pastoral infrastructure, and evidence of strong leadership practice. It will suit students who respond well to structure, explicit expectations, and visible support pathways, particularly those who may benefit from the HEART Centre model and a broad programme of leadership and enrichment opportunities. The key decision point is academic trajectory: families should look closely at subject choices, improvement plans, and sixth form cohort strength to judge fit.