King Edward VI Handsworth School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 17 December 2024

This is a school where pupils thrive because of the school's high expectations of their academic and personal development. Pupils rise to this challenge, determined to achieve their high aspirations. Pupils, including those who are disadvantaged, achieve excellent outcomes in their GCSE and A-level examinations and are set up well for future success in their chosen careers. The school's culture of mutual respect is deeply embedded. This respect is demonstrated in how pupils conduct themselves. They support each other's learning and do not disrupt lessons. Staff rarely need to remind pupils of the school's expectations because pupils manage themselves so well. When the school raises the bar in its expectations, for example the recent focus on punctuality, pupils respond well to meet this. Pupils are rightly proud of how their diversity is valued and celebrated. For example, the 'out of the box' pupil team helps to educate the community about neurodiversity. Pupils appreciate the many and varied extra-curricular opportunities available to them, including many led by sixth-form students. They make the most of the visits on offer, including trips abroad and activities that support their learning in curriculum subjects.

What the school should improve

• In some subjects, the curriculum is not designed in a way that ensures pupils have meaningful opportunities to discuss their learning. This means that pupils are not always enabled to deepen their understanding, explore different ideas or develop their oracy skills through their learning. The school should ensure that there is a strategy in place to support the effective development of oracy across the curriculum.

Read the full Ofsted report (opens in a new tab)