Ark Victoria Academy
All-through · Free schools · Mixed · Birmingham
Talbot Way, Birmingham, B10 0HJ
57
headline score
Ranking (England)
—
No ranked results
Ofsted
Improved significantly
No graded inspection
Application demand
100%
1st preference success · Not oversubscribed
Attendance
94.4%
16.8% persistently absent
At a glance
Pupils on roll
1,519
Capacity used
Has space79%
1,920 places
GCSE rank (England)
—
KS2 rank (England)
—
Application demand
Primary entry · official council applications and offers
100%
1st preference success rate
65 of 65 families who put it first got an offer
70
Places offered
126
Total applications
1.8
Applications per place
| Preference (Sept 2025 entry) | Applications | Offers | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st preference | 65 | 65 | ● 100% |
| 2nd preference | 32 | 4 | ● 13% |
| 3rd preference | 29 | 1 | ● 3% |
| Total | 126 | 70 | 56% |
1st preference success by year
Birmingham lets families list 3 preferences. 1 applications came from outside the council area (1 offered). Source: Department for Education, school-level applications and offers. Offers are made on each school's admissions criteria (e.g. siblings, distance, faith), so check the school's policy.
Details
- Type
- Free schools
- Phase
- All-through
- Age range
- 3–18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sixth form
- No
- Nursery
- Has Nursery Classes
- Headteacher
- Ela McSorley
- Address
- Talbot Way, Small Heath, Birmingham, B10 0HJ
- Phone
- 01213934459
- Local authority
- Birmingham
- Ward / constituency
- Small Heath · Birmingham Yardley
- Area
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- URN
- 141752
Pupils
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free school meals | 69% | — | — |
| English as additional language | 83% | — | — |
| SEN support | 15% | — | — |
Local deprivation (IDACI quintile 5 of 5)
1 = least deprived area, 5 = most deprived. Context only.
Academy trust: ARK SCHOOLS
1,519 pupils · 1,920 places. Intake figures describe the school's community — they aren't good or bad.
Ofsted inspections
- 24
23 October 2024
Ungraded inspection
Improved significantly
Attendance
2024/2025 school year · 1,464 pupils
Attendance
94.4%
Share of sessions attended · England 91.1%
Overall absence
5.6%
Sessions missed, any reason · England 8.9%
Persistent absence
16.8%
Pupils missing 10%+ of school · England 26.7%
Severe absence
0.8%
Pupils missing 50%+ of school · England 2.3%
Unauthorised absence
1.9%
Absences the school didn't approve
Persistent absence by year
Source: Department for Education, pupil absence by school (pupils aged 5–15). Lower absence is better. England figures are approximate 2023/24 averages.
Primary results (Key Stage 2)
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Expected standard in reading, writing & maths | 81% | — | — |
| Higher standard | 9% | — | — |
| Reading progress | — | — | 0.0 |
| Writing progress | — | — | 0.0 |
| Maths progress | — | — | 0.0 |
GCSE results
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 score | 40.0 | — | — |
| Progress 8 score | -0.11 | — | 0.00 |
| Grade 5+ in English & maths | 29% | — | — |
| Grade 4+ in English & maths | 54% | — | — |
| EBacc average point score | 3.30 | — | — |
Progress 8 band
Primary results by subject (SATs)
Year 6 pupils meeting each standard, against England
Reading, writing & maths combined
Reading
Writing
Maths
Grammar, punctuation & spelling
Science
England average · Scaled scores run 80–120 (100 = expected standard).
Primary results over time
Expected standard (RWM) by year (2020 and 2021 exams were cancelled)
| Result | School | England (approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| Expected standard (RWM) | 85% | 61% |
| Higher standard | 11% | 8% |
GCSE results over time
Attainment 8 by year (2020 and 2021 exams were cancelled)
| Result | School | England (approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 | 48.4 | 46 |
| Grade 5+ English & maths | 44.7% | 46% |
| Grade 4+ English & maths | 67.3% | 65% |
| Entering EBacc | 72.3% | 40% |
| EBacc average point score | 4.42 | 4.1 |
| Pupils in cohort | 159 | — |
How different pupils progress (GCSE, 2023/2024)
Progress 8 by group. 0 is the national average; above 0 means pupils do better than similar children elsewhere.
Results by subject
Official DfE exam results for summer 2025. Green, amber and red compare against typical results in England; subjects with fewer than 5 entries aren't rated.
GCSE
Grade 4 is a standard pass, 5 a strong pass, 7 equals the old A.
| Subject | Entries | Grade 7+ | Grade 5+ | Grade 4+ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mathematics | 161 | 21% | 50% | 71% | |
| English Language | 159 | 21% | 52% | 75% | |
| English Literature | 159 | 28% | 66% | 84% | |
| French | 118 | 12% | 34% | 55% | |
| Combined Science | 110 | 7% | 33% | 46% | |
| Religious Studies | 84 | 25% | 63% | 74% | |
| Geography | 79 | 19% | 43% | 52% | |
| History | 77 | 17% | 42% | 55% | |
| Biology | 50 | 36% | 90% | 100% | |
| Physics | 49 | 41% | 94% | 98% | |
| Chemistry | 49 | 45% | 92% | 100% | |
| Business | 46 | 22% | 46% | 63% |
Oxbridge
No Cambridge applications recorded for this school in 2020–2025.
House prices near the school
Typical sold prices (Land Registry) within 1 km, last 12 months.
Loading prices…
Key application dates
National deadlines in England. Apply through Birmingham council, not the school.
| Entry | Deadline | Offer day |
|---|---|---|
| Reception (primary) | 15 January | 16 April (or next working day) |
| Year 7 (secondary) | 31 October | 1 March (or next working day) |
Admissions policy: Non-selective. Check the school's own admissions rules on its website.
Source: Get Information About Schools and the DfE school and college performance tables (2023-2024); Oxbridge figures from the University of Cambridge's admissions by UCAS apply centre (Oxford doesn't publish per-school figures). Read the method.