Fairfax

Academy converter·Secondary school Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham·B75 7JT
Composite score
61.4
Compare Fairfax with another school
#1,037
National rank
#87
In West Midlands
#26
In Birmingham
Top 33%
Nationally

Performance (KS4 GCSE)

Attainment 8 score
49.1
National avg ≈ 46
Progress 8 score
—
% achieving 9–5 in English & Maths
52%
% achieving 9–4 in English & Maths
74%
% EBacc grade 5+
16%
EBacc average points score
4.32

Ofsted judgements

Legacy framework · Read full report ↗

Overall effectiveness
Good
Quality of education
Good
Behaviour and attitudes
Good
Personal development
Outstanding
Leadership and management
Outstanding
Safeguarding effective?
Yes
Sixth form provision
Good

Getting a place

Offered a place after putting it first
92%
238 first choices, 263 places
First choices per place
0.91
fewer first choices than places
Applications naming the school
1,453
any preference, for 263 places
Applications from another council area
2%
First preferences per place, last five years▼ 0.11
00.511.5
1 per place
1.0020220.8420230.8820241.0120250.912026

Red dashed line = one first choice per place. How to read this

We do not have a checked cut-off distance for Fairfax yet. Birmingham does publish allocation figures and we are working through them council by council — we only show a distance once we have found it in the council’s own document.

Application figures: DfE, school level applications and offers (2026 intake).

School profile

Age range
11–18
Pupils on roll
1,571
Gender
Mixed
Admissions
Non-Selective

Pupil background

% FSM ever-6
24.2%
Typical secondary: 27.5%
% EAL
8.1%
Typical secondary: 12.0%

Special educational needs

% SEN support
12.5%
Typical secondary: 13.7%
% with an EHC plan
1.5%
Typical secondary: 2.9%

Attendance

Overall absence
8.0%
Typical secondary: 8.9%
Persistently absent
21.2%
Typical secondary: 25.7%

Staffing & funding

Pupils per teacher
19.2
Typical secondary: 16.7
Spend per pupil
£5,990
Typical secondary: £7,815

“Typical” = the median secondary school in England. What this means

What pupils do next

The share of this school's Year 11 leavers in education, training or employment for at least two terms afterwards.

In education, training or work
93%
246 pupils tracked
Stayed in education
87%
Apprenticeship
5%
Employment
2%

DfE, KS4 destination measures.

Nearby secondary schools

Location

Fairfax at a glance

Located in Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham, Fairfax is a secondary school, classified by the DfE as a converter academy. The school educates roughly 1,571 pupils aged 11 to 18. Ofsted judged the school to be 'Good' at its most recent inspection. In the most recent GCSE results, pupils achieved an average Attainment 8 score of 49.1, above the national average of 46. That marks an improvement of 0.5 points in its Attainment 8 score on the previous year. On our composite score, which combines the DfE attainment measures above, this places it in the top 33% of secondary schools nationally.

52% of pupils achieved a grade 5 or above in both English and maths, above the national average of about 45%. 74% achieved a standard pass (grade 4+) in English and maths. 92% of the families who made Fairfax their first choice were offered a Year 7 place for September 2026, even though the school made at least as many offers as it had first choices - the rest withdrew, moved or fell outside a priority group. After Year 11, 93% of its leavers went on to education, an apprenticeship or work that they stayed in for at least two terms. Overall pupil absence was 8.0%. There are about 19.2 pupils per teacher. When comparing schools, it is still worth visiting in person to see whether the atmosphere and approach suit your child. This overview is generated automatically from the latest published DfE performance tables and Ofsted data; figures are rounded, and you can check the originals via the official links above.

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