Birches Head Academy
Academy converter · 925 pupils
69% stayed in education · Attainment 8 31.3
Academy sponsor led
Ormiston Horizon Academy
- Pupils on roll
- 1,029of 1,050 places
- Free school meals
- 39.0%
- Year 11 cohort 2025
- 198
- Ofsted
- Good, 21 November 2023Read the Ofsted report
Results below include those reported under the school’s previous registration: James Brindley High School (URN 124447, until 1 September 2011).
What the data says
Ormiston Horizon Academy has no sixth form. Of the 201 pupils who finished Year 11 there in 2023, 6% moved to a sixth form college, 70% to a further education college and 5% started an apprenticeship.
GCSE results in 2025 were well below the national picture: Attainment 8 of 37.3 against 46.1 across England and 39.8 in Stoke-on-Trent, with 29% of pupils getting grade 5 or above in both English and maths (England 45%).
Physical Education is unusually popular at GCSE: 22% of the year group took it, against 11% of pupils across England.
Languages are a small part of the curriculum here: entries in Spanish add up to 8% of the year group, and 8% of pupils entered the full EBacc set of subjects (England 41%).
Where pupils went after Year 11
Destinations of the 2023 Year 11 leavers, measured the following year: the share in a sustained place for at least two terms. Compared with all state-funded schools in Stoke-on-Trent and England.
School sixth formSixth form collegeFurther education collegeOther educationApprenticeshipEmploymentNo sustained destination
| Measure | Ormiston Horizon Academy | Stoke-on-Trent | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils in the cohort | 201 | 2,796 | 607,348 |
| Any sustained destination | 87% | 87% | 92% |
| Stayed in education | 78% | 79% | 86% |
| — school sixth form | 1% | 11% | 34% |
| — sixth form college | 6% | 17% | 13% |
| — further education college | 70% | 49% | 37% |
| — other education | — | 2% | 2% |
| Apprenticeship | 5% | 4% | 3% |
| Employment | 4% | 3% | 3% |
| No sustained destination | 8% | 10% | 6% |
| Destination unknown | 5% | 3% | 3% |
GCSE results 2025
| Measure | Ormiston Horizon Academy | Stoke-on-Trent | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 (average points per pupil) | 37.3 | 39.8 | 46.1 |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 29% | 33% | 45% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 51% | 54% | 65% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate subjects | 8% | 28% | 41% |
| EBacc average point score | 3.13 | 3.38 | 4.09 |
| Disadvantaged pupils in the cohort | 33% | 38% | 28% |
| Attainment 8 — disadvantaged pupils | 28.8 | 31.5 | 34.9 |
| Attainment 8 — other pupils | 41.4 | 44.8 | 50.4 |
| Pupils with high prior attainment (Key Stage 2) | — | — | — |
| English as an additional language | 9% | 24% | 19% |
Progress 8 is not available for 2025 and 2026: these cohorts had no Key Stage 2 tests in 2020 and 2021, so there is no baseline. Attainment 8 shows results without taking pupils’ starting points into account.
Subjects taken at GCSE
Entries in 2025 as a share of the Year 11 cohort, and the share of entries graded 7–9 and 4–9, compared with all entries in England.
| Subject | Entries | Share of cohort | England | Grades 7–9 | England | Grades 4–9 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| English Literature | 196 | 99% | 86% | 7% | 21% | 53% |
| English Language | 196 | 99% | 89% | 9% | 20% | 57% |
| Mathematics | 195 | 98% | 88% | 10% | 22% | 55% |
| Combined Science | 164 | 83% | 65% | 5% | 9% | 46% |
| Geography | 122 | 62% | 41% | 11% | 25% | 50% |
| History | 56 | 28% | 41% | 16% | 26% | 57% |
| Psychology | 48 | 24% | 3% | 6% | 22% | 50% |
| Physical Education | 43 | 22% | 11% | 5% | 24% | 56% |
| Business Studies | 39 | 20% | 18% | 5% | 20% | 56% |
| Design and Technology | 35 | 18% | 11% | 3% | 23% | 31% |
| Fine Art | 34 | 17% | 9% | 15% | 28% | 41% |
| Statistics | 24 | 12% | 5% | 33% | 20% | 88% |
| Biology | 21 | 11% | 23% | 29% | 45% | 86% |
| Chemistry | 21 | 11% | 23% | 43% | 47% | 81% |
| Physics | 21 | 11% | 23% | 19% | 46% | 76% |
| Religious Studies | 19 | 10% | 31% | 5% | 32% | 32% |
| Photography | 19 | 10% | 6% | 11% | 19% | 58% |
| Spanish | 16 | 8% | 19% | 31% | 27% | 56% |
| Drama | 14 | 7% | 7% | 0% | 27% | 71% |
| Textiles | 10 | 5% | 2% | 0% | 27% | 60% |
| Polish | 3 | 2% | 1% | — | 84% | — |
| Portuguese | 1 | 1% | 0% | — | 50% | — |
Technical awards and other Key Stage 4 qualifications
| Subject | Entries | Share of cohort | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Health Studies | 36 | — | — |
| Hospitality / Catering Studies | 36 | — | — |
| Building / Construction Operations (General / Combined) | 30 | — | — |
| Sports Studies | 28 | — | — |
| Dance: General | 21 | — | — |
| Computer Appreciation / Introduction | 20 | — | — |
| Music performance: Group | 9 | — | — |
Other secondary schools in Stoke-on-Trent
Co-op Academy Stoke-On-Trent
Academy sponsor led · 1,300 pupils
79% stayed in education · Attainment 8 42.7
Discovery Academy
Academy sponsor led · 1,435 pupils
76% stayed in education · Attainment 8 37.4
Haywood Academy
Academy converter · sixth form · 1,080 pupils
82% stayed in education · Attainment 8 36.1
Ormiston Meridian Academy
Academy sponsor led · 1,015 pupils
73% stayed in education · Attainment 8 40.2
Ormiston Sir Stanley Matthews Academy
Academy sponsor led · 1,175 pupils
71% stayed in education · Attainment 8 41.0
Sources: Department for Education school and college performance tables 2024/2025 (Key Stage 4 and 16–18 results, subject entries, destination measures for 2023 leavers); Get Information About Schools register as at 19 September 2026; Ofsted management information as at 31 August 2026. Small numbers are suppressed by DfE and shown as “—”. How to read these figures.