Birches Head Academy
Academy converter · 925 pupils
69% stayed in education · Attainment 8 31.3
Academy sponsor led
Discovery Academy
- Pupils on roll
- 1,435of 1,500 places
- Free school meals
- 52.0%
- Year 11 cohort 2025
- 289
- Ofsted
- Requires improvement, 16 April 2024Read the Ofsted report
Results below include those reported under the school’s previous registrations: Edensor Technology College (URN 124382, until 12 April 2011); Mitchell High School Business & Enterprise College (URN 124448, until 12 April 2011).
What the data says
Of the 233 pupils who finished Year 11 at Discovery Academy in 2023, 18% moved to a sixth form college, 53% to a further education college and 6% started an apprenticeship.
12% of leavers were not in sustained education, employment or training six months on, compared with 6% nationally.
GCSE results in 2025 were well below the national picture: Attainment 8 of 37.4 against 46.1 across England and 39.8 in Stoke-on-Trent, with 28% of pupils getting grade 5 or above in both English and maths (England 45%).
Art and Design is unusually popular at GCSE: 21% of the year group took it, against 7% of pupils across England.
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 | Discovery Academy | Stoke-on-Trent | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils in the cohort | 233 | 2,796 | 607,348 |
| Any sustained destination | 85% | 87% | 92% |
| Stayed in education | 76% | 79% | 86% |
| — school sixth form | 3% | 11% | 34% |
| — sixth form college | 18% | 17% | 13% |
| — further education college | 53% | 49% | 37% |
| — other education | 1% | 2% | 2% |
| Apprenticeship | 6% | 4% | 3% |
| Employment | 3% | 3% | 3% |
| No sustained destination | 12% | 10% | 6% |
| Destination unknown | 3% | 3% | 3% |
GCSE results 2025
| Measure | Discovery Academy | Stoke-on-Trent | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 (average points per pupil) | 37.4 | 39.8 | 46.1 |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 28% | 33% | 45% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 53% | 54% | 65% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate subjects | 24% | 28% | 41% |
| EBacc average point score | 3.01 | 3.38 | 4.09 |
| Disadvantaged pupils in the cohort | 43% | 38% | 28% |
| Attainment 8 — disadvantaged pupils | 32.3 | 31.5 | 34.9 |
| Attainment 8 — other pupils | 41.2 | 44.8 | 50.4 |
| Pupils with high prior attainment (Key Stage 2) | — | — | — |
| English as an additional language | 13% | 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 Language | 288 | 100% | 89% | 8% | 20% | 54% |
| Mathematics | 287 | 99% | 88% | 9% | 22% | 62% |
| English Literature | 271 | 94% | 86% | 8% | 21% | 51% |
| Combined Science | 247 | 85% | 65% | 4% | 9% | 38% |
| History | 125 | 43% | 41% | 8% | 26% | 41% |
| Geography | 122 | 42% | 41% | 3% | 25% | 32% |
| French | 64 | 22% | 18% | 6% | 29% | 33% |
| Art and Design | 62 | 21% | 7% | 13% | 24% | 84% |
| Biology | 34 | 12% | 23% | 24% | 45% | 53% |
| Religious Studies | 31 | 11% | 31% | 10% | 32% | 68% |
| Photography | 21 | 7% | 6% | 10% | 19% | 86% |
| Chemistry | 21 | 7% | 23% | 14% | 47% | 81% |
| Physics | 21 | 7% | 23% | 10% | 46% | 76% |
| Computer Science | 19 | 7% | 13% | 5% | 30% | 37% |
| Polish | 14 | 5% | 1% | 64% | 84% | 100% |
| 3D Design | 12 | 4% | 2% | 8% | 16% | 92% |
| Citizenship Studies | 11 | 4% | 3% | 0% | 19% | 18% |
| Portuguese | 2 | 1% | 0% | — | 50% | — |
| Turkish | 1 | 0% | 0% | — | 71% | — |
| Statistics | 1 | 0% | 5% | — | 20% | — |
| Punjabi | 1 | 0% | 0% | — | 48% | — |
| Persian | 1 | 0% | 0% | — | 77% | — |
Technical awards and other Key Stage 4 qualifications
| Subject | Entries | Share of cohort | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small Business Management | 134 | — | — |
| Tourism | 93 | — | — |
| Engineering Studies | 70 | — | — |
| Health Studies | 69 | — | — |
| Multimedia | 53 | — | — |
| Hospitality / Catering Studies | 51 | — | — |
| Sports Studies | 46 | — | — |
| Building / Construction Operations (General / Combined) | 34 | — | — |
| Speech and Drama | 16 | — | — |
| Health Studies | 1 | — | — |
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
Haywood Academy
Academy converter · sixth form · 1,080 pupils
82% stayed in education · Attainment 8 36.1
Ormiston Horizon Academy
Academy sponsor led · 1,029 pupils
78% stayed in education · Attainment 8 37.3
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.