Archbishop Ilsley Catholic School
Academy converter · sixth form · 1,152 pupils
81% stayed in education · Attainment 8 41.7
Academy sponsor led
Ark Boulton Academy
- Pupils on roll
- 877of 900 places
- Free school meals
- 66.4%
- Year 11 cohort 2025
- 163
- Ofsted
- Good, 25 June 2024Read the Ofsted report
Results below include those reported under the school’s previous registration: Golden Hillock School (URN 103495, until 16 August 2013).
What the data says
Ark Boulton Academy has no sixth form. Of the 177 pupils who finished Year 11 there in 2023, 50% moved to a sixth form college, 33% to a further education college and none started an apprenticeship.
Sixth form colleges are the main next step: 50% of leavers went to one, roughly three times the England rate of 13%.
Fine Art is unusually popular at GCSE: 20% of the year group took it, against 9% of pupils across England.
GCSE results in 2025 were in line with the national picture: Attainment 8 of 44.2 against 46.1 across England and 46.6 in Birmingham, with 42% of pupils getting grade 5 or above in both English and maths (England 45%).
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 Birmingham and England.
School sixth formSixth form collegeFurther education collegeOther educationApprenticeshipEmploymentNo sustained destination
| Measure | Ark Boulton Academy | Birmingham | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils in the cohort | 177 | 14,526 | 607,348 |
| Any sustained destination | 90% | 90% | 92% |
| Stayed in education | 90% | 88% | 86% |
| — school sixth form | 7% | 33% | 34% |
| — sixth form college | 50% | 13% | 13% |
| — further education college | 33% | 39% | 37% |
| — other education | 0% | 3% | 2% |
| Apprenticeship | 0% | 1% | 3% |
| Employment | 0% | 1% | 3% |
| No sustained destination | 3% | 6% | 6% |
| Destination unknown | 7% | 4% | 3% |
GCSE results 2025
| Measure | Ark Boulton Academy | Birmingham | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 (average points per pupil) | 44.2 | 46.6 | 46.1 |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 42% | 45% | 45% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 68% | 64% | 65% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate subjects | 53% | 48% | 41% |
| EBacc average point score | 3.92 | 4.15 | 4.09 |
| Disadvantaged pupils in the cohort | 71% | 48% | 28% |
| Attainment 8 — disadvantaged pupils | 43.2 | 40.2 | 34.9 |
| Attainment 8 — other pupils | 46.7 | 52.5 | 50.4 |
| Pupils with high prior attainment (Key Stage 2) | — | — | — |
| English as an additional language | 86% | 39% | 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 | 163 | 100% | 89% | 15% | 20% | 69% |
| Mathematics | 163 | 100% | 88% | 15% | 22% | 72% |
| English Literature | 161 | 99% | 86% | 17% | 21% | 73% |
| Citizenship Studies | 159 | 98% | 3% | 9% | 19% | 63% |
| Combined Science | 138 | 85% | 65% | 4% | 9% | 47% |
| History | 80 | 49% | 41% | 20% | 26% | 70% |
| Geography | 72 | 44% | 41% | 6% | 25% | 35% |
| French | 50 | 31% | 18% | 14% | 29% | 38% |
| Computer Science | 37 | 23% | 13% | 14% | 30% | 62% |
| Fine Art | 33 | 20% | 9% | 9% | 28% | 88% |
| Religious Studies | 30 | 18% | 31% | 17% | 32% | 70% |
| Biology | 24 | 15% | 23% | 50% | 45% | 96% |
| Physics | 23 | 14% | 23% | 43% | 46% | 96% |
| Chemistry | 23 | 14% | 23% | 52% | 47% | 100% |
| Urdu | 23 | 14% | 1% | 17% | 42% | 57% |
| Physical Education | 20 | 12% | 11% | 0% | 24% | 25% |
| Arabic | 17 | 10% | 1% | 35% | 47% | 71% |
| Statistics | 16 | 10% | 5% | 6% | 20% | 69% |
| Business Studies | 14 | 9% | 18% | 29% | 20% | 79% |
| Drama | 11 | 7% | 7% | 9% | 27% | 100% |
| Spanish | 1 | 1% | 19% | — | 27% | — |
Other secondary schools in Birmingham
Arena Academy
Academy sponsor led · 969 pupils
89% stayed in education · Attainment 8 44.5
Ark Kings Academy
Academy sponsor led · sixth form · 739 pupils
72% stayed in education · Attainment 8 36.5
Ark St Alban's Academy
Academy sponsor led · sixth form · 797 pupils
91% stayed in education · Attainment 8 46.9
Ark Victoria Academy
Free schools · 1,519 pupils
92% stayed in education · Attainment 8 48.4
Aston Manor Academy
Academy converter · sixth form · 990 pupils
87% stayed in education · Attainment 8 44.6
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.