Beacon Hill Academy
Academy converter · 1,117 pupils
78% stayed in education · Attainment 8 41.0
Academy converter
St James Academy
- Pupils on roll
- 867of 900 places
- Free school meals
- 50.1%
- Year 11 cohort 2025
- 153
- Ofsted
- Good, 4 June 2024Read the Ofsted report
Results below include those reported under the school’s previous registration: Castle High School and Visual Arts College (URN 103867, until 1 September 2017).
What the data says
St James Academy has no sixth form. Of the 125 pupils who finished Year 11 there in 2023, 6% moved to a sixth form college, 75% to a further education college and none started an apprenticeship.
GCSE results in 2025 were well below the national picture: Attainment 8 of 36.8 against 46.1 across England and 43.0 in Dudley, with 37% of pupils getting grade 5 or above in both English and maths (England 45%).
Photography is unusually popular at GCSE: 28% of the year group took it, against 6% of pupils across England.
11% of leavers were not in sustained education, employment or training six months on, compared with 6% nationally.
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 Dudley and England.
School sixth formSixth form collegeFurther education collegeOther educationApprenticeshipEmploymentNo sustained destination
| Measure | St James Academy | Dudley | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils in the cohort | 125 | 3,412 | 607,348 |
| Any sustained destination | 86% | 90% | 92% |
| Stayed in education | 85% | 84% | 86% |
| — school sixth form | 3% | 12% | 34% |
| — sixth form college | 6% | 12% | 13% |
| — further education college | 75% | 59% | 37% |
| — other education | 0% | 1% | 2% |
| Apprenticeship | 0% | 3% | 3% |
| Employment | 1% | 2% | 3% |
| No sustained destination | 11% | 7% | 6% |
| Destination unknown | 3% | 3% | 3% |
GCSE results 2025
| Measure | St James Academy | Dudley | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 (average points per pupil) | 36.8 | 43.0 | 46.1 |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 37% | 41% | 45% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 48% | 61% | 65% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate subjects | 38% | 31% | 41% |
| EBacc average point score | 3.32 | 3.69 | 4.09 |
| Disadvantaged pupils in the cohort | 55% | 30% | 28% |
| Attainment 8 — disadvantaged pupils | 29.0 | 32.1 | 34.9 |
| Attainment 8 — other pupils | 46.3 | 47.6 | 50.4 |
| Pupils with high prior attainment (Key Stage 2) | — | — | — |
| English as an additional language | 38% | 11% | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mathematics | 152 | 99% | 88% | 14% | 22% | 51% |
| English Language | 152 | 99% | 89% | 18% | 20% | 57% |
| English Literature | 151 | 99% | 86% | 16% | 21% | 54% |
| Combined Science | 127 | 83% | 65% | 2% | 9% | 34% |
| Geography | 74 | 48% | 41% | 9% | 25% | 22% |
| History | 74 | 48% | 41% | 23% | 26% | 58% |
| Business Studies | 56 | 37% | 18% | 5% | 20% | 30% |
| French | 47 | 31% | 18% | 6% | 29% | 51% |
| Photography | 43 | 28% | 6% | 0% | 19% | 12% |
| Art and Design | 30 | 20% | 7% | 10% | 24% | 30% |
| Biology | 24 | 16% | 23% | 33% | 45% | 88% |
| Physics | 23 | 15% | 23% | 26% | 46% | 91% |
| Chemistry | 23 | 15% | 23% | 39% | 47% | 96% |
| Italian | 4 | 3% | 0% | — | 53% | — |
| Arabic | 3 | 2% | 1% | — | 47% | — |
| Portuguese | 3 | 2% | 0% | — | 50% | — |
| Polish | 3 | 2% | 1% | — | 84% | — |
| Urdu | 2 | 1% | 1% | — | 42% | — |
| Punjabi | 1 | 1% | 0% | — | 48% | — |
| Chinese | 1 | 1% | 1% | — | 75% | — |
Technical awards and other Key Stage 4 qualifications
| Subject | Entries | Share of cohort | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sports Studies | 25 | — | — |
| Hospitality / Catering Studies | 24 | — | — |
| Computer Appreciation / Introduction | 22 | — | — |
| Manufacturing Engineering | 20 | — | — |
| Music performance: Group | 6 | — | — |
| Health Studies | 1 | — | — |
Other secondary schools in Dudley
Bishop Milner Catholic College
Academy converter · sixth form · 798 pupils
86% stayed in education · Attainment 8 45.9
Ellowes Hall Sports College
Academy converter · sixth form · 1,038 pupils
78% stayed in education · Attainment 8 43.1
Kingswinford Academy
Academy converter · 917 pupils
82% stayed in education · Attainment 8 46.3
Leasowes High School
Academy converter · 1,043 pupils
84% stayed in education · Attainment 8 41.8
Old Swinford Hospital
Voluntary aided school · sixth form · 1,036 pupils
95% stayed in education · Attainment 8 59.0
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.