Elmwood School
Elmwood School is a special academy in Walsall for boys and girls aged 11 to 16. It has 85 pupils, 18 more than it has places for. About 71 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, far more than at most schools in England. Ofsted's last grade was good, back in 2022.
King George Crescent, Rushall, Walsall, WS4 1EG01922 721081elmwood-school.co.ukMr Lee Cross headteacherAll details
What Ofsted found
Ofsted's last full inspection was on 21 September 2022, back when it gave schools one overall grade. Read the report on Ofsted's website.
Good overall.
Results
GCSE results, summer 2025
14 pupils sat their GCSEs. Here is how they did against every state secondary in England. These are the results of Elmwood School, the school this one replaced.
All GCSE measures, year by year
| Measure | 2025† | 2024† | 2023† | 2022† | 2019† | 2018† | Walsall | England |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of Year 11 | 14 | 11 | 15 | 17 | 14 | 11 | – | – |
| Average GCSE scoreAttainment 8 | 5.8 | 4.5 | 2.9 | 7.7 | 1.7 | 7.1 | 43.6 | 46.8 |
| Progress from age 11Progress 8 | – | -2.68 | -2.59 | -2.16 | -2.46 | -2.36 | – | – |
| Strong pass in English and mathsGrade 5+ in English and maths | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 39% | 46% |
| Standard pass in English and mathsGrade 4+ in English and maths | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 57% | 66% |
| Core subjects scoreEBacc average point score | 0.30 | 0.20 | 0.07 | 0.32 | 0.00 | 0.44 | 3.82 | 4.15 |
| Taking the core subjectsEBacc entry | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 35% | 41% |
| Average GCSE score: pupils who started behindAttainment 8, low prior attainers | – | 3.7 | 1.7 | 7.1 | 1.3 | 2.1 | – | – |
† These results are for Elmwood School, the school this one replaced in September 2025. Same building and the same children. It got a new registration number, usually because it joined an academy trust.
Getting a place
Admissions policy not published.
Each council publishes its own figures on how many families applied and how far away the last child to get a place lived. We are adding councils one at a time. If you have a link to Walsall council's admissions booklet, send it to us.
Who goes here
Who the school teaches, from the latest school census.
Specialist SEND provision. A special school for pupils with social, emotional and mental health.
To get a place in the unit or resourced provision, a child normally needs an education, health and care plan (EHCP) that names the school. Other schools in Walsall with social, emotional and mental health provision.
The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: emotional and mental health (74), Autistic spectrum disorder (5), Moderate learning difficulty (3), language and communications needs (3).
Attendance and behaviour
In 2024/25 pupils were in school 92.2% of the time. Across similar schools in England it was 94.8%.
Attendance year by year
| Measure | 2024/25† | 2023/24† | 2022/23† | 2021/22† | 2020/21† | 2018/19† | England |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sessions missedOverall absence | 7.8% | 10.5% | 16.6% | 13.2% | 24.4% | 13.2% | 5.2% |
| Missed with permissionAuthorised absence | 5.3% | 6.5% | 10.6% | 8.6% | 19.3% | 5.8% | – |
| Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence | 2.5% | 4.1% | 6.0% | 4.6% | 5.1% | 7.5% | – |
| Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence | 24.7% | 28.6% | 38.0% | 42.1% | 79.0% | 33.8% | 12.8% |
† These attendance figures are for Elmwood School, the school this one replaced in September 2025. Same building and the same children. It got a new registration number, usually because it joined an academy trust.
Staff and money
From the government's count of school staff in November 2025 and the school's published accounts.
Money
From the council school accounts, year to March 2025. The per-pupil figures are compared with other special schools in England that report their accounts the same way.
Reserves are the money left over at the end of the year, kept back for emergencies and big projects. Being in the red year after year is a warning sign. Very large reserves can mean money sitting in the bank instead of being spent on today's pupils. Academy figures are rounded to the nearest £1,000 and include a share of any money the trust holds centrally.
The area around the school
Crime figures come from police.uk. The police record each crime at the nearest of a fixed set of map points rather than the exact spot, so “within 500 m” is only rough. House prices are from HM Land Registry sales nearby over the last two years.
Nearby schools
The closest schools, nearest first. Hover over a row to see it on the map.
| School | Type | Distance | Pupils | Ofsted | Score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Radleys Primary School | Council | 900 m | 223 | Good 2020 | 12 | Compare |
| Edgar Stammers Primary Academy | Academy | 0.7 miles | 328 | Good 2023 | 10 | Compare |
| Greenfield Primary School | Academy | 0.7 miles | 244 | Good 2023 | 3 | Compare |
| St Thomas of Canterbury Catholic Primary School | Roman Catholic | 0.7 miles | 296 | Not inspected | 98 | Compare |
| Rushall Primary School | Academy | 0.8 miles | 260 | Good 2019 | – | Compare |
| St Francis Catholic Primary School | Roman Catholic | 1.0 miles | 207 | Good 2022 | 65 | Compare |
| Goldsmith Primary Academy | Academy | 1.0 miles | 482 | Report card 2025 | 92 | Compare |
| Ryecroft School | Independent | 1.1 miles | 57 | Not inspected | – | Compare |
Questions parents ask
Is Elmwood School a good school?
Elmwood School doesn't have a score yet. Ofsted rated it good at its last inspection in September 2022.
What is Elmwood School's Ofsted rating?
Ofsted rated Elmwood School good at its last full inspection on 21 September 2022.
How good are Elmwood School's GCSE results?
In summer 2025, 0% of pupils got a grade 5 or better in both English and maths. Across England it was 46%. Its Attainment 8 score, which is the average grade across a pupil's best eight subjects times ten, was 5.8, against 46.8 for England. In each subject, pupils here finished well over a grade behind children across England who started secondary school at the same level.
How many pupils does Elmwood School have?
85 pupils aged 11 to 16 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 67 places, so it is 127% full.
What is attendance like at Elmwood School?
Pupils were in school 92.2% of the time in 2024/25. Similar schools in England managed 94.8%. 25% of pupils missed at least a tenth of the year.
Does Elmwood School have specialist SEND provision?
Yes. It is a special school for social, emotional and mental health. To get a place there, a child normally needs an education, health and care plan (EHCP) that names the school.
These answers come straight from the figures on this page and update when new data comes out.
Contact and details
- Address
- King George Crescent, Rushall, Walsall, WS4 1EG
- Telephone
- 01922 721081
- Website
- www.elmwood-school.co.uk
- Headteacher
- Mr Lee Cross
- Type of school
- Special academy (Academy special converter, academies)
- Phase
- Special school, ages 11-16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Multi-academy trust
- Matrix Academy Trust (9 schools)
- Local authority
- Walsall
- Ward
- Rushall-Shelfield
- Constituency
- Aldridge-Brownhills
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Opened
- 1 September 2025 (academy converter)
- URN
- 151657 · LAESTAB 3357014 · UKPRN 10097367
- Formerly
- Elmwood School
Where these figures come from
- School details: Department for Education, Get Information About Schools, refreshed daily (this page rebuilt 13 September 2026).
- Inspections: Ofsted management information, monthly; latest publication in our data 27 August 2026.
- GCSE results: DfE key stage 4 performance tables, 2024/25 final.
- Attendance: DfE pupil absence in schools in England, 2024/25 full year.
- Pupil characteristics: DfE school census, January 2026.
- Staff: DfE school workforce census, November 2025.
- Pupil premium: DfE allocations and conditions of grant, 2026 to 2027.
- Money: DfE financial benchmarking and insights tool, consistent financial reporting 2024/25.
- Neighbourhood: police.uk street-level crime, HM Land Registry price paid data, NaPTAN bus stops, English Indices of Deprivation 2025.
- All under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Full list and update calendar.