James Brindley School
James Brindley School is a special academy in Birmingham for boys and girls aged 2 to 19. It has 104 pupils and room for 557. About 50 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.
Bell Barn Road, Edgbaston, Birmingham, B15 2AF0121 666 6409jamesbrindley.org.ukMr Hardip Bissell headteacherAll details
What Ofsted found
A shorter visit on 29 June 2022 found nothing to change the school's grade. Read the report on Ofsted's website.
Good overall. A shorter follow-up visit found nothing to change that. The last full inspection was before September 2019, which is as far back as Ofsted's public records go, so we can't show its date or the grades for each area.
This inspection is more than 4 years old. When Ofsted next visits, the school will get a report card instead of one grade.
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 Birmingham council's admissions booklet, send it to us.
Who goes here
Who the school teaches, from the latest school census.
The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: Autistic spectrum disorder (66), emotional and mental health (32), language and communications needs (3), Moderate learning difficulty (1), Other difficulty or disability (1), Specific learning difficulty (1).
How the mix of pupils has changed
| Census | 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils on roll | 104 | 120 | 137 | 138 | 128 | 116 |
| Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals | 44% | 48% | 46% | 49% | 45% | 44% |
| Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language | 2% | 3% | 3% | 4% | 4% | 5% |
| Pupils getting extra supportSEN support | – | 17% | 12% | 15% | 12% | 17% |
| Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans | – | 83% | 88% | 86% | 88% | 83% |
Attendance and behaviour
In 2024/25 pupils were in school 68.9% 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 | 31.1% | 25.7% | 20.2% | 24.0% | 33.6% | 26.5% | 5.2% |
| Missed with permissionAuthorised absence | 20.7% | 18.5% | 13.9% | 16.5% | 29.0% | 19.7% | – |
| Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence | 10.5% | 7.2% | 6.3% | 7.6% | 4.6% | 6.8% | – |
| Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence | 74.8% | 64.3% | 56.8% | 67.7% | 89.4% | 68.6% | 12.8% |
| SuspensionsSuspension rate | 32.5 | 13.1 | 15.2 | 28.1 | 3.5 | – | – |
| Permanent exclusionsPermanent exclusions | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | – |
What pupils do next
After GCSEs
Where the 38 pupils who left in 2022/23 were a year later.
Earlier years
| Destination | 2022/23 leavers | 2021/22 leavers | 2020/21 leavers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Still in education, work or training | 76% | 89% | 72% |
| Education | 74% | 89% | 72% |
| Apprenticeship | 3% | 0% | 0% |
| Work | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Not in education, work or training | 5% | 5% | 15% |
Staff and money
From the government's count of school staff in November 2025 and the school's published accounts.
Money
From the academy accounts return, year to August 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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St Thomas Centre Nursery School | Local authority nursery school | 0 m | 83 | Good 2024 | – | Compare |
| Oasis Academy Woodview | Academy | 260 m | 392 | No overall grade 2025 | 55 | Compare |
| St Thomas Church of England Primary School | Academy | 280 m | 237 | No overall grade 2025 | 49 | Compare |
| City Academy | Free school | 340 m | 554 | Report card 2026 | 9 | Compare |
| West House School | Independent | 380 m | 297 | Not inspected | – | Compare |
| St Catherine of Siena Catholic Primary School | Roman Catholic | 430 m | 245 | Good 2023 | 94 | Compare |
| Riverside Virtual College | Online provider | 450 m | – | Not inspected | – | Compare |
| Lillian De Lissa Nursery School | Local authority nursery school | 650 m | 71 | Report card 2026 | – | Compare |
Questions parents ask
Is James Brindley School a good school?
James Brindley School doesn't have a score yet. Ofsted rated it good at its last inspection in June 2022.
What is James Brindley School's Ofsted rating?
Ofsted rated James Brindley School good at its last full inspection on 29 June 2022. That was more than four years ago. When Ofsted next visits, the school will get a report card instead of a single grade.
How many pupils does James Brindley School have?
104 pupils aged 2 to 19 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 557 places, so it is 19% full.
What is attendance like at James Brindley School?
Pupils were in school 68.9% of the time in 2024/25. Similar schools in England managed 94.8%. 75% of pupils missed at least a tenth of the year.
Does James Brindley School have a sixth form?
Yes.
These answers come straight from the figures on this page and update when new data comes out.
Contact and details
- Address
- Bell Barn Road, Edgbaston, Birmingham, B15 2AF
- Telephone
- 0121 666 6409
- Website
- www.jamesbrindley.org.uk
- Headteacher
- Mr Hardip Bissell
- Type of school
- Special academy (Academy special converter, academies)
- Phase
- Special school, ages 2-19, with nursery, with sixth form
- Gender
- Mixed
- Multi-academy trust
- Think Differently Education Trust (2 schools)
- Local authority
- Birmingham
- Ward
- Ladywood
- Constituency
- Birmingham Ladywood
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Opened
- 1 April 2013 (academy converter)
- URN
- 139526 · LAESTAB 3307063 · UKPRN 10035988
- Formerly
- James Brindley 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.
- 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, academy accounts return 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.