Solihull Alternative Provision Academy
Solihull Alternative Provision Academy is a free schools alternative provision in Solihull for boys and girls aged 4 to 16. It has 79 pupils and room for 195. About 66 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.
Cranmore Avenue, Shirley, Solihull, B90 4LE0121 709 5420solihullacademy.org.ukMrs Kat Dockery headteacherAll details
What Ofsted found
Ofsted's last full inspection was on 14 September 2022, back when it gave schools one overall grade. Read the report on Ofsted's website.
Good overall.
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 Solihull council's admissions booklet, send it to us.
Who goes here
Who the school teaches, from the latest school census.
Specialist SEND provision. Resourced provision (extra staff and funding within a mainstream school) with 20 pupils, for 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 Solihull with social, emotional and mental health provision.
The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: emotional and mental health (44), Autistic spectrum disorder (10), Moderate learning difficulty (4), Specific learning difficulty (2), language and communications needs (2).
How the mix of pupils has changed
| Census | 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils on roll | 79 | 61 | 74 | 72 | 56 | 38 |
| Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals | 66% | 72% | 66% | 64% | 43% | 50% |
| Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language | 3% | 0% | 3% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Pupils getting extra supportSEN support | – | 48% | 47% | 42% | 41% | 74% |
| Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans | – | 43% | 37% | 28% | 34% | 18% |
What pupils do next
After GCSEs
Where the 28 pupils who left in 2022/23 were a year later.
Among pupils from low-income families it was 47%, compared with 73% for everyone else.
Earlier years
| Destination | 2022/23 leavers | 2021/22 leavers | 2020/21 leavers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Still in education, work or training | 57% | 47% | 69% |
| Education | 43% | 28% | 54% |
| Apprenticeship | 7% | 8% | 8% |
| Work | 7% | 11% | 8% |
| Not in education, work or training | 29% | 31% | 31% |
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 primary 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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cranmore Infant School | Council | 250 m | 182 | Good 2022 | 50 | Compare |
| Widney Junior School | Council | 410 m | 328 | Good 2024 | 89 | Compare |
| Shirley Heath Junior School | Council | 950 m | 420 | No overall grade 2024 | 82 | Compare |
| Our Lady of the Wayside Catholic Primary School | Academy | 970 m | 444 | Good 2024 | 79 | Compare |
| Alderbrook School | Academy | 990 m | 1,701 | Good 2023 | 82 | Compare |
| Tudor Grange Academy, Solihull | Academy | 0.7 miles | 1,730 | No overall grade 2025 | 95 | Compare |
| St Augustine's Catholic Primary School | Academy | 0.8 miles | 235 | Good 2023 | 92 | Compare |
| St Peter's Catholic School | Academy | 0.9 miles | 1,306 | No overall grade 2025 | 87 | Compare |
Questions parents ask
Is Solihull Alternative Provision Academy a good school?
Solihull Alternative Provision Academy doesn't have a score yet. Ofsted rated it good at its last inspection in September 2022.
What is Solihull Alternative Provision Academy's Ofsted rating?
Ofsted rated Solihull Alternative Provision Academy good at its last full inspection on 14 September 2022.
How many pupils does Solihull Alternative Provision Academy have?
79 pupils aged 4 to 16 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 195 places, so it is 41% full.
Does Solihull Alternative Provision Academy have specialist SEND provision?
Yes. It has resourced provision (extra staff and funding within a mainstream 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.
Does Solihull Alternative Provision Academy have a breakfast club?
Yes. It is on the government's free breakfast club programme, so every pupil can have a free half-hour breakfast club before school.
These answers come straight from the figures on this page and update when new data comes out.
Contact and details
- Address
- Cranmore Avenue, Shirley, Solihull, B90 4LE
- Telephone
- 0121 709 5420
- Website
- www.solihullacademy.org.uk
- Headteacher
- Mrs Kat Dockery
- Free breakfast club
- Yes: on the government's programme, so every pupil can have a free half-hour breakfast club before school (listed since September 2026).
- Type of school
- Free schools alternative provision (Free schools alternative provision, free schools)
- Phase
- Pupil referral unit / alternative provision, ages 4-16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Multi-academy trust
- Solihull Alternative Provision Multi Academy Trust (3 schools)
- Local authority
- Solihull
- Ward
- Shirley South
- Constituency
- Solihull West and Shirley
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Opened
- 16 April 2018
- URN
- 143918 · LAESTAB 3341108 · UKPRN 10067415
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.
- 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.
- Breakfast club: DfE list of schools on the free breakfast club programme.
- 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.