Sycamore Short Stay School
Sycamore Short Stay School is a pupil referral unit in Dudley for boys and girls aged 5 to 15. It has 16 pupils and room for 40. About 88 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 2024.
Old Farm Estate, Dudley, DY1 3QE01384 987400sycamore.dudley.sch.ukMr Steve Markham head of short stay schoolAll details
What Ofsted found
A shorter visit on 5 June 2024 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.
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 Dudley 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: emotional and mental health (16).
How the mix of pupils has changed
| Census | 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils on roll | 16 | 20 | 14 | 18 | 9 | 30 |
| Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals | 88% | 90% | 64% | 94% | 67% | 60% |
| Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language | 6% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Pupils getting extra supportSEN support | – | 95% | 93% | 78% | 89% | 70% |
| Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans | – | 5% | 7% | 0% | 0% | 30% |
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 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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wrens Nest Primary School | Council | 500 m | 537 | Report card 2026 | 61 | Compare |
| Beacon Hill Academy | Academy | 650 m | 1,117 | Good 2024 | 40 | Compare |
| The Wenlock School | Independent | 860 m | 108 | Not inspected | – | Compare |
| Bramford Primary School | Academy | 870 m | 476 | Good 2024 | 79 | Compare |
| Woodsetton School | Academy | 940 m | 123 | Good 2023 | – | Compare |
| Priory Park Community School | Independent | 980 m | 33 | Not inspected | – | Compare |
| Bishop Milner Catholic College | Academy | 990 m | 798 | Good 2023 | 41 | Compare |
| Roberts Primary School | Council | 0.8 miles | 626 | Report card 2026 | 20 | Compare |
Questions parents ask
Is Sycamore Short Stay School a good school?
Sycamore Short Stay School doesn't have a score yet. Ofsted rated it good at its last inspection in June 2024.
What is Sycamore Short Stay School's Ofsted rating?
Ofsted rated Sycamore Short Stay School good at its last full inspection on 5 June 2024.
How many pupils does Sycamore Short Stay School have?
16 pupils aged 5 to 15 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 40 places, so it is 40% full.
These answers come straight from the figures on this page and update when new data comes out.
Contact and details
- Address
- Old Farm Estate, Dudley, DY1 3QE
- Telephone
- 01384 987400
- Website
- www.sycamore.dudley.sch.uk
- Head of Short Stay School
- Mr Steve Markham
- Type of school
- Pupil referral unit (Pupil referral unit, local authority maintained schools)
- Phase
- Pupil referral unit / alternative provision, ages 5-15
- Gender
- Mixed
- Local authority
- Dudley
- Ward
- Upper Gornal & Woodsetton
- Constituency
- Dudley
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Opened
- 1 September 2010 (result of amalgamation)
- URN
- 134768 · LAESTAB 3321104 · UKPRN 10016826
- Formerly
- Abberley Street Pupil Referral Unit
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, 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.