The Heights Academy
The Heights Academy is a special free school in Solihull for boys and girls aged 7 to 16. It has 69 pupils and room for 116. About 58 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, far more than at most schools in England. Ofsted's last grade was inspected 2025, no overall grade.
Auckland Drive, Solihull, B36 0DD0121 269 6000heights.fet.acMrs Lisa Walker headteacherAll details
What Ofsted found
Ofsted's last full inspection was on 20 May 2025, back when it gave schools one overall grade. Read the report on Ofsted's website.
Not judged Between September 2024 and November 2025, Ofsted graded each area but stopped giving one overall word.
Results
Year 6 results (SATs), summer 2025
5 children took the tests. Here is how they did against every state primary in England. With a year group this small, a couple of children can move the percentages a long way.
All Year 6 measures, year by year
| Measure | 2025 | 2024 | Solihull | England |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils tested | 5 | 4 | – | – |
There are no progress figures for 2025. That year group missed their Year 2 tests during Covid, so there was no starting point to measure from. Progress figures come back with the December 2026 results. Tests were cancelled altogether in 2020 and 2021.
Getting a place
Open to all. There is no entrance test.
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.
The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: Autistic spectrum disorder (62), emotional and mental health (4), language and communications needs (2), Other difficulty or disability (1).
How the mix of pupils has changed
| Census | 2026 | 2025 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils on roll | 69 | 49 | 26 |
| Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals | 58% | 55% | 54% |
| Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language | 3% | 2% | 0% |
| Pupils getting extra supportSEN support | – | 0% | 0% |
| Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans | – | 100% | 100% |
Attendance and behaviour
In 2024/25 pupils were in school 72.0% of the time. Across similar schools in England it was 94.8%.
Attendance year by year
| Measure | 2024/25 | 2023/24 | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sessions missedOverall absence | 28.0% | 18.3% | 5.2% |
| Missed with permissionAuthorised absence | 18.2% | 9.5% | – |
| Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence | 9.8% | 8.8% | – |
| Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence | 61.5% | 53.6% | 12.8% |
| SuspensionsSuspension rate | 59.2 | 26.9 | – |
| Permanent exclusionsPermanent exclusions | 0 | 0 | – |
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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Castlewood School | Academy | 400 m | 97 | Report card 2026 | – | Compare |
| Castle Bromwich Infant and Nursery School | Academy | 530 m | 487 | Report card 2026 | 8 | Compare |
| Smith's Wood Primary Academy | Academy | 700 m | 445 | Outstanding 2023 | 94 | Compare |
| Park Hall Academy | Academy | 780 m | 1,269 | Good 2023 | 32 | Compare |
| Castle Bromwich Junior School | Academy | 880 m | 467 | Good 2021 | 45 | Compare |
| Water Orton Primary School | Council | 0.7 miles | 299 | Report card 2026 | 5 | Compare |
| St John the Baptist Catholic Primary School | Academy | 0.7 miles | 200 | Good 2024 | 29 | Compare |
| Forest Oak School | Council | 0.7 miles | 215 | Outstanding 2024 | – | Compare |
Questions parents ask
Is The Heights Academy a good school?
The Heights Academy doesn't have a score yet. Ofsted rated it not judged at its last inspection in May 2025.
What is The Heights Academy's Ofsted rating?
Ofsted rated The Heights Academy not judged at its last full inspection on 20 May 2025.
How many pupils does The Heights Academy have?
69 pupils aged 7 to 16 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 116 places, so it is 59% full.
What is attendance like at The Heights Academy?
Pupils were in school 72.0% of the time in 2024/25. Similar schools in England managed 94.8%. 62% of pupils missed at least a tenth of the year.
These answers come straight from the figures on this page and update when new data comes out.
Contact and details
- Address
- Auckland Drive, Solihull, B36 0DD
- Telephone
- 0121 269 6000
- Website
- heights.fet.ac
- Headteacher
- Mrs Lisa Walker
- Type of school
- Special free school (Free schools special, free schools)
- Phase
- Special school, ages 7-16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Multi-academy trust
- Forward Education Trust (6 schools)
- Local authority
- Solihull
- Ward
- Smith's Wood
- Constituency
- Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Opened
- 1 September 2023 (new provision)
- URN
- 149753 · LAESTAB 3347004 · UKPRN 10093074
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.
- Year 6 results: DfE key stage 2 tables, 2024/25.
- 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.