The Link Academy
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The Link Academy is a sponsored academy in Dudley for boys and girls aged 11 to 16. It has 1,013 pupils and room for 1,050. About 51 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, far more than at most schools in England. We give it 35 out of 100. That puts it below schools like it, ahead of 86% of the 50 schools most like it. Ofsted visited in May 2026 and gave it a report card, which is below.
Simms Lane, Netherton, Dudley, DY2 0PB01384 986550thelinkacademy.org.ukMrs Emma Edwards-Morgan headteacherAll details
What Ofsted found
Ofsted visited on 19 May 2026. Instead of one overall word, it now gives a grade for each part of school life. Read the full report on Ofsted's website.
Ofsted says these new grades can't be lined up against the old one-word grades.
Earlier inspections (1)
| Date | Type | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| 8 February 2022 | Academy First Section 5 | Good |
Results
GCSE results, summer 2025
195 pupils sat their GCSEs. Here is how they did against every state secondary in England.
All GCSE measures, year by year
| Measure | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2019 | 2018 | Dudley | England |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of Year 11 | 195 | 177 | 169 | 184 | 191 | 194 | – | – |
| Average GCSE scoreAttainment 8 | 40.4 | 39.8 | 39.4 | 45.5 | 37.9 | 37.2 | 44.3 | 46.8 |
| Progress from age 11Progress 8 | – | -0.02 | +0.06 | +0.16 | -0.49 | -0.65 | – | – |
| Strong pass in English and mathsGrade 5+ in English and maths | 33% | 34% | 33% | 41% | 22% | 23% | 42% | 46% |
| Standard pass in English and mathsGrade 4+ in English and maths | 57% | 51% | 52% | 65% | 41% | 43% | 63% | 66% |
| Core subjects scoreEBacc average point score | 3.48 | 3.33 | 3.22 | 3.68 | 3.36 | 2.96 | 3.79 | 4.15 |
| Taking the core subjectsEBacc entry | 19% | 7% | 8% | 12% | 37% | 11% | 29% | 41% |
| Average GCSE score: low-income pupilsAttainment 8, disadvantaged | 39.5 | 35.3 | 33.6 | 38.1 | 33.3 | 34.4 | – | – |
| Average GCSE score: other pupilsAttainment 8, non-disadvantaged | 41.3 | 43.7 | 44.8 | 49.3 | 42.1 | 39.6 | – | – |
| Average GCSE score: pupils who started behindAttainment 8, low prior attainers | – | 26.2 | 30.8 | 35.0 | 22.9 | 21.6 | – | – |
| Average GCSE score: pupils who started aheadAttainment 8, high prior attainers | – | 62.1 | 63.8 | 68.9 | 52.8 | 50.5 | – | – |
Subjects
Results came out for 15 GCSE subjects in 2025. Each figure is the share of pupils who got a grade 5 or better, next to the average for state secondaries in England.
Strongest subjects
Subjects that did worse than the England average: Business (11% here, 51% across England), Food Preparation & Nutrition (26% here, 52% across England), Geography (28% here, 51% across England), Mathematics (37% here, 53% across England).
The small number is how many pupils sat each subject. Subjects with fewer than six pupils aren't published.
Every subject against England, 2025
| Subject | Entries | Grades 9 to 7 | Grades 9 to 5 | Grades 9 to 4 | England 9 to 5 | Rank in England |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mathematics | 194 | 10% | 37% | 59% | 53% | 2,659 of 3,211 |
| English Literature | 194 | 15% | 50% | 66% | 58% | 2,064 of 3,202 |
| English Language | 194 | 14% | 52% | 70% | 54% | 1,604 of 3,210 |
| Combined Science | 194 | 7% | 30% | 55% | 36% | 1,828 of 3,084 |
| Geography | 105 | 8% | 28% | 40% | 51% | 2,712 of 3,116 |
| Art and Design | 93 | 12% | 51% | 73% | 58% | 1,811 of 2,818 |
| History | 78 | 19% | 45% | 58% | 52% | 1,930 of 3,126 |
| Business | 55 | 2% | 11% | 18% | 51% | 1,764 of 1,806 |
| Physical Education | 27 | 11% | 41% | 78% | 56% | 1,159 of 1,559 |
| French | 26 | 23% | 73% | 92% | 60% | 607 of 1,974 |
| Religious Studies | 20 | 30% | 65% | 75% | 60% | 811 of 1,825 |
| Computer Science | 20 | 20% | 45% | 60% | 56% | 1,205 of 1,861 |
| Food Preparation & Nutrition | 19 | 5% | 26% | 42% | 52% | – |
| Drama | 14 | 14% | 50% | 86% | 60% | – |
| Other Modern Languages | 9 | 0% | 0% | 0% | 49% | – |
In combined science each pupil gets two grades and we count the lower one. Rankings only include state secondaries where 20 or more pupils sat the subject.
Does every child do well here?
A good school does well by every child, not just on average. Each row compares two groups of pupils here. The grey marks show the same two groups across England. Every gap at this school is smaller than the gap across England. When a group has fewer than about ten pupils, its figures jump around a lot from year to year.
At GCSE, 2025
Low-income means the child has had free school meals at some point in the last six years. A group's figure isn't published when it has fewer than six pupils.
Getting a place
Open to all. There is no entrance test.
Fewer than one place in twenty is empty, so in most years more families apply than there are places. Living close by, or already having a child here, makes a real difference. Pupil numbers have grown by 9% since 2021/22, so places are getting harder to come by.
In 2026 every child who applied got a place, so how far away you live didn't matter. That could change if the school gets more popular.
We measure in a straight line from the middle of your postcode to the school. The council measures its own way, and the cut-off changes every year. Use this as a rough guide, and read the council's admissions booklet before you apply.
How places were given out for September 2026. Every child who applied got a place (210 offers for 210 places).
| Entry | Places | Put it first | Applied at all | Got a place | How far the last child lived | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 Secondary | 210 | 191 | 410 | 210 | – all offered | LA |
| 2025 Secondary | 210 | 210 | 397 | 210 | 1.8 miles | LA |
| 2024 Secondary | 210 | 206 | 389 | 210 | 2.8 miles | LA |
| 2023 Secondary | 210 | 200 | 354 | 220 | 0.9 miles | LA |
The distances are the council's own, usually measured in a straight line from home to the school gate. If the distance is getting shorter each year, the school is getting harder to get into. See which councils we have this data for.
What a home within 1.8 miles of the school costs
Every home sold within that distance of the school (the typical cut-off over the last three years), of any type, from HM Land Registry records. If homes here cost more than the district average, that is the price people pay to live close enough to get in.
Who goes here
Who a school teaches matters. That is why our score compares it with schools that take in a similar mix of children, not with every school in the country.
The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: Moderate learning difficulty (95), emotional and mental health (56), language and communications needs (15), Autistic spectrum disorder (11), Specific learning difficulty (7), Other difficulty or disability (6).
How the mix of pupils has changed
| Census | 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils on roll | 1,013 | 1,014 | 984 | 930 | 931 | 902 |
| Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals | 51% | 50% | 46% | 42% | 38% | 34% |
| Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language | 24% | 25% | 25% | 21% | 22% | 23% |
| Pupils getting extra supportSEN support | – | 18% | 18% | 19% | 19% | 16% |
| Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans | – | 2% | 2% | 2% | 2% | 2% |
Attendance and behaviour
In 2024/25 pupils were in school 90.2% of the time. Across similar schools in England it was 91.4%.
Attendance year by year
| Measure | 2024/25 | 2023/24 | 2022/23 | 2021/22 | 2020/21 | 2018/19 | England |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sessions missedOverall absence | 9.8% | 11.1% | 10.8% | 10.4% | 7.6% | 6.1% | 8.6% |
| Missed with permissionAuthorised absence | 3.5% | 4.4% | 5.0% | 6.0% | 4.7% | 3.2% | – |
| Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence | 6.3% | 6.7% | 5.8% | 4.5% | 2.9% | 2.9% | – |
| Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence | 32.1% | 34.2% | 34.8% | 36.4% | 23.6% | 18.1% | 23.9% |
| SuspensionsSuspension rate | 15.1 | 21.4 | 20.4 | 24.0 | 26.1 | – | – |
| Permanent exclusionsPermanent exclusions | 8 | 11 | 7 | 5 | 5 | – | – |
What pupils do next
After GCSEs
Where the 169 pupils who left in 2022/23 were a year later.
Among pupils from low-income families it was 72%, compared with 89% for everyone else.
Earlier years
| Destination | 2022/23 leavers | 2021/22 leavers | 2020/21 leavers | 2019/20 leavers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Still in education, work or training | 80% | 87% | 90% | 92% |
| Education | 76% | 84% | 83% | 89% |
| Apprenticeship | 2% | 3% | 4% | 1% |
| Work | 2% | 1% | 3% | 2% |
| Not in education, work or training | 15% | 10% | 7% | 7% |
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 secondary 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 secondary schools, nearest first. Hover over a row to see it on the map.
| School | Type | Distance | Pupils | Ofsted | Score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pegasus Academy | Academy | 1.1 miles | 697 | Report card 2026 | 52 | Compare |
| St James Academy | Academy | 1.4 miles | 867 | Good 2024 | 27 | Compare |
| Ormiston Forge Academy | Academy | 1.6 miles | 1,643 | Not inspected | 21 | Compare |
| St Michael's Church of England High School | Church of England | 1.8 miles | 1,213 | Good 2023 | 60 | Compare |
| Bishop Milner Catholic College | Academy | 1.9 miles | 798 | Good 2023 | 41 | Compare |
| Thorns Collegiate Academy | Academy | 2.1 miles | 861 | Requires improvement 2024 | 9 | Compare |
| Ormiston Sandwell Community Academy | Academy | 2.3 miles | 1,139 | Good 2023 | 24 | Compare |
| The Crestwood School | Academy | 2.7 miles | 1,023 | Good 2023 | 29 | Compare |
Compared with schools like it
Our score compares The Link Academy with the 50 schools in England whose pupils are most like its own. We match on family income, how many children are learning English, special needs, the neighbourhood, the size of the school and how it admits pupils. Those 50 schools are dotted all over the country, so we don't list them. What matters is where this school sits among them.
How the score was worked out
The score is out of 100. A 35 means that once everything below is added up, this school comes out ahead of 35% of secondary schools in England. Results bounce around from year to year, especially in small schools, so we also show a likely range: 26 to 46. That range is wide enough that the school could sit in the next band, so take the band as a rough guide rather than a verdict. Every part is judged against schools with a similar mix of pupils. For small schools we pull each part towards the group average, so one unusual year can't swing the score too far.
| What we looked at | How much it counts | Against schools like it | Effect on the score | Based on |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Results over three years | 20% | below | -0.17 | 2025, 2024 and 2023 results; 195 pupils |
| Ofsted inspection | 20% | above | +0.08 | Ofsted report card, 0.3 years old |
| Progress pupils make | 20% | in line | -0.05 | DfE progress measure; 195 pupils |
| Direction of travel over five years | 10% | in line | -0.03 | results and attendance falling year on year |
| Attendance and behaviour | 10% | below | -0.06 | 2024/25; 1,076 pupils |
| Results, allowing for the mix of pupils | 10% | above | +0.09 | Attainment relative to schools with a similar intake; 195 pupils |
| What pupils do next | 5% | well below | -0.10 | 169 pupils |
| What parents say | 0% | no data | – |
Worked out on 13 September 2026 (method v1). Read how the score works, including every weight and the checks we run. Think a number is wrong? Tell us.
Questions parents ask
Is The Link Academy a good school?
The figures are weak. The Link Academy scores 35 out of 100. That is below schools that take in a similar mix of pupils, and ahead of 86% of the 50 schools most like it in England. The score could fairly be anywhere from 26 to 46, so a few points either way between schools doesn't mean much.
What is The Link Academy's Ofsted rating?
Ofsted no longer gives schools one overall grade. When it visited on 19 May 2026 it rated teaching as as expected, achievement as as expected, behaviour and attendance as strong, leadership as strong.
How good are The Link Academy's GCSE results?
In summer 2025, 33% 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 40.4, against 46.8 for England. In each subject, pupils here finished about level with children across England who started secondary school at the same level.
How many pupils does The Link Academy have?
1,013 pupils aged 11 to 16 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 1,050 places, so it is 96% full.
Is The Link Academy oversubscribed?
Often. Fewer than one place in twenty was empty in 2024/25, so popular year groups fill up.
What is attendance like at The Link Academy?
Pupils were in school 90.2% of the time in 2024/25. Similar schools in England managed 91.4%. 32% of pupils missed at least a tenth of the year.
How big are the classes at The Link Academy?
The average class had 23.8 pupils in January 2026. Across England it was 22.8. 2% of classes had more than 30 pupils.
Does The Link Academy have a sixth form?
No. Pupils leave after Year 11 for a sixth form elsewhere, a college or an apprenticeship; 80% of 2022/23 leavers were still in education, work or training six months on.
These answers come straight from the figures on this page and update when new data comes out.
Contact and details
- Address
- Simms Lane, Netherton, Dudley, DY2 0PB
- Telephone
- 01384 986550
- Website
- www.thelinkacademy.org.uk
- Headteacher
- Mrs Emma Edwards-Morgan
- Type of school
- Sponsored academy (Academy sponsor led, academies)
- Phase
- Secondary school, ages 11-16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Multi-academy trust
- Dudley Academies Trust (8 schools)
- Local authority
- Dudley
- Ward
- Netherton & Holly Hall
- Constituency
- Stourbridge
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Opened
- 1 September 2017 (new provision)
- URN
- 144952 · LAESTAB 3324003 · UKPRN 10065089
- Formerly
- The Hillcrest School and Community College
Recent changes
- New KS4 results for 2024/25
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.
- Class sizes: DfE schools, pupils and their characteristics, January 2026.
- Pupil premium: DfE allocations and conditions of grant, 2026 to 2027.
- Money: DfE financial benchmarking and insights tool, academy accounts return 2024/25.
- Admissions outcomes: Dudley council's published allocation statistics (source), entry years 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026.
- House prices: HM Land Registry price paid data, December 2023 to December 2025, placed by postcode.
- 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.