The Meadows School
The Meadows School is a council special school in Oldbury for boys and girls aged 11 to 19. It has 262 pupils, 47 more than it has places for. About 58 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, far more than at most schools in England. Ofsted visited in February 2026 and gave it a report card, which is below.
The Meadows School, Dudley Road East, Sandwell, Oldbury, B69 3BU0121 569 7080themeadows.sandwell.sch.ukMr James Horspool headteacherAll details
What Ofsted found
Ofsted visited on 3 February 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 12 July 2023 | S5 Inspection | Requires improvement |
Results
GCSE results, summer 2025
24 pupils sat their GCSEs. Here is how they did against every state secondary in England.
The government hasn't published this school's headline results. That usually means the year group was too small to publish without identifying children.
Year 6 results (SATs), summer 2019
3 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 | 2019 | Sandwell | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils tested | 3 | – | – |
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 Sandwell council's admissions booklet, send it to us.
What parents say
From Ofsted's Parent View survey: 25 parents answered in the year to 6 April 2026. Parents choose whether to fill it in, and many only do so when an inspection is coming, so don't read too much into small differences. The England figures are the average for all schools with enough answers to publish.
Who goes here
Who the school teaches, from the latest school census.
Specialist SEND provision. A special school for pupils with autism, hearing impairment, moderate learning difficulties, multi-sensory impairment, other needs, physical disability, social, emotional and mental health, speech, language and communication, specific learning difficulties, visual impairment.
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 Sandwell with autism provision.
The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: Severe learning difficulty (91), Autistic spectrum disorder (63), Profound and multiple learning difficulty (40), language and communications needs (28), Specific learning difficulty (20), emotional and mental health (9).
How the mix of pupils has changed
| Census | 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils on roll | 262 | 223 | 215 | 214 | 207 | 185 |
| Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals | 60% | 57% | 51% | 51% | 54% | 54% |
| Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language | 35% | 36% | 37% | 42% | 44% | 43% |
| Pupils getting extra supportSEN support | – | 0% | 0% | 0% | 1% | 0% |
| Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans | – | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% |
Attendance and behaviour
In 2024/25 pupils were in school 87.0% 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 | 13.0% | 12.2% | 10.3% | 8.8% | 7.2% | 10.1% | 5.2% |
| Missed with permissionAuthorised absence | 9.3% | 10.1% | 8.6% | 7.5% | 6.1% | 8.6% | – |
| Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence | 3.7% | 2.1% | 1.7% | 1.3% | 1.1% | 1.5% | – |
| Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence | 35.3% | 27.9% | 29.2% | 29.2% | 20.2% | 25.8% | 12.8% |
| SuspensionsSuspension rate | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 6.0 | – | – |
| Permanent exclusionsPermanent exclusions | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – |
What pupils do next
After GCSEs
Where the 23 pupils who left in 2022/23 were a year later.
Among pupils from low-income families it was 100%, compared with 100% for everyone else.
Earlier years
| Destination | 2022/23 leavers | 2021/22 leavers | 2020/21 leavers | 2019/20 leavers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Still in education, work or training | 100% | 96% | 100% | 100% |
| Education | 100% | 96% | 100% | 100% |
| Apprenticeship | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Work | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Not in education, work or training | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
Staff
From the government's count of school staff in November 2025.
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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ormiston Sandwell Community Academy | Academy | 710 m | 1,139 | Good 2023 | 24 | Compare |
| Rounds Green Primary School | Academy | 940 m | 367 | No overall grade 2025 | 16 | Compare |
| Newtown Primary School | Academy | 0.6 miles | 203 | Good 2024 | 33 | Compare |
| Tividale Community Primary School | Council | 0.7 miles | 445 | Good 2023 | 58 | Compare |
| Christ Church Church of England Primary School | Academy | 0.8 miles | – | No overall grade 2024 | – | Compare |
| Grace Mary Primary School | Council | 0.9 miles | 241 | Not inspected | 84 | Compare |
| St Francis Xavier Catholic Primary School | Academy | 0.9 miles | 188 | No overall grade 2024 | 55 | Compare |
| Hanbury Primary School | Council | 0.9 miles | 452 | Good 2023 | 24 | Compare |
Questions parents ask
Is The Meadows School a good school?
The Meadows School doesn't have a score yet. Ofsted's report card from February 2026 rated its teaching as as expected.
What is The Meadows School's Ofsted rating?
Ofsted no longer gives schools one overall grade. When it visited on 3 February 2026 it rated teaching as as expected, achievement as as expected, behaviour and attendance as as expected, leadership as as expected.
How many pupils does The Meadows School have?
262 pupils aged 11 to 19 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 215 places, so it is 122% full.
What is attendance like at The Meadows School?
Pupils were in school 87.0% of the time in 2024/25. Similar schools in England managed 94.8%. 35% of pupils missed at least a tenth of the year.
What do parents say about The Meadows School?
100% of the 25 parents who answered Ofsted's Parent View survey would recommend it to other parents, and 96% say their child is happy there. Across England, 84% of parents would recommend their child's school.
Does The Meadows School have specialist SEND provision?
Yes. It is a special school for autism, hearing impairment, moderate learning difficulties, multi-sensory impairment, other needs, physical disability, social, emotional and mental health, speech, language and communication, specific learning difficulties, visual impairment. To get a place there, a child normally needs an education, health and care plan (EHCP) that names the school.
Does The Meadows 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
- The Meadows School, Dudley Road East, Sandwell, Oldbury, B69 3BU
- Telephone
- 0121 569 7080
- Website
- www.themeadows.sandwell.sch.uk
- Headteacher
- Mr James Horspool
- Type of school
- Council special school (Community special school, special schools)
- Phase
- Special school, ages 11-19, with sixth form
- Gender
- Mixed
- Local authority
- Sandwell
- Ward
- Oldbury
- Constituency
- West Bromwich
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Opened
- 1 September 2000
- URN
- 132231 · LAESTAB 3337017 · UKPRN 10009680
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.
- Year 6 results: DfE key stage 2 tables, 2018/19.
- 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.
- 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.