Birches Head Academy
Academy converter · 925 pupils
69% stayed in education · Attainment 8 31.3
Academy sponsor led
Thistley Hough Academy
- Pupils on roll
- 1,105of 1,050 places
- Free school meals
- 38.3%
- Year 11 cohort 2025
- 200
- Ofsted
- Report card, 2 June 2026Read the Ofsted report
Curriculum and teaching Expected standardAchievement Expected standardAttendance and behaviour Needs attentionPersonal development and wellbeing Expected standardInclusion Expected standardLeadership and governance Expected standardPost-16 provision Not applicableSafeguarding Met
Results below include those reported under the school’s previous registration: Thistley Hough High School (URN 124441, until 29 November 2012).
What the data says
Thistley Hough Academy has no sixth form. Of the 175 pupils who finished Year 11 there in 2023, 23% moved to a sixth form college, 56% to a further education college and 2% started an apprenticeship.
Art and Design is unusually popular at GCSE: 27% of the year group took it, against 7% of pupils across England.
GCSE results in 2025 were in line with the national picture: Attainment 8 of 47.9 against 46.1 across England and 39.8 in Stoke-on-Trent, with 52% of pupils getting grade 5 or above in both English and maths (England 45%).
Languages are a small part of the curriculum here: entries in Spanish add up to 17% of the year group, and 15% of pupils entered the full EBacc set of subjects (England 41%).
Where pupils went after Year 11
Destinations of the 2023 Year 11 leavers, measured the following year: the share in a sustained place for at least two terms. Compared with all state-funded schools in Stoke-on-Trent and England.
School sixth formSixth form collegeFurther education collegeOther educationApprenticeshipEmploymentNo sustained destination
| Measure | Thistley Hough Academy | Stoke-on-Trent | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils in the cohort | 175 | 2,796 | 607,348 |
| Any sustained destination | 90% | 87% | 92% |
| Stayed in education | 86% | 79% | 86% |
| — school sixth form | 6% | 11% | 34% |
| — sixth form college | 23% | 17% | 13% |
| — further education college | 56% | 49% | 37% |
| — other education | 0% | 2% | 2% |
| Apprenticeship | 2% | 4% | 3% |
| Employment | 2% | 3% | 3% |
| No sustained destination | 9% | 10% | 6% |
| Destination unknown | 2% | 3% | 3% |
GCSE results 2025
| Measure | Thistley Hough Academy | Stoke-on-Trent | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 (average points per pupil) | 47.9 | 39.8 | 46.1 |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 52% | 33% | 45% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 71% | 54% | 65% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate subjects | 15% | 28% | 41% |
| EBacc average point score | 4.02 | 3.38 | 4.09 |
| Disadvantaged pupils in the cohort | 37% | 38% | 28% |
| Attainment 8 — disadvantaged pupils | 41.1 | 31.5 | 34.9 |
| Attainment 8 — other pupils | 51.8 | 44.8 | 50.4 |
| Pupils with high prior attainment (Key Stage 2) | — | — | — |
| English as an additional language | 40% | 24% | 19% |
Progress 8 is not available for 2025 and 2026: these cohorts had no Key Stage 2 tests in 2020 and 2021, so there is no baseline. Attainment 8 shows results without taking pupils’ starting points into account.
Subjects taken at GCSE
Entries in 2025 as a share of the Year 11 cohort, and the share of entries graded 7–9 and 4–9, compared with all entries in England.
| Subject | Entries | Share of cohort | England | Grades 7–9 | England | Grades 4–9 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| English Literature | 200 | 100% | 86% | 21% | 21% | 78% |
| Mathematics | 200 | 100% | 88% | 22% | 22% | 73% |
| English Language | 200 | 100% | 89% | 16% | 20% | 73% |
| Combined Science | 151 | 76% | 65% | 9% | 9% | 49% |
| Geography | 131 | 66% | 41% | 20% | 25% | 63% |
| Business Studies | 99 | 50% | 18% | 32% | 20% | 70% |
| History | 79 | 40% | 41% | 28% | 26% | 67% |
| Art and Design | 54 | 27% | 7% | 20% | 24% | 89% |
| Physics | 49 | 25% | 23% | 31% | 46% | 94% |
| Chemistry | 49 | 25% | 23% | 41% | 47% | 94% |
| Biology | 49 | 25% | 23% | 37% | 45% | 94% |
| Religious Studies | 45 | 23% | 31% | 40% | 32% | 76% |
| Spanish | 33 | 17% | 19% | 24% | 27% | 52% |
| Design and Technology | 32 | 16% | 11% | 3% | 23% | 31% |
| Music | 23 | 12% | 5% | 0% | 33% | 30% |
| Arabic | 3 | 2% | 1% | — | 47% | — |
Technical awards and other Key Stage 4 qualifications
| Subject | Entries | Share of cohort | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Health Studies | 64 | — | — |
| Sports / Movement Science | 46 | — | — |
| Computer Appreciation / Introduction | 41 | — | — |
| Hospitality / Catering Studies | 39 | — | — |
| Tourism | 21 | — | — |
Other secondary schools in Stoke-on-Trent
Co-op Academy Stoke-On-Trent
Academy sponsor led · 1,300 pupils
79% stayed in education · Attainment 8 42.7
Discovery Academy
Academy sponsor led · 1,435 pupils
76% stayed in education · Attainment 8 37.4
Haywood Academy
Academy converter · sixth form · 1,080 pupils
82% stayed in education · Attainment 8 36.1
Ormiston Horizon Academy
Academy sponsor led · 1,029 pupils
78% stayed in education · Attainment 8 37.3
Ormiston Meridian Academy
Academy sponsor led · 1,015 pupils
73% stayed in education · Attainment 8 40.2
Sources: Department for Education school and college performance tables 2024/2025 (Key Stage 4 and 16–18 results, subject entries, destination measures for 2023 leavers); Get Information About Schools register as at 19 September 2026; Ofsted management information as at 31 August 2026. Small numbers are suppressed by DfE and shown as “—”. How to read these figures.