Holly Lodge High School College of Science
Secondary · Foundation school · Mixed · Sandwell
Holly Lane, Smethwick, B67 7JG
57
headline score
Ranking (England)
—
No ranked results
Ofsted
School remains Good
No graded inspection
Application demand
100%
1st preference success · Not oversubscribed
Attendance
92.6%
24.3% persistently absent
At a glance
Pupils on roll
1,636
Capacity used
Nearly full99%
1,650 places
GCSE rank (England)
—
KS2 rank (England)
—
Application demand
Secondary entry · official council applications and offers
100%
1st preference success rate
124 of 124 families who put it first got an offer
240
Places offered
342
Total applications
1.4
Applications per place
| Preference (Sept 2025 entry) | Applications | Offers | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st preference | 124 | 124 | ● 100% |
| 2nd preference | 100 | 46 | ● 46% |
| 3rd preference | 41 | 9 | ● 22% |
| Later preferences (4th–6th) | 77 | 4 | ● 5% |
| Total | 342 | 183 | 54% |
1st preference success by year
Sandwell lets families list 6 preferences. 28 applications came from outside the council area (3 offered). Source: Department for Education, school-level applications and offers. Offers are made on each school's admissions criteria (e.g. siblings, distance, faith), so check the school's policy.
Details
- Type
- Foundation school
- Phase
- Secondary
- Age range
- 11–18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sixth form
- Yes
- Nursery
- No Nursery Classes
- Boarding
- No boarders
- Headteacher
- Imran Iqbal
- Address
- Holly Lane, Smethwick, B67 7JG
- Phone
- 01215580691
- Local authority
- Sandwell
- Ward / constituency
- St Pauls · Smethwick
- Area
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- URN
- 104018
Pupils
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free school meals | 47% | — | — |
| English as additional language | 52% | — | — |
| SEN support | 12% | — | — |
Local deprivation (IDACI quintile 5 of 5)
1 = least deprived area, 5 = most deprived. Context only.
Academy trust: The Smethwick Health and Wellbeing Education Trust
1,636 pupils · 1,650 places. Intake figures describe the school's community — they aren't good or bad.
Ofsted inspections
- 22
03 March 2022
Ungraded inspection
School remains Good
Attendance
2024/2025 school year · 1,485 pupils
Attendance
92.6%
Share of sessions attended · England 91.1%
Overall absence
7.4%
Sessions missed, any reason · England 8.9%
Persistent absence
24.3%
Pupils missing 10%+ of school · England 26.7%
Severe absence
3.0%
Pupils missing 50%+ of school · England 2.3%
Unauthorised absence
3.0%
Absences the school didn't approve
Persistent absence by year
Source: Department for Education, pupil absence by school (pupils aged 5–15). Lower absence is better. England figures are approximate 2023/24 averages.
GCSE results
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 score | 39.9 | — | — |
| Progress 8 score | -0.10 | — | 0.00 |
| Grade 5+ in English & maths | 27% | — | — |
| Grade 4+ in English & maths | 52% | — | — |
| EBacc average point score | 3.25 | — | — |
Progress 8 band
A-level results
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average points per entry | 32.55 | — | — |
Average grade: C+ (England B-)
GCSE results over time
Attainment 8 by year (2020 and 2021 exams were cancelled)
| Result | School | England (approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 | 42.1 | 46 |
| Grade 5+ English & maths | 34.7% | 46% |
| Grade 4+ English & maths | 54.2% | 65% |
| Entering EBacc | 11.6% | 40% |
| EBacc average point score | 3.6 | 4.1 |
| Pupils in cohort | 277 | — |
How different pupils progress (GCSE, 2023/2024)
Progress 8 by group. 0 is the national average; above 0 means pupils do better than similar children elsewhere.
A-level results over time
Average points per entry by year (2020 and 2021 exams were cancelled)
| Result | School | England (approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| Average points per entry | 32.82 | 35 |
| Average grade | C+ | — |
| AAB or better (2 facilitating) | 10.5% | 17% |
| A-level students | 74 | — |
Results by subject
Official DfE exam results for summer 2025. Green, amber and red compare against typical results in England; subjects with fewer than 5 entries aren't rated.
GCSE
Grade 4 is a standard pass, 5 a strong pass, 7 equals the old A.
| Subject | Entries | Grade 7+ | Grade 5+ | Grade 4+ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Combined Science | 276 | 13% | 37% | 54% | |
| Mathematics | 275 | 11% | 43% | 62% | |
| English Language | 275 | 13% | 44% | 64% | |
| English Literature | 269 | 12% | 44% | 62% | |
| Geography | 140 | 14% | 35% | 41% | |
| History | 128 | 6% | 45% | 58% | |
| Social Studies | 65 | 12% | 49% | 66% | |
| Business | 53 | 8% | 36% | 55% | |
| Computer Science | 46 | 13% | 35% | 52% | |
| Religious Studies | 46 | 17% | 70% | 80% | |
| Art and Design | 22 | 5% | 23% | 45% | |
| Design & Technology | 22 | 9% | 23% | 59% |
A level
| Subject | Entries | A* | A*–A | A*–B | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sociology | 34 | 3% | 24% | 62% | |
| Psychology | 14 | 7% | 14% | 50% | |
| Biology | 13 | 0% | 15% | 69% | |
| Business Studies | 11 | 0% | 27% | 45% | |
| Chemistry | 10 | 0% | 50% | 80% | |
| English Literature | 9 | 0% | 11% | 11% | |
| Law | 8 | 0% | 38% | 38% | |
| Mathematics | 7 | 0% | 29% | 71% | |
| Religious Studies | 7 | 0% | 0% | 29% | |
| Physics | 5 | 0% | 0% | 0% | |
| Punjabi | 4 | 0% | 0% | 0% | |
| Computer Science | 4 | 0% | 0% | 0% |
Oxbridge
No Cambridge applications recorded for this school in 2020–2025.
Where students go next
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Higher education (university) | 83% | — | — |
| Apprenticeships | 0% | — | — |
| Any education or training | 83% | — | — |
Oxford/Cambridge application numbers aren't published per school in official data, so university progression is shown instead.
House prices near the school
Typical sold prices (Land Registry) within 1 km, last 12 months.
Loading prices…
Key application dates
National deadlines in England. Apply through Sandwell council, not the school.
| Entry | Deadline | Offer day |
|---|---|---|
| Year 7 (secondary) | 31 October | 1 March (or next working day) |
Admissions policy: Non-selective. Check the school's own admissions rules on its website.
Source: Get Information About Schools and the DfE school and college performance tables (2023-2024); Oxbridge figures from the University of Cambridge's admissions by UCAS apply centre (Oxford doesn't publish per-school figures). Read the method.