St James Academy

Dudley · DY1 3JE

General information Secondary School · 11-16 years Who goes here 867 pupils, 50.1% FSM

Parent score Rate this school No reviews yet - be the first SEN 12.7% on SEN support Behaviour 11.5% absence rate Staff 29.7% turnover Financials £7,700 per pupil Environment Buildings and facilities

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St James Academy

General Information

Address: St James's Road, Dudley, DY1 3JE – View on map
Phone: 01384685200
Website: Visit school website
Headteacher: Mr Ian Moore
Age range: 11-16 years
Sixth form: No
Intake: Mixed
Religious character: None
Nursery provision: No

Who goes here

867 pupils out of 900 places At or near capacity

Pupils eligible for free school meals: 434
% eligible for free school meals: 50.1%
Pupil mix: 8 in 10 (more mixed than the Dudley average)
English as an additional language: 35% (England 22%)

Staff

Teachers leaving each year

Teacher turnover: 29.7% a year (Dudley 15.1%, typical in England 15.5%)
Where they went: about 50% moved to another school, 50% left state schools altogether (retirement, other careers, independent schools, abroad)
Data years: 2022/23 to 2024/25 (average of 2 years, DfE school workforce census)

Teachers who moved school or left state schools in the year after each November, as a share of all the school's teachers. Some turnover is healthy – retirements, promotions, moving house.

Behaviour

Awaiting Data

About this Behaviour status

We've asked this school for real behaviour figures under Freedom of Information and haven't had a response yet.

Across Dudley: suspensions by reason

Suspensions for sexual misconduct: 33 (1.7 per 1,000 pupils; England 1.7)
Permanent exclusions for sexual misconduct: 3
Suspensions for bullying: 42 (2.2 per 1,000 pupils; England 1.9)
Suspensions for abuse against sexual orientation or gender identity: 11 (0.6 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.8)
Data year: 2024/25 (DfE suspensions and exclusions statistics)

These are figures for all state secondary schools in Dudley, not this school's own – the government doesn't publish them school by school. A suspension can have up to three reasons. Most sexual harassment between pupils never leads to a suspension, so these figures show only part of the picture.

Attendance

Overall absence: 11.5%
Persistently absent pupils: 35.2%
Data year: 2024/25

About persistent absence

A pupil is counted as "persistently absent" if they miss 10% or more of their possible school sessions - roughly one day in every two weeks. Schools and Ofsted both pay close attention to this figure specifically, since it can highlight a pattern the overall absence rate alone might hide.

SEN

No dedicated Unit or Resourced Provision

SEN Unit and Resourced Provision

Most mainstream schools don't have a dedicated SEN Unit or Resourced Provision - it isn't a mark against a school that doesn't, just a different kind of setup than one that does.

Pupils on SEN Support: 12.7%
Pupils with an EHC Plan: 2.5%
Data year: 2025/26

Most common needs - SEN Support

Moderate learning difficulty: 64 pupils
Social, emotional and mental health: 25 pupils
Speech, language and communications needs: 11 pupils
Specific learning difficulty: 6 pupils
SEN support but no specialist assessment of type of need: 1 pupil

Most common needs - EHC Plan

Social, emotional and mental health: 9 pupils
Moderate learning difficulty: 7 pupils
Speech, language and communications needs: 4 pupils
Specific learning difficulty: 1 pupil
Autistic spectrum disorder: 1 pupil

These figures show the makeup of the school.

About these SEND figures

These figures give a sense of the makeup of the school - they aren't a judgement on the quality of support provided.

Parent score - no reviews yet –

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Behaviour

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Openness

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Teaching Quality

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School Ethos

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Ability to Deal with Problems

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Headteacher Approval

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SafeguardingSafeguarding (parent rating)How parents rate the school on keeping children safe - how safe their child feels, and how well concerns are listened to and acted on. It's parents' experience, not an inspection result; Ofsted checks safeguarding separately.

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Would recommend –

Educational Attainment

Good 2024 report

About this Ofsted rating

Ofsted changed how it rates schools in the last couple of years, so ratings from different years aren't always on the same scale - that's why we show the year alongside every rating.

Attainment 8 score: 36.8
Compared with the area: 7.4 points below the Dudley average (44.2)
Compared with schools with similar pupils: Below (−4.2 points against an expected 41.0)
Grade 4+ in English and maths: 48% (Dudley 63%, England 65%) Falling
Data year: 2024/25

View the School Context Comparator – how this school's results compare with schools teaching similar pupils.

GCSE results over time

This schoolDudley averageEngland→ Broadly steady No clear rise or fall since 2022/23 (changes this small are normal from one year group to the next). In 2024/25 this school was 7.4 points below the Dudley average (44.2).

About the Attainment 8 score

Attainment 8 measures a pupil's average result across 8 GCSE-equivalent qualifications (English and maths count double). It shows how pupils performed, not how much progress they made getting there - a school with a higher score doesn't necessarily add more value, since pupils often arrive with different starting points. Progress 8 is the measure designed to account for that, but it currently can't be calculated for any school for the two most recent academic years, due to a nationwide gap in the data caused by COVID-19 disruption to Key Stage 2 testing.

18th of 18 secondary schools in Dudley for Attainment 8

#16The Crestwood School38.9
#17Thorns Collegiate Academy38.7
#18St James Academy36.8

Click to see the full ranking

Attainment 8 ranking

Illustrative MVP scores - not based on verified data yet.

Rank School Score

#1Old Swinford Hospital59.0
#2Summerhill School51.6
#3The Earls High School48.2
#4Redhill School47.8
#5Windsor High School and Sixth Form46.5
#6Kingswinford Academy46.3
#7Ridgewood High School46.0
#8Bishop Milner Catholic College45.9
#9Pegasus Academy44.4
#10Ellowes Hall Sports College43.1
#11The Dormston School42.1
#12Leasowes High School41.8
#13Beacon Hill Academy41.0
#14The Link Academy40.4
#15The Pedmore High School39.6
#16The Crestwood School38.9
#17Thorns Collegiate Academy38.7
#18St James Academy36.8

Leaver Destinations

In education, employment, or training a year later: 86.0%
Went into further education: 85.0%
Data year: 2024/25

About leaver destinations

This shows where a school's Year 11 leavers were recorded the following year - in a "sustained" destination means in education, an apprenticeship, or employment for at least 6 months, not just enrolled briefly. It's a different picture from exam results alone, and can highlight schools that support pupils well beyond just their GCSE grades.

GCSE Subjects Offered

Maths (General)
English Language
English Literature
Science Double Award
Geography
History
Business Studies
French Language
Photography
Art & Design
Biology
Physics (General)
Chemistry (General)
Italian
Portuguese
Polish
Arabic
Urdu
Chinese
Punjabi

About this subject list

This isn't the school's own description of its curriculum - it's real DfE exam entry data, showing which GCSE subjects this school's pupils were actually entered for in 2024/25. A subject not appearing here may still be taught but had no pupils entered that year, so treat this as a helpful guide rather than a complete guarantee - it's worth confirming directly with the school for the year your child would actually study.

View full Ofsted inspection report

9th of 17 secondary schools in Dudley for Ofsted rating

#7Redhill SchoolGood
#8Ridgewood High SchoolGood
#9St James AcademyGood
#10Summerhill SchoolGood
#11The Crestwood SchoolGood

Click to see the full ranking

Ofsted Rating ranking

Based on real Ofsted ratings (via official DfE data) for schools on the same four-word grading scale.

Rank School Score

#1Beacon Hill AcademyGood
#2Bishop Milner Catholic CollegeGood
#3Ellowes Hall Sports CollegeGood
#4Kingswinford AcademyGood
#5Leasowes High SchoolGood
#6Old Swinford HospitalGood
#7Redhill SchoolGood
#8Ridgewood High SchoolGood
#9St James AcademyGood
#10Summerhill SchoolGood
#11The Crestwood SchoolGood
#12The Dormston SchoolGood
#13The Earls High SchoolGood
#14The Pedmore High SchoolGood
#15The Wordsley SchoolGood
#16Windsor High School and Sixth FormGood
#17Thorns Collegiate AcademyRequires improvement

Financials

Spending per pupil: £7,700 (2024-25)

About this spending figure

A higher or lower position here isn't a sign of a better or worse school - schools have different needs and circumstances - but it can help reassure you that a school has sufficient funding behind your child's education.

11th of 19 secondary schools in Dudley for spending per pupil

#9Leasowes High School£7,917
#10Bishop Milner Catholic College£7,903
#11St James Academy£7,700
#12Redhill School£7,554
#13Kingswinford Academy£7,532

Click to see the full ranking

Spending Per Pupil ranking

Based on official DfE financial return data (Consistent Financial Reporting / Academies Accounts Return) - not a ranking of school quality.

Rank School Score

#1Old Swinford Hospital£11,392
#2Pegasus Academy£9,197
#3Summerhill School£8,627
#4Beacon Hill Academy£8,498
#5The Link Academy£8,124
#6Thorns Collegiate Academy£8,112
#7Ridgewood High School£8,048
#8The Dormston School£8,005
#9Leasowes High School£7,917
#10Bishop Milner Catholic College£7,903
#11St James Academy£7,700
#12Redhill School£7,554
#13Kingswinford Academy£7,532
#14The Crestwood School£7,427
#15The Pedmore High School£7,327
#16The Earls High School£7,324
#17Ellowes Hall Sports College£7,247
#18Windsor High School and Sixth Form£6,997
#19The Wordsley School£2,227

View on the Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool (GOV.UK)

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General Information

Who goes here

Staff

Teachers leaving each year

Behaviour

Across Dudley: suspensions by reason

Attendance

SEN

Most common needs - SEN Support

Most common needs - EHC Plan

Educational Attainment

Attainment 8 ranking

Leaver Destinations ?

GCSE Subjects Offered ?

Ofsted Rating ranking

Financials

Spending Per Pupil ranking

Leaver Destinations

GCSE Subjects Offered