The Link Academy

Dudley · DY2 0PB

General information Secondary School · 11-16 years Who goes here 1013 pupils, 51.2% FSM

Educational attainment Ofsted report card

Parent score Rate this school No reviews yet - be the first SEN 17.4% on SEN support Behaviour 9.8% absence rate Staff 13.5% turnover Financials £8,124 per pupil Environment Buildings and facilities

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The Link Academy

General Information

Address: Simms Lane, Netherton, Dudley, DY2 0PB – View on map
Phone: 01384986550
Website: Visit school website
Headteacher: Mrs Emma Edwards-Morgan
Age range: 11-16 years
Sixth form: No
Intake: Mixed
Religious character: Does not apply
Nursery provision: No

Who goes here

1013 pupils out of 1050 places At or near capacity

Pupils eligible for free school meals: 519
% eligible for free school meals: 51.2%
Pupil mix: 7 in 10 (more mixed than the Dudley average)
English as an additional language: 24% (England 22%)

Staff

Teachers leaving each year

Teacher turnover: 13.5% a year (Dudley 15.1%, typical in England 15.5%)
Where they went: about 47% moved to another school, 53% 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: 9.8%
Persistently absent pupils: 32.1%
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: 17.4%
Pupils with an EHC Plan: 2.3%
Data year: 2025/26

Most common needs - SEN Support

Moderate learning difficulty: 88 pupils
Social, emotional and mental health: 49 pupils
Speech, language and communications needs: 10 pupils
Autistic spectrum disorder: 8 pupils
Specific learning difficulty: 7 pupils

Most common needs - EHC Plan

Social, emotional and mental health: 7 pupils
Moderate learning difficulty: 7 pupils
Speech, language and communications needs: 5 pupils
Autistic spectrum disorder: 3 pupils
Other difficulty or disability: 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

Ofsted report card May 2026

Ofsted's new report cards grade each part of school life separately, instead of giving one overall word.

Safeguarding Met
Inclusion Strong standard
Curriculum and teaching Expected standard
Achievement Expected standard
Attendance and behaviour Strong standard
Personal development and wellbeing Strong standard
Leadership and governance Strong standard

Before this, under the old system, Ofsted rated the school Good (2022). The report card above replaces that grade.

How Ofsted report cards work

Since November 2025, Ofsted grades each area of a school on its own five-point scale, and no longer gives a single word like “Good” or “Outstanding”. Safeguarding (keeping children safe) is simply met or not met.

Exceptional The very best practice nationally
Strong standard Above what Ofsted expects
Expected standard What Ofsted expects of every school
Needs attention Some weaknesses the school needs to fix
Urgent improvement Serious weaknesses needing urgent action

“Expected standard” is a sound result – it's what Ofsted expects a good school to do. Report cards aren't directly comparable with the old single grades, which is why we don't turn them into one.

Attainment 8 score: 40.4
Compared with the area: 3.8 points below the Dudley average (44.2)
Compared with schools with similar pupils: As expected (+0.6 points against an expected 39.8)
Grade 4+ in English and maths: 57% (Dudley 63%, England 65%) Broadly steady
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 3.8 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.

14th of 18 secondary schools in Dudley for Attainment 8

#12Leasowes High School41.8
#13Beacon Hill Academy41.0
#14The Link Academy40.4
#15The Pedmore High School39.6
#16The Crestwood School38.9

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: 80.0%
Went into further education: 76.0%
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

Science Double Award
Maths (General)
English Literature
English Language
Geography
History
Art & Design
Business Studies
Photography
Sports Studies
French Language
Religious Studies
Computer Science
Food Technology
Speech & Drama
Urdu
Italian
Japanese Language
German

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

Financials

Spending per pupil: £8,124 (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.

5th of 19 secondary schools in Dudley for spending per pupil

#3Summerhill School£8,627
#4Beacon Hill Academy£8,498
#5The Link Academy£8,124
#6Thorns Collegiate Academy£8,112
#7Ridgewood High School£8,048

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 ?

Financials

Spending Per Pupil ranking

Leaver Destinations

GCSE Subjects Offered