Boys school in Birmingham in talks to admit girls for September 2024

One of Birmingham’s biggest single-sex secondary schools is drawing up plans to allow girls to attend.

The school’s leadership team and board of governors at Kings Heath Boys School are developing a proposal with Birmingham City Council that would see it offer places for both boys and girls in the 2023/24 academic year.

There are 667 pupils currently enrolled at the school, but it has the capacity for 840. At this time, the community school caters to boys aged between 11 and 16. It was last inspected by Ofsted on the 1st and 2nd of February 2023 when inspectors upheld the previous ‘Good’ rating.

In a letter to parents, carers, governors, and staff, the council wrote: “I am writing to inform you that Birmingham City Council, in close collaboration with the leadership team and the Governing Body of Kings Heath Boys’ School, is developing a proposal to change the school’s designation from a single-sex (boys) school to a co-educational school.

“The school is rated ‘Good’ by Ofsted with a capacity to accommodate 840 pupils. The school does not currently offer provisions reserved for girls. We wish to consult you on our plans to change the designation for the school to become a co-educational school, offering provision to all genders.”

The council has said Kings Heath Boys is the only school within three miles without a waiting list, and that unfilled places can have a negative impact on the funding of a school.

It cites this, as well as concerned parents who believe there are not enough co-educational schools in the south of Birmingham, as reasons for the proposals.

A timeline of key dates is as follows:

• An informal consultation with interested parties began on February 2 and will run until March 16.
• Stakeholder engagement sessions will then run on February 13
• A statutory notice will be published on April 20, beginning a four-week consultation
• The final decision will be made on July 17, 2023
• Any changes decided will be implemented on September 1, 2024

On Kings Heath Boys’ website, headteacher Chris Etheridge encouraged parents and carers to submit their feedback on the proposals via a council survey, available at this link.