The Ladder School
- Alternative provision
- Free schools alternative provision
- Ages 13 to 18
URN 143750 · Walsall · THE MERCIAN TRUST
Inspection
Ofsted management information, as at 30 September 2026.
Latest graded inspection
3 July 2023Overall effectiveness
Good
- Quality of education
- Good
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Good
- Personal development
- Good
- Leadership and management
- Good
- Sixth form provision
- Good
- Safeguarding is effective
- Yes
Full inspection (section 5)
Under the earlier framework, inspections gave an overall effectiveness grade.
Read the reports on Ofsted’s website. Source: Ofsted, State-funded school inspections and outcomes: management information.
Suspensions and permanent exclusions
Against Walsall and England, alternative provision.
Suspensions per 100 pupils
2024/25270.45
- Walsall
- 114.67
- England
- 248.42
22.03 higher than England.
Show the figures as a table
| Year | This school | Walsall | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017/18 | Not published | 169.01 | 158.40 |
| 2018/19 | 700.00 | 240.79 | 191.09 |
| 2019/20 | 1,400.00 | 169.42 | 141.01 |
| 2020/21 | 950.00 | 148.15 | 139.24 |
| 2021/22 | 915.79 | 237.93 | 257.87 |
| 2022/23 | 662.50 | 230.88 | 284.98 |
| 2023/24 | 348.15 | 186.29 | 253.49 |
| 2024/25 | 270.45 | 114.67 | 248.42 |
Suspensions in the school year for every 100 pupils on roll. One pupil can be suspended more than once. Source: Department for Education, Explore Education Statistics, Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England, 2024/25.
Permanent exclusions per 100 pupils
2024/250.00
- Walsall
- 0.00
- England
- 0.30
0.30 lower than England.
Show the figures as a table
| Year | This school | Walsall | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017/18 | Not published | 0.00 | 0.16 |
| 2018/19 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.22 |
| 2019/20 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.11 |
| 2020/21 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.13 |
| 2021/22 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.22 |
| 2022/23 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.34 |
| 2023/24 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.25 |
| 2024/25 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.30 |
Permanent exclusions in the school year for every 100 pupils on roll. Source: Department for Education, Explore Education Statistics, Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England, 2024/25.
Pupils
Against Walsall and England, alternative provision.
Eligible for free school meals
2024/2563.6%
- Walsall
- 59.8%
- England
- 63.2%
0.4 percentage points higher than England.
Show the figures as a table
| Year | This school | Walsall | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 56.3% | 66.9% | 57.8% |
| 2023/24 | 29.6% | 53.1% | 60.7% |
| 2024/25 | 63.6% | 59.8% | 63.2% |
Pupils known to be eligible for free school meals on census day in January. Source: Department for Education, Explore Education Statistics, Schools, pupils and their characteristics, 2024/25.
SEN support
2024/2565.9%
- Walsall
- 38.6%
- England
- 57.1%
8.8 percentage points higher than England.
Show the figures as a table
| Year | This school | Walsall | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 75.0% | 35.3% | 57.0% |
| 2023/24 | 51.9% | 36.6% | 58.1% |
| 2024/25 | 65.9% | 38.6% | 57.1% |
Pupils receiving special educational needs support without an education, health and care plan. Source: Department for Education, Explore Education Statistics, Schools, pupils and their characteristics, 2024/25.
Education, health and care plan
2024/2534.1%
- Walsall
- 54.9%
- England
- 26.3%
7.8 percentage points higher than England.
Show the figures as a table
| Year | This school | Walsall | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 25.0% | 36.0% | 25.5% |
| 2023/24 | 25.9% | 44.6% | 24.2% |
| 2024/25 | 34.1% | 54.9% | 26.3% |
Pupils with an education, health and care plan. Source: Department for Education, Explore Education Statistics, Schools, pupils and their characteristics, 2024/25.
First language other than English
2024/2511.4%
- Walsall
- 3.3%
- England
- 7.6%
3.8 percentage points higher than England.
Show the figures as a table
| Year | This school | Walsall | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 6.3% | 4.4% | 8.0% |
| 2023/24 | 22.2% | 4.0% | 7.8% |
| 2024/25 | 11.4% | 3.3% | 7.6% |
Pupils whose first language is known or believed to be other than English. Source: Department for Education, Explore Education Statistics, Schools, pupils and their characteristics, 2024/25.
Teachers
Against Walsall and England, alternative provision.
Pupils per qualified teacher
2025/269.2
- Walsall
- 7.1
- England
- 7.3
1.9 higher than England.
Show the figures as a table
| Year | This school | Walsall | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017/18 | Not published | 8.0 | 6.7 |
| 2018/19 | Not published | 8.8 | 6.8 |
| 2019/20 | 4.0 | 8.4 | 7.0 |
| 2020/21 | 4.9 | 7.4 | 6.8 |
| 2021/22 | 4.5 | 6.9 | 6.9 |
| 2022/23 | 4.2 | 6.7 | 7.0 |
| 2023/24 | 6.9 | 7.5 | 7.1 |
| 2024/25 | 11.8 | 7.2 | 7.3 |
| 2025/26 | 9.2 | 7.1 | 7.3 |
Full-time equivalent pupils for each full-time equivalent qualified teacher. Source: Department for Education, Explore Education Statistics, School workforce in England, 2025/26.
Teacher sickness absence
2024/257.1 days
- Walsall
- 5.6 days
- England
- 5.0 days
2.1 days higher than England.
Compared with all state-funded schools: DfE publishes this measure for all schools, not by phase.
Show the figures as a table
| Year | This school | Walsall | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017/18 | Not published | 4.8 days | 4.0 days |
| 2018/19 | 1.1 days | 4.9 days | 4.0 days |
| 2019/20 | Not published | Not published | Not published |
| 2020/21 | 12.4 days | 3.9 days | 3.9 days |
| 2021/22 | 13.1 days | 6.8 days | 6.3 days |
| 2022/23 | 14.2 days | 5.7 days | 5.2 days |
| 2023/24 | 3.9 days | 6.2 days | 5.3 days |
| 2024/25 | 7.1 days | 5.6 days | 5.0 days |
Days lost to sickness absence in the school year, averaged across all teachers. Source: Department for Education, Explore Education Statistics, School workforce in England, 2024/25.
Finance
Academies report their accounts as part of their trust, so DfE publishes no school-level balance for this school. The trust’s figures are in DfE’s Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool.
See this school in the Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool
About the school
- Pupils on roll
- 62
- Capacity
- 120
- Type
- Free schools alternative provision
- Phase
- Alternative provision
- Age range
- 13 to 18
- Sixth form
- Has a sixth form
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- THE MERCIAN TRUST
- Opened
- 11 January 2019
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Constituency
- Walsall and Bloxwich
- Deprivation of the area (IDACI)
- Decile 2 of 10 (1 is the most deprived tenth of neighbourhoods)
Sources and corrections
Every figure on this page names its source and period. This release was built on 20 October 2026.
- Department for Education: Get Information about Schools: establishment data (GIAS establishment extract 2026-10-20)
- Ofsted: State-funded school inspections and outcomes: management information (Latest inspections as at 2026-09-30; All inspections, 2018/19; All inspections, 2019/20; All inspections, 2020/21; All inspections, 2021/22; All inspections, 2022/23; All inspections, 2023/24; All inspections, 2024/25; All inspections, 2025/26)
- Department for Education, Explore Education Statistics: Pupil absence in schools in England (absence-3term-school, 2013/14 to 2024/25 [pinned data set id])
- Department for Education, Explore Education Statistics: Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England (exc-school, 2006/07 to 2024/25 [pinned data set id]; exc-ap-school, 2013/14 to 2024/25 [pinned data set id]; exc-geography, 2006/07 to 2024/25 [pinned data set id]; exc-ap-geography, 2013/14 to 2024/25 [pinned data set id])
- Department for Education, Explore Education Statistics: Key stage 2 attainment (ks2-school, 2022/23 to 2024/25 [pinned data set id]; ks2-geography, 2015/16 to 2025/26 [pinned data set id])
- Department for Education, Explore Education Statistics: Key stage 4 performance (ks4-school, 2023/24 to 2025/26 [pinned data set id]; ks4-geography, 2018/19 to 2025/26 [pinned data set id])
- Department for Education, Explore Education Statistics: Schools, pupils and their characteristics (School census, January 2022 (performance tables, 2021 to 2022); School census, January 2023 (performance tables, 2022 to 2023); School census, January 2024 (performance tables, 2023 to 2024); School census, January 2025 (performance tables, 2024 to 2025))
- Department for Education, Explore Education Statistics: School workforce in England (ptr-school, 2010/11 to 2025/26 [pinned data set id]; ptr-geography, 2010/11 to 2025/26 [pinned data set id]; sickness-school, 2009/10 to 2024/25 [pinned data set id]; sickness-geography, 2009/10 to 2024/25 [pinned data set id])
- Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: English indices of deprivation 2025: Income Deprivation Affecting Children Index (English indices of deprivation 2025, File 7 (2021 LSOAs))
Spotted something wrong? Report a correction with the school’s URN (143750). Fixes go out in the next weekly release.