HOLYHEAD SCHOOL

What HOLYHEAD SCHOOL does

Holyhead School is a state-funded secondary school and sixth form located on Milestone Lane in the Handsworth area of Birmingham, United Kingdom, serving students aged 11-18 across Key Stage 3 (Years 7-9), Key Stage 4 / GCSE (Years 10-11), and Key Stage 5 / Sixth Form (Years 12-13, A-Level and Applied General). The school operates as an academy under Central Region Schools Trust (CRST), a charitable company limited by guarantee registered in England and Wales (Company Number 08166526), with the trust headquartered at Assay Studios, Newhall Street, Birmingham. As a state-funded institution within the UK education system, the school provides education at no direct cost to students and is funded through government grants; financial statements are not publicly disclosed on the school's website.

The school's core "product" is its curriculum, delivered through the proprietary Holyhead 8 Framework — a research-informed, cognitive-science-grounded pedagogical model paired with the CORE character attributes (Confidence, Organisation, Resilience, Empathy) and a KASE (Knowledge, Attributes, Skills, Experiences) structure. The curriculum spans a 3-year KS3 programme, a 2-year GCSE programme with compulsory English Language/Literature and Combined Science plus optional vocational and creative subjects, and a Sixth Form offering A-Levels (Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Computer Science, Psychology, Sociology, etc.) alongside Applied General/Tech Level qualifications (Criminology, Applied Law, Health and Social Care, Sport, ICT). Delivery is supported by standard third-party digital learning platforms — Google Classroom, SENECA, MathsWatch, and Pearson online revision tools — together with a Student Portal and Parent Portal hosted on Google Sites, and a Staff Intranet on Microsoft SharePoint. The curriculum is explicitly tailored to the diverse Handsworth community, addressing local-context topics such as youth knife crime, ethnic and gender achievement in education, and immigrant and entrepreneurial success narratives.

The school generates no commercial revenue; education is provided at no direct cost to students under the UK state education system. Its GTM-equivalent activity is limited to catchment-area admissions (with published admissions policies for academic years 2025/26, 2026/27, and 2027/28) plus community communications via Twitter/X (@holyhead_school), termly Pulse Magazine, the school website, and parent letters. There are no fees, no B2B customers, and no headcount or financial disclosures in the input. Ownership rests with CRST as the sole controlling entity, with Principal Mr D Knox leading the school under trust governance; there is no private equity, venture, or individual ownership involvement.

Name

HOLYHEAD SCHOOL

Legal name

Holyhead School

Website

https://holyheadschool.org.uk

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Holyhead School is a state-funded secondary school and sixth form in Handsworth, Birmingham, serving students aged 11-18 (Years 7-13) under the Central Region Schools Trust, delivering a research-informed curriculum via the Holyhead 8 Framework.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Secondary Education

NAICS

Elementary and Secondary Schools (61111)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Public Middle Schools (EDAJAAAC)

Keywords

• Secondary education
• GCSE programmes
• Sixth form education
• Personal development
• Careers education

Headquarters

HQ city

Birmingham

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Others

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Holyhead School is a state-funded secondary school and sixth form in Handsworth, Birmingham, operating under Central Region Schools Trust. It delivers a research-informed curriculum across Key Stage 3 (Years 7-9), Key Stage 4 (GCSE), and Key Stage 5 (Sixth Form A-Levels and Applied General qualifications), alongside a comprehensive Personal Development programme covering careers education, PSHE/RSE, and student leadership.

Product overview

Holyhead School is a secondary school in Birmingham operating as part of the Central Region Schools Trust. The institution offers a comprehensive educational programme through its Holyhead 8 Framework - a research-informed curriculum grounded in cognitive science. The school provides three key educational stages: a 3-year KS3 curriculum (Years 7-9), a 2-year KS4/GCSE programme, and a Post-16/Sixth Form offering A-Level subjects and Applied General/Tech level qualifications. Beyond the core curriculum, the school delivers a Personal Development Programme including Careers Education, Enrichment activities, and PSHE/RSE. The school's digital presence includes the main Holyhead School Website as the primary communication platform, the Student Portal and Parent Portal (both on Google Sites), and the Staff Intranet (on Microsoft SharePoint). The institution serves the diverse Handsworth community with a mission to 'Teach What Matters.'

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• KS3 Curriculum (Years 7-9) A 3-year Key Stage 3 programme following National Curriculum requirements, covering Core Religious Studies, Modern Foreign Languages, Art, Food & Nutrition, and ICT, designed to provide depth and breadth before GCSE option choices for secondary school students aged 11-14.
• KS4/GCSE Programme A two-year GCSE programme from Year 10 to Year 11 with compulsory subjects (English Language/Literature, Combined Science) and optional subjects including BTEC Music, Art & Design, BTEC Performing Arts, Food Preparation & Nutrition, BTEC Health & Social Care, and Cambridge National Sport Studies.
• Post-16 Sixth Form Courses Level 3 courses including A-Level subjects (Art and Design, Biology, Business Studies, Chemistry, Computer Science, English, French, Geography, History, Mathematics, Spanish, Physics, Psychology, Religious Studies, Sociology) and Applied General/Tech level subjects (Criminology, Applied Law, Applied Science, Business, Health and Social Care, ICT, Sport) for sixth form students aged 16-18.
• Personal Development Programme A comprehensive personal development curriculum including Careers Education, Enrichment activities, PSHE/RSE, and Student Leadership/British Values/SMSC, designed to nurture happy, healthy, confident young people and prepare them for modern life.
• Student Portal A digital platform on Google Sites providing students with access to learning resources, materials, and school information.
• Parent Portal A digital platform on Google Sites providing parents and guardians with access to student information, updates, mental health resources, and SEND support.

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Central Region Schools Trust (CRST)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHolyhead School is an academy operated by Central Region Schools Trust (CRST), a charitable company limited by guarantee registered in England and Wales (Company Number 08166526). CRST provides the strategic oversight, governance, and trust-level policies for Holyhead School, including shared resources such as the shared Director of Careers role between Holyhead and Gospel Oak schools. The Trust also supports the CRST Enrichment Guarantee programme and coordinates trust-wide news and policies.

Recent moves1 record

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Harris Federation: One of the largest UK multi-academy trusts operating dozens of primary and secondary academies. Comparable as a broader incumbent in the same MAT space, sharing trust-level governance and shared services dynamics with CRST, though with significantly greater scale.
• Oasis Community Learning: UK multi-academy trust with a national footprint of academies, many in deprived urban areas. Comparable as a broad incumbent in the same academy-trust operating model and community-focused mission space.
• Academies Enterprise Trust: Large UK multi-academy trust operating a substantial secondary school portfolio. Comparable as a broad incumbent in the academy sector with similar governance, funding model, and pupil-premium exposure.
• Star Academies: Large UK multi-academy trust running a portfolio of secondary schools, several in disadvantaged urban catchments. Comparable as a broad incumbent operating inner-city secondary schools with a similar mission focus on underserved communities.

Regional players

• Shireland Collegiate Academy: Secondary academy serving a deprived Sandwell/Birmingham border catchment with a similar mission for disadvantaged pupils. Comparable as a regional peer operating a comparable state-funded secondary model in adjacent West Midlands geography.
• Perry Beeches School: Birmingham-based secondary school serving a comparable inner-city catchment with similar demographic challenges. Comparable as a regional peer in the same Birmingham state-secondary competitive set.
• King Edward VI Handsworth School: Birmingham-based secondary school serving the Handsworth catchment with overlapping geography. Comparable as a regional peer competing for the same local pupil intake and parental choice in the same Birmingham market.

Direct peers

• Reach Academy Feltham: UK state-funded secondary school with a similar knowledge-rich, research-informed curriculum ethos and a focus on disadvantaged cohorts. Operates a comparable 11-18 model with strong personal development emphasis, making it a close parallel on educational philosophy and target community.
• Gospel Oak School: Fellow secondary academy within Central Region Schools Trust and named partner of Holyhead for the shared Director of Careers role. Operates the same CRST governance, policies, and enrichment framework, making it the closest direct comparability on model, catchment, and trust-level resourcing.

Others

• Ormiston Academies Trust: UK multi-academy trust operating a network of secondary academies, several in disadvantaged regions. Comparable as an adjacent trust peer relevant to CRST's strategic positioning and shared-services benchmarking in the academy sector.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/holyhead_school
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/holyhead-school

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles14 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about HOLYHEAD SCHOOL