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Av Gill said he was incredibly proud of Thomas Telford University Technical College being recognised as the second-highest performing secondary school in England among those with a high proportion of disadvantaged students and, notably, the only school outside London to feature in the top rankings. The school, which is based in the former Springfield Brewery in Wolverhampton, has achieved exceptional exam results over the last few years, including a pass rate in 2025 of 90 per cent, while an impressive 83 per cent of students achieved a grade 4 or above in both English and maths, with 61 per cent securing 5+ and one in five reaching grade 7 or higher in both subjects. Set between two of the most deprived areas of Wolverhampton in Heath Town and Park Village, the school is one which Mr Gill said achieved great results and was proud of how it helped to develop students from deprived and disadvantaged areas. He said: "I think it's a measure of a school and what you do for your most vulnerable and disadvantaged students and I know that for the last three years, we've had the best results in the city, but when you look at the fact that we've got a massive number of disadvantaged kids here, about 58 per cent, then to know we got the results for those kids too means a lot. "There's been some big headlines this summer about white, British, working-class students, saying they are underachieving in lots of areas of England and are one of the lowest performing groups in the country, so I did some analysis on this group, and they did incredibly well here, way above national averages. "When you drill in and look at those particular groups, then look at the negative headlines around white, British, working-class kids not doing particularly well in school, then for us, those are standout performers." Mr Gill said the majority of the pupils come from the local area, particularly within the WV10 postcode area, and said there would be thousands of applications for 150 Year 7 places. He said the school had proved to be popular for applications because of how staff worked to help them as people, not just as students. He said: "Children want to come to this school and I think one of the reasons they want to come here is because they know we've created this really aspirational environment where we really care for our kids, but it's not just about the academic achievements. "We also really care about what they can do with their future and we make them work-ready because we are a University Technical College and our specialism is based around 'innovate, design and build' and we work really closely with employers and offer something more than most schools would do. "We have kids doing apprenticeships and T-Levels, not something many schools do, but it isn't just about those academic achievements, it's about those kids who live close to the school and those opportunities aren't always there for those kinds of families, so we're creating opportunities and helping them be successful in life." Mr Gill said part of the work at the school was helping the students understand what was expected from them and ensuring that they bought into and helped to create the environment at the school, which was one where children could feel relaxed, happy and looked-after. Five students who can attest to the positive feeling and creative environment at Thomas Telford UTC are Vincent, Isha, Sophie, Mia and Sarvin, all of whom have come from disadvantaged backgrounds around the city. Vincent, 11, from near Merridale, said: "What has been great about coming here has been that it's really helpful and nobody is mean to me, like they were at primary school. "I have a good group of friends here and I think that since I've come here, I've got a lot better at maths." Isha, 15, from Merridale, said: "This school has really helped me to find and build my confidence with its values, such as aspiration. "I find that when I'm in lessons, I aspire for the best ability with my grades." Sophie, 14, from Heath Town, said: "It's made me discover new things that I'm really interested in, like dancing, and I didn't know what I wanted to do until I came here, so I've had some great opportunities and I know exactly what I want to do. "The school has also been paying for dance lessons for me, which I'm really grateful for, and that opportunity has made me more talented and better for what I want to do in the future." Mia, 14, from All Saints, said: "It's been so great to come here and the opportunities that I've been great are amazing, like our year group being given GCSE dance lessons, which had really helped me to develop for my future. "I think it's a really open and friendly environment and really amazing to learn in." Sarvin, 15, from Low Hill, said: "What I enjoy about the school is there are lots and lots of opportunities such as, from the start of Year 7, being able to do business and construction and multiple other subjects that other schools don't do. "It's really enjoyable because through the many situations, you eventually find what you want to do." Mr Gill said that while the students were among the best, and the staff were a brilliant group who all worked hard to guide the students, he still strived for more and wanted to push on. He said: "I think the important things are that the results have been incredible, beyond outstanding, but we need to have consistency as we've had three years of great results, but this is our first year of that cohort that started in Year 7, because we used to be a 14-to-18 school and now we're 11-to-18 since 2020. "That means that those students who started in Year 7 then have had that five-year journey with us, so we want to keep that consistency going at the level of results. "I do say that if people want to do it and achieve what they want to achieve, then my staff believe it and the children believe it."
