• City United Academy is restorative, caring and determined to help pupils feel accepted as well as taught. The school is warm, practical and quietly hopeful.

• A very strong fit for families or commissioners looking for a small Birmingham setting where adults can keep close track of progress, attendance and wellbeing. For the right young person, that can matter much more than a conventional mainstream badge.

City United Academy's admissions process is likely to be referral led, highly individual and centred on whether the school can rebuild a young person's confidence in education. Families are effectively asking whether this small specialist setting can offer enough warmth, structure and consistency to make school feel possible again.

Scholarships and bursaries are not really the point here. The value lies in whether the school can provide safety, relationships and a realistic route back into learning for pupils who may have disengaged elsewhere.

• The school does not publish bursary entry points, so families should ask directly.
• The school does not publish bursary award levels, so families should ask directly.
• Families should contact the school directly to ask whether any bursary, hardship support or discretionary fee assistance is available.

The recent public inspection picture is encouraging, with Ofsted's 2025 report describing a notably warm, caring culture and a good judgement overall. For a school serving pupils who have often had difficult previous experiences, that sort of external evidence matters a great deal.