All 506 schools in Birmingham are in areas which failed the World Health Organisation’s air quality guidelines
05:00, 25 Jul 2025Updated 10:45, 25 Jul 2025
(Image: BPM)
Birmingham’s worst areas for air pollution can now be revealed – including a constituency where 16,000 kids are breathing in highly toxic air.
New stats by Health Equals, a campaigning coalition of organisations, show a breakdown of the areas, schools and children suffering across Birmingham.
Categorised by constituencies, the data shows Ladywood as the area with the largest number of schoolchildren in toxic environments.
Read more: ‘The air was so dangerous in my Birmingham postcode I ended up on life support’
It comes as it emerged ALL 506 schools in Birmingham are in areas which failed the World Health Organisation’s air quality guidelines – meaning 293,561 city children in those schools are at risk of serious, long-term health problems, including heart disease and stroke.
A total of 22,571 children are attending 58 schools in very high pollution areas with double the WHO standards.
Alarmingly, 15,783 of those kids – 70 per cent – are at schools in the Ladywood constituency, which covers Alum Rock, Nechells, Newtown and more.
More than half of the schools in Ladywood qualify as being in ‘very high pollution’ environments, with double the WHO guidelines of toxins in the air.
Thousands more children in Perry Barr and Erdington, also hotspots for pollution, are breathing the worst quality air, according to the new data. Hodge Hill and Solihull North also had a school within a very high pollution area, with hundreds of children affected.
The remaining constituencies had no schools in the ‘very high’ category.
A shocking 22,571 children in Birmingham are exposed to air pollution that is more than double the WHO guidelines
A breakdown of the wider constituencies in Birmingham – in which all schools failed WHO guidelines – can be seen below:
Birmingham as a city
Number of schools with air pollution breaching WHO standard: 506
Number of children in schools breaching guidelines: 293,561
Number of schools with very high pollution – double the guidelines: 58
Number of children in very high pollution schools: 22,571
Ladywood
Alum Rock, Balsall Heath West, Bordesley and Highgate, Bordesley Green, Ladywood, Nechells, Newtown, Soho and Jewellery Quarter
Number of schools with air pollution breaching WHO standard: 84
Number of children in schools breaching guidelines: 40,983
Number of schools with very high pollution – double the guidelines: 44
Number of children in very high pollution schools: 15,783
Erdington
Castle Vale, Erdington, Gravelly Hill, Kingstanding, Oscott, Perry Common, Pype Hayes, Stockland Green
Number of schools with air pollution breaching WHO standard: 55
Number of children in schools breaching guidelines: 30,192
Number of schools with very high pollution – double the guidelines: 7
Number of children in very high pollution schools: 3,971
Hodge Hill and Solihull North
Bromford and Hodge Hill, Garretts Green, Glebe Farm and Tile Cross, Heartlands, Shard End, Ward End, Castle Bromwich (Solihull), Smith’s Wood (Solihull)
Number of schools with air pollution breaching WHO standard: 56
Number of children in schools breaching guidelines: 35,449
Number of schools with very high pollution – double the guidelines: 1
Number of children in very high pollution schools: 643
Perry Barr
Aston, Birchfield, Handsworth, Handsworth Wood, Holyhead, Lozells, Oscott
Number of schools with air pollution breaching WHO standard: 43
Number of children in schools breaching guidelines: 32,034
Number of schools with very high pollution – double the guidelines: 6
Number of children in very high pollution schools: 2,174
Yardley
Acocks Green, Sheldon, Small Heath, South Yardley, Tysley and Hay Mills, Yardley East, Yardley West and Stechford
Number of schools with air pollution breaching WHO standard: 42
Number of children in schools breaching guidelines: 31,871
Number of schools with very high pollution – double the guidelines: 0
Number of children in very high pollution schools: 0
Hall Green & Moseley
Brandwood and King’s Heath, Hall Green North, Hall Green South, Moseley, Sparkbrook and Balsall Heath East, Sparkhill
Number of schools with air pollution breaching WHO standard: 52
Number of children in schools breaching guidelines: 30,883
Number of schools with very high pollution – double the guidelines: 0
Number of children in very high pollution schools: 0
Northfield
Allens Cross, Frankley Great Park, Kings Norton North, Kings Norton South, Longbridge and West Heath, Northfield, Rubery and Rednal, Weoley and Selly Oak
Number of schools with air pollution breaching WHO standard: 47
Number of children in schools breaching guidelines: 26,602
Number of schools with very high pollution – double the guidelines: 0
Number of children in very high pollution schools: 0
Edgbaston
Bartley Green, Edgbaston, Harborne, North Edgbaston, Quinton
Number of schools with air pollution breaching WHO standard: 49
Number of children in schools breaching guidelines:23,858
Number of schools with very high pollution – double the guidelines: 0
Number of children in very high pollution schools: 0
Selly Oak
Billesley, Bournbrook and Selly Park, Bournville and Cotteridge, Brandwood and King’s Heath, Druids Heath and Monyhull, Highter’s Heath, Stirchley, Weoley and Selly Oak
Number of schools with air pollution breaching WHO standard: 41
Number of children in schools breaching guidelines: 21,663
Number of schools with very high pollution – double the guidelines: 0
Number of children in very high pollution schools: 0
Sutton Coldfield
Sutton Four Oaks, Sutton Mere Green, Sutton Reddicap, Sutton Roughley, Sutton Trinity, Sutton Vesey, Sutton Walmley and Minworth, Sutton Wylde Green
Number of schools with air pollution breaching WHO standard: 37
Number of children in schools breaching guidelines: 20,026
Number of schools with very high pollution – double the guidelines: 0
Number of children in very high pollution schools: 0
City environment boss Coun Majid Mahmood said: “Poor air quality is a major risk to public health, and that is why we are committed to improving the city’s air through our clean air strategy.
“Data published in October 2023 showed that our work to address the air pollutant, nitrogen dioxide, is delivering results, with pollution levels in Birmingham city centre slashed by almost 40 per cent since 2016, driven in part by the introduction of the Clean Air Zone.
“Across the city, a dedicated air quality monitoring programme of potential ‘hotspots’ in Birmingham has found that all sites are within the annual mean air quality objective. This three year monitoring project concluded in 2024 and sought to identify any locations where concentrations of nitrogen dioxide might exceed the annual mean air quality objective. I am pleased to confirm that our evidence suggests that outside of the city centre area, air quality concentrations are within legal limits.
“We also monitor particulate matter, both coarse and fine fractions (PM10 and PM2.5), and all of our sites continue to show compliance with legal limits set by Government. We will continue to work with Government to further drive down concentrations of fine particles as we know these are the largest risk to health and we have extended our monitoring network to this end.
“This is supported by our mission to install year-round air monitoring equipment in schools a key component in this. These monitors come in tandem with accompanying education resources and lesson plans helping to inspire a new generation of Clean Air champions. Our work in this area is underpinned further by projects like ‘Car Free School Streets’, which seeks to reduce emissions during rush hour, driven by readings from council monitoring data showing that the school gates are among the most polluted parts of the city.
“The school sensor programme has the co-benefit of providing monitoring data for fine particulate matter, recognised as a key pollutant in a range of adverse health outcomes such as heart disease, lung diseases and cancers.
“Furthermore, surplus revenues from the Clean Air Zone are feeding directly into our transport plan, enabling us to work in partnership with the West Midlands Combined Authority to support schemes related to active travel, improve public transport infrastructure, and manage demand in the city centre.
“Projects funded by Clean Air Zone revenues include a trial of hydrogen buses, upgrades to the University railway station and new stations on the Camp Hill line, as well as a number of projects within the Cross-City Bus scheme, the expansion of the Car Free School Streets programme, and development of the next phase of the Birmingham Cycle Revolution. Community grants for projects delivering against our priorities have also been provided through the Environment and Transport Neighbourhoods Fund (ETNF).
“Our work towards our clean air objectives continues with the recent launch of a consultation into the renewal of the city’s Smoke Control Order, offering greater powers of enforcement against those who breach guidelines. This is just the latest step in our journey, which will not stop until we have achieved our objective of clean air for all residents.”
Have you been affected by this. We would like to hear from you. You can contact us by emailing us on stephanie.balloo@reachplc.com