Shire Oak Academy
Lichfield Road, Walsall Wood, Walsall, WS9 9PA
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- THE MERCIAN TRUST
- Principal
- Mr Matthew Everett
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Constituency
- Aldridge-Brownhills
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,491
- Pupils on roll
- 1,149
- URN
- 136620
- Local authority
- Walsall
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01543452518
About this school
Shire Oak Academy is a secondary academy in Walsall. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 1,149 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Shire Oak Academy, and its latest judgement is set out below. Where the Department for Education has published them, its results and pupil characteristics appear below. Seeing a school for yourself shows what no page can, so arrange a visit before you apply.
Ofsted judgement
Ofsted did not give an overall grade. Between September 2024 and September 2025 inspections graded each area of a school's work without a single overall judgement, ahead of the move to report cards. How Ofsted report cards work
- Quality of education
- Inadequate
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Inadequate
- Personal development
- Requires improvement
- Leadership and management
- Inadequate
- Sixth form
- Good
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Ofsted placed the school in a category of concern: special measures.
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 241 | 234 | 244 |
| Attainment 8 score | 38.7 | 35.3 | 35.0 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.81 -0.99 to -0.63 | -1.01 -1.19 to -0.82 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 35% | 25.6% | 25.8% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 51% | 46.6% | 41.8% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 4% | 0.9% | 3.3% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.1 | 2.8 | 2.9 |
Progress 8 is paused nationally for the 2024/25 and 2025/26 school years. Those pupils sat no key stage 2 tests during the Covid pandemic, so there is no starting point to measure progress from. A blank figure here is not missing school data.
Trends over time
How Shire Oak Academy has moved over recent years against the local and national picture. Every figure is shown in the table beneath its chart.
| Year | This school | Walsall average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 38.7 | 44.2 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 35.3 | 44.3 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 35 | 43 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 14.6% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 16.5% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 15.3% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,471 |
| 2023/24 | 1,425 |
| 2024/25 | 1,297 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Shire Oak Academy compares
Shire Oak Academy ranked 16th of 19 secondary schools in Walsall for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 27% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 2% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 35 | 15.3% | 40.9% | 1,149 | — |
| Brownhills Ormiston Academy | 37.1 | 9.4% | 50.8% | 778 | 1.4 miles |
| Ormiston Shelfield Community Academy | 38.4 | 9.9% | 46.5% | 1,419 | 1.4 miles |
| Erasmus Darwin Academy | 47.8 | 7.3% | 18.9% | 1,112 | 2.4 miles |
| St Francis of Assisi Catholic College | 53.2 | 7% | 24.1% | 1,109 | 2.5 miles |
| Aldridge School - A Science College | 45.2 | 9% | 28.9% | 1,629 | 2.6 miles |
Results reflect each school's cohort as much as its teaching, and free school meals share is context, not a judgement. Small gaps between neighbouring schools are rarely meaningful on their own.
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 40.88%
- English as an additional language
- 8.9%
- Overall absence
- 15.26%
- Persistent absence
- 43.4%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Brownhills Ormiston Academy1.4 miles
Secondary · Walsall
-
Ormiston Shelfield Community Academy1.4 miles
Secondary · Walsall
-
Erasmus Darwin Academy2.4 miles
Secondary · Burntwood
-
St Francis of Assisi Catholic College2.5 miles
Secondary · Walsall
-
Aldridge School - A Science College2.6 miles
Secondary · Walsall
Other schools in Walsall
Shire Oak Academy ranks 14th of the 16 ranked secondary schools in Walsall.
- Aldridge School - A Science College Secondary
- Barr Beacon School Secondary
- Blue Coat Church of England Academy Secondary
- Brownhills Ormiston Academy Secondary
- Cheslyn Hay Academy Secondary
- Great Wyrley Academy Secondary
- Joseph Leckie Academy Secondary
- Ormiston Shelfield Community Academy Secondary
- Queen Mary's Grammar School Secondary
- Queen Mary's High School Secondary
- St Francis of Assisi Catholic College Secondary
- Walsall Academy Secondary
Common questions
- What ages does Shire Oak Academy teach?
- Shire Oak Academy teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Walsall.
- Who is the principal of Shire Oak Academy?
- The principal of Shire Oak Academy is Mr Matthew Everett, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Shire Oak Academy been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Shire Oak Academy, and its latest judgement is set out in the inspection section on this page, with the framework and the date it was made.
- How many pupils are at Shire Oak Academy?
- Shire Oak Academy has 1,149 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is Shire Oak Academy full?
- Shire Oak Academy has capacity for 1,491 pupils and 1,149 on roll (77%), so it has space against its published capacity. Places are allocated through the local authority's admissions process, so capacity alone does not tell you whether a place is available.
- Is Shire Oak Academy a faith school?
- No. Shire Oak Academy has no designated religious character.
- Is Shire Oak Academy a selective school?
- No. Shire Oak Academy is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Is Shire Oak Academy part of an academy trust?
- Shire Oak Academy is part of THE MERCIAN TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Shire Oak Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 38.7 in 2022/23 and 35 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Shire Oak Academy compare with other schools in Walsall?
- Shire Oak Academy ranked 16th of 19 secondary schools in Walsall for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 27% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 2% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Shire Oak Academy's absence rate?
- Shire Oak Academy's overall absence rate is 15.3% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Shire Oak Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Shire Oak Academy's key stage results are shown in the results section on this page, with the last three years so you can see the trend rather than a single year.
School details come from the Department for Education's Get Information About Schools register. Inspection outcomes come from Ofsted, and exam results from the Department for Education's school performance service. This page was last updated on 1 July 2026.