Shire Oak Academy

Shire Oak Academy is a secondary academy within The Mercian Trust, and inspectors found serious weaknesses across most areas of its work. Standards have been too low for too long, pupils’ experiences are poor, and the school has been placed in special measures because it is failing to provide an acceptable standard of education and leaders are not demonstrating the capacity to secure improvement. The quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, and leadership and management were all judged inadequate, while personal development requires improvement. Safeguarding is effective. The main concerns are weak academic progress, poor behaviour and inconsistent implementation of the behaviour policy, very low attendance and truancy, and weak provision for pupils with SEND and other vulnerable pupils. Curriculum implementation is not effective enough, teachers do not consistently have the subject knowledge or training needed, and governance and trust oversight have not held leaders to account effectively. The school has reviewed its curriculum with trust support, introduced reading support, and has enrichment and careers provision, but these are not yet having sufficient impact. The sixth form is a clear relative strength. Its curriculum is more established, teaching is clearer, and students feel well supported and positive about their careers and next-steps programme. However, outcomes remain low overall, and the report highlights that vulnerable pupils, including disadvantaged pupils and those with SEND, have especially poor experiences of school.

Strengths

• Sixth-form provision is a relative strength, with a more established curriculum and clearer teaching.
• Sixth-form students feel well supported and have a coherent careers and next-steps programme.
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective.
• The curriculum has been reviewed with trust support to set out the key knowledge pupils need.
• Reading support has been introduced for pupils who need additional help, alongside work to build a reading culture.
• Enrichment clubs and visits are available, and careers information is being established.
• The school meets the requirements of the provider access legislation.

Areas for Improvement

• Pupils make too little progress and academic achievement is very poor.
• Behaviour is poor and too common, lessons are disrupted and expectations are inconsistent.
• Attendance is too low, particularly for vulnerable pupils, and some pupils truant lessons.
• Curriculum implementation is weak, including task selection and checking pupils’ understanding.
• Teachers do not have sufficient subject knowledge or training to teach the curriculum well.
• SEND provision is weak; needs are not identified precisely and teaching is not adapted appropriately.
• Vulnerable and disadvantaged pupils have especially poor experiences, achievement, attendance and participation.
• Personal development delivery is inconsistent, and absence limits pupils’ access to the programme.
• Enrichment uptake by vulnerable pupils is especially low.
• Governance and trust oversight have been ineffective, and leaders have not been held to account.
• Oversight of alternative provision was inadequate until very recently.
• The school should not appoint early career teachers at this time.

Admissions: local authority offers data from the Department for Education. A school is oversubscribed when at least 5% of the families who put it first were not offered a place, and undersubscribed when everyone who put it first got in but 10% or more of its places were unfilled in the Department's school capacity survey (the latest survey is used for entry years it does not cover). Places: Department for Education, School capacity, from local authorities' annual survey as at 1 May. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024–25); the survey was not run in 2020. Places include sixth form places. Forecasts are the local authority's own for the school's planning area, an area it uses to plan places that is not the school's catchment area. The forecast starts from a head count in 2025; the dashed line is the Department's estimate of places in that area, including those the authority has firm plans for. Planned places are cumulative, and only those with firm plans are counted.

In 2024–25 pupils at Shire Oak Academy attended 84.7% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 43.4% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 23.4%).

Sessions missed

Pupils persistently absent

Source: Department for Education, Pupil absence in schools in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Persistent absence means missing 10% or more of sessions; severe absence means 50% or more. No figures were published for 2019/20.

In 2024–25, 9.7% of pupils at Shire Oak Academy were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). One pupil was permanently excluded.

Pupils suspended at least once

Source: Department for Education, Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). A pupil can be suspended more than once, so suspensions per 100 pupils can be higher than the share of pupils suspended. Very small numbers are hidden by the DfE. Exclusion figures dropped in 2020 and 2021 because of school closures.

In 2025–26 Shire Oak Academy had 17.5 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 30.9% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 14.1%).

Pupils per teacher

Teachers who left the school within a year

Source: Department for Education, School workforce in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Pupils per teacher counts full-time-equivalent pupils and teachers. Turnover is the share of a year's teachers (full-time equivalent) who were not at the school the following year, whether they moved to another school or left state-funded teaching. Turnover and sickness figures run one year behind the ratios. Sick leave is the share of teachers who took at least one day in the year, so it swings widely at small schools, where a few teachers can make it 0% or 100%. The national figures are for all state schools of the same type.

In 2025–26, 13.6% of pupils at Shire Oak Academy were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 2.7% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 3.5%).

The school has resourced provision with 1 pupil.

Pupils by main type of need

Source: Department for Education, Special educational needs in England (the 2025–26 school census). SEN support is extra help in school without an EHC plan. National figures are for all state-funded secondary schools. Counts are as published, with small numbers not hidden.

In 2024–25 Shire Oak Academy received £9,317 and spent £9,282 for each of its 1,301 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £862,000 (£663 per pupil).

Across all 10 schools of The Mercian Trust, income was £8,095 and spending £8,003 per pupil.

Income per pupil

Spending per pupil

Source: Department for Education, Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool. Each year is the one the financial year ends in (2024 is 2023–24). Academy figures include a share of the trust's central services, shared out by pupil numbers, and are rounded to the nearest £1,000. Premises costs were defined differently from 2024, so compare them across that gap with care.

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Walsall · Walsall local authority: places and applications

Shire Oak Academy is part of The Mercian Trust, which runs 10 schools. The nearest others:

• Oakwood School Walsall
• Rushall Primary School Walsall
• Aldridge School - A Science College Walsall
• Queen Mary's High School Walsall
• Queen Mary's Grammar School Walsall
• Walsall Studio School Walsall
• Q3 Academy Great Barr Birmingham
• Q3 Academy Tipton Tipton
• Q3 Academy Langley Oldbury

What is Shire Oak Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Shire Oak Academy is Inadequate, from an inspection in September 2026.

When was Shire Oak Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

Shire Oak Academy was last inspected in September 2026.

How many pupils does Shire Oak Academy have?

Shire Oak Academy has 1,149 pupils on roll.

What age range does Shire Oak Academy cover?

Shire Oak Academy for pupils aged 11 to 18.

What are Shire Oak Academy's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 37.0, and 28% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Shire Oak Academy?

Shire Oak Academy is at Lichfield Road, Walsall Wood, Walsall, West Midlands, WS9 9PA.