Shireland Collegiate Academy is a coeducational secondary school and sixth form in the English academy, located in Smethwick, West Midlands, England. The school was built during the early 20th century and was originally called Shireland High School and later, Shireland Language College. The school has been known as Shireland Collegiate Academy since 2007.
The academy and its predecessor schools were run by Sir Mark Grundy since 1997 who was knighted for his services to education for his work within the school and its partner Academy, before David Irish took over. Shireland Collegiate Academy was in a partnership with George Salter Academy until September 2011 when Shireland became a stand-alone Academy. The academy is fully sponsored by Microsoft. The academy gained 'Teaching School' status in March 2013.
Qamar Riaz is the CEO of Shireland Collegiate Academy Trust https://shirelandcat.org.uk/2025/12/01/new-ceo-appointment-at-shireland-collegiate-academies-trust/, whose headquarters are at the academy.
Curriculum The academy operates a non-standard curriculum for Key Stage 3. Students are taught for 17 hours with the same teacher in Year 7, 13 hours in Year 8, and 8 hours in Year 9. These groups are taught based on the Literacy for Life (L4L) curriculum taught in a number of thematic units. This methodology is based on the Re-inventing Schools Coalition (RISC) work pioneered in Alaska.
Composition The Department of Education School Level Census 2010 lists the composition of the academy as follows:
Total Pupils on Roll: 1260
Significant Ethnic Populations:
Ethnicity Number of Students Percentage of Roll White British 206 16% Indian 193 15% Pakistani 327 25% Black African 122 9% Black Caribbean 113 9%
Gender Split:
Gender Number of Students Percentage of Roll Males 675 55% Females 585 45%
The academy also has an onsite nursery.
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