Oxford Spires Academy

Oxford Spires Academy is the secondary school serving East Oxford, one of the most diverse and vibrant parts of the city. The school was formed in 2012 from the former Oxford Community School and is run by the Anthem Schools Trust. It takes students from across the Cowley Road area and beyond, and the student body reflects the cultural diversity of its neighbourhood — over 50 languages are spoken.

What parents should know

The school has been on an upward trajectory, with recent leadership changes bringing stability and improved outcomes. The school works hard with a student population that includes many children with English as an additional language and a higher-than-average proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals.

What Oxford Spires does well is community. The school is embedded in East Oxford life, and the diversity of the student body is an education in itself. If you live in the catchment area and your child is confident, resilient, and sociable, they'll get a decent education and an unbeatable lesson in how the real world works. If you're looking for the highest academic outcomes regardless of context, you may look elsewhere — but that calculation misses what this school offers.

The reputation

Oxford Spires is a school on an upward trajectory that deserves recognition for the work it does. It serves a community with complex needs and enormous potential, and the school is steadily improving outcomes. Parents who choose it actively often become its strongest advocates — drawn by the diversity, the community spirit, and a school that is working hard to deliver for its students.