| Established | 2003 |
|---|---|
| Type | Mixed |
| Location | Bloxwich Walsall West Midlands England |
| Students | 1,000 including /lower/upper schools |
| Gender | Co-educational |
| Colours | yellow and gold (mercers colours) |
Walsall Academy is a Comprehensive Academy secondary school in Bloxwich, West Midlands, England. It opened in September 2003 with 470 students on the roll, and after four years that figure had increased to 1,150 - making it one of the most populated secondary schools in the Walsall borough.
The school was one of the first City Academies in Britain. Sponsored by The Mercers Company of the City of London and Thomas Telford School, it provides free education for all students.
Built on the site of the former T. P. Riley Comprehensive School, it cost £23 million. A number of the teachers were carried over from T.P Riley School, while others were new recruits and a few were transferred from Thomas Telford School.
The current Head Teacher is Vivienne Evans, who replaced Jean Hickman, a former deputy head at Thomas Telford School, in September 2009. As with Thomas Telford, demand for places is high. In its first year of opening, there were 421 applicants for the 168 (raised to 192 due to demand) places on offer for Year 7 students. The school's motto is 'A different choice of school'.
In 2009, it was the fifth highest ranking secondary school overall (and the second highest ranking state comprehensive) in the borough with 61% of GCSE students gained 5 A*-C grades. [1]
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