It is a spectacular fall from grace by anyone's standards. In 2006, it was found to be an "outstanding college where all students are able to achieve the success they deserve".
Fast forward to the next inspection and it is a very different story. This time around, it "failed to give its pupils an acceptable standard of education", according to Ofsted. Without further ado the school was placed in special measures.
So what had changed to affect the verdict so drastically between inspections? The same leadership team was in place, the pupil intake had not changed. There was one tangible difference, however: the school had become an academy.
It is not just a bitter blow for Shireland Collegiate Academy in Smethwick, West Midlands. Ofsted's judgment has cast fresh doubts over the Government's attempt to roll out a major expansion of the academies programme.
Yet as one academy plummets down the ratings, another one goes up. When Frank Green arrived as its second principal in 1997, he says Leigh City Technology College in Dartford, Kent, was a "seriously failing school". The previous year, just 26 per cent of pupils achieved five good GCSEs.
In 2007, it became an academy. Last year, 95 per cent achieved five A*-Cs and Ofsted judged the once under-performing school to be outstanding. "We only get 11-plus failures, yet we are flourishing," says Mr Green. "Becoming an academy has been a phenomenally transformative process. It is not an absolute necessity in the route to success, but it does breed an independence of spirit and mind for headteachers. It lends you a resolve and determination to achieve things without relying on other people."
Despite the reversal of fortunes at Shireland, executive principal Sir Mark Grundy does not regret pursuing academy status. He claims Ofsted's verdict does not reflect the school's achievements, and denies that academy status played a part in turning outstanding into special measures. In fact, he says it has had the opposite effect.
"It has had a hugely positive impact," he says. "The wealth of experience our sponsor (the Ormiston Trust, a children's charity) brings alone has made it worthwhile. Having the freedom to innovate has been fantastic."
But despite his protestations, the Ofsted report is an embarrassment to Education Secretary Michael Gove, who has made an expansion of the academies programme one of his flagship policies. One of his first acts on taking office was to write to all heads of outstanding schools to offer them the autonomy that comes with academy status.
"The last government denied teachers and headteachers the powers they need," he said during the Queen's Speech debate last month. "This Government will ensure all who do want them can receive them."
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