In 2005 the school gained Business and Enterprise status, providing extra funding for a state of the art conference centre.

In 2014 the Oxford Mail reported allegations that Spires had excluded many of its least able students to bolster its external exam results, and therefore its standing in school league tables.

[5] Sue Croft, the first principal of Oxford Spires Academy, retired at the end of the 2016-17 academic year.

Hebblethwaite left after one year and was replaced by Rich Corry[6] Ofsted undertook a short inspection of Oxford Spires Academy in November 2017 and determined that the school continued to be good.

[7] On March 23rd 2018, Oxford Spires Academy closed down that Friday after a suspicious email demanded $5,000 or a bomb would be detonated, after a search of the school involving police officers and staff, nothing was found, so the situation was noted as a hoax bomb threat.

Notable alumni of the former Southfield Grammar School include composer Bryan Kelly,[11] horticulturalist John Mattock,[12] actor Patrick Mower,[13] and priest David Shreeve.