Swindon Academy
Beech Avenue, Swindon, SN2 1JR
- Phase
- All-through
- School type
- Academy sponsor led
- Ages
- 2 to 19
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- UNITED LEARNING TRUST
- Principal
- Mrs Karen Wright
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Religious ethos
- None
- Nursery provision
- Has Nursery Classes
- Sponsor
- United Learning Trust
- Constituency
- Swindon North
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 2,243
- Pupils on roll
- 1,820
- URN
- 135364
- Local authority
- Swindon
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01793426900
About this school
Swindon Academy is an all-through academy in Swindon. It teaches children aged 2 to 19 and has 1,820 pupils on roll.
You can read Ofsted's latest judgement for the school below. Where the Department for Education has published them, its results and pupil characteristics appear below. Seeing a school for yourself shows what no page can, so arrange a visit before you apply.
Ofsted judgement
Ofsted no longer gives schools a single overall grade. Each area of the school's work is graded on a five-point scale, and safeguarding is judged separately.
- Inclusion
- Expected standard
- Curriculum and teaching
- Expected standard
- Achievement
- Expected standard
- Attendance and behaviour
- Expected standard
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Strong standard
- Leadership and governance
- Strong standard
- Early years
- Strong standard
- Post-16 provision
- Expected standard
- Safeguarding
- Met
Exam results
Key stage 2 (end of primary school)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 2 | 113 | 105 | 110 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 43% | 47% | 44% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 0% | 3% | 2% |
| Expected standard in reading | 58% | 57% | 59% |
| Expected standard in maths | 58% | 59% | 50% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 43% | 48% | 34% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 101.0 | 101.0 | 101.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 100.0 | 100.0 | 99.0 |
| Reading progress | -3.00 | - | - |
| Writing progress | -0.70 | - | - |
| Maths progress | -2.50 | - | - |
Progress measures ended nationally after the 2022/23 school year, when the key stage 1 assessments they were based on were stopped. Blank progress figures in later years are not missing school data.
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 191 | 188 | 169 |
| Attainment 8 score | 46.9 | 48.7 | 50.2 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.45 +0.23 to +0.67 | +0.61 +0.40 to +0.82 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 51% | 59.6% | 57.4% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 71% | 72.3% | 75.7% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 40% | 42.6% | 45.6% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 4.3 | 4.4 | 4.6 |
Progress 8 is paused nationally for the 2024/25 and 2025/26 school years. Those pupils sat no key stage 2 tests during the Covid pandemic, so there is no starting point to measure progress from. A blank figure here is not missing school data.
Trends over time
How Swindon Academy has moved over recent years against the local and national picture. Every figure is shown in the table beneath its chart.
| Year | This school | Swindon average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 43% | 55% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 47% | 57.4% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 44% | 57.2% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | Swindon average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 46.9 | 37.5 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 48.7 | 37.4 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 50.2 | 40 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 8.4% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 9.1% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 8.2% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,883 |
| 2023/24 | 1,864 |
| 2024/25 | 1,854 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Swindon Academy compares
Swindon Academy ranked 2nd of 14 secondary schools in Swindon for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 76% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 15% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 50.2 | 8.2% | 41% | 1,820 | — |
| Rodbourne Cheney Primary School | — | 5.2% | 23.9% | 249 | 0.6 miles |
| Greenmeadow Primary School | — | 3.4% | 27.7% | 193 | 0.6 miles |
| St Mary's Catholic Primary School | — | 5.7% | 9.3% | 398 | 0.6 miles |
| Seven Fields Primary School | — | 6.3% | 73% | 235 | 0.6 miles |
| Crowdys Hill School | — | 8.7% | 45.5% | 348 | 0.6 miles |
Results reflect each school's cohort as much as its teaching, and free school meals share is context, not a judgement. Small gaps between neighbouring schools are rarely meaningful on their own.
Inspection history
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 40.97%
- English as an additional language
- 36.1%
- Overall absence
- 8.2%
- Persistent absence
- 22.8%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Rodbourne Cheney Primary School0.6 miles
Primary · Swindon
-
Greenmeadow Primary School0.6 miles
Primary · Swindon
-
St Mary's Catholic Primary School0.6 miles
Primary · Swindon
-
Seven Fields Primary School0.6 miles
Primary · Swindon
-
Crowdys Hill School0.6 miles
Special schools · Swindon
Other schools in Swindon
Swindon Academy ranks 58th of the 64 ranked primary schools in Swindon, and Swindon Academy ranks 3rd of the 16 ranked secondary schools in Swindon.
- Abbey Farm Educate Together Primary Primary
- Abbey Meads Community Primary School Primary
- Ashton Keynes Church of England Primary School Primary
- Badbury Park Primary School Primary
- Beechcroft Infant School Primary
- Bishopstone Church of England Primary School Primary
- Bridlewood Primary School Primary
- Broad Hinton Church of England Primary School Primary
- Broad Town Church of England Primary School Primary
- Brook Field Primary School Primary
- Catherine Wayte Primary School Primary
- Chiseldon Primary & Nursery School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Swindon Academy teach?
- Swindon Academy teaches children aged 2 to 19. It is an all-through school in Swindon.
- Who is the principal of Swindon Academy?
- The principal of Swindon Academy is Mrs Karen Wright, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Swindon Academy last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Swindon Academy, and its latest judgement is set out in the inspection section on this page, with the framework and the date it was made.
- How big is Swindon Academy?
- Swindon Academy has 1,820 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 2 to 19.
- Is Swindon Academy full?
- Swindon Academy has capacity for 2,243 pupils and 1,820 on roll (81%), so it has space against its published capacity. Places are allocated through the local authority's admissions process, so capacity alone does not tell you whether a place is available.
- Is Swindon Academy a faith school?
- No. Swindon Academy has no designated religious character.
- Is Swindon Academy a selective school?
- No. Swindon Academy is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Does Swindon Academy have a nursery?
- Yes. The schools register records Swindon Academy as having nursery classes.
- Who runs Swindon Academy?
- Swindon Academy is part of UNITED LEARNING TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Swindon Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 43% in 2022/23 and 44% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Swindon Academy rank locally?
- Swindon Academy ranked 2nd of 14 secondary schools in Swindon for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 76% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 15% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Swindon Academy's absence rate?
- Swindon Academy's overall absence rate is 8.2% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Swindon Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Swindon Academy's key stage results are shown in the results section on this page, with the last three years so you can see the trend rather than a single year.
School details come from the Department for Education's Get Information About Schools register. Inspection outcomes come from Ofsted, and exam results from the Department for Education's school performance service. This page was last updated on 15 July 2026.