South Wilts Grammar School
Stratford Road, Salisbury, SP1 3JJ
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Girls
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- SOUTH WILTS GRAMMAR SCHOOL
- Headteacher
- Dr Amanda Smith
- Admissions policy
- Selective
- Constituency
- Salisbury
- Setting
- Urban: Further from a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,022
- Pupils on roll
- 1,200
- URN
- 136391
- Local authority
- Wiltshire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01722323326
About this school
South Wilts Grammar School is a girls' secondary academy in Salisbury. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 1,200 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected South Wilts Grammar School, and its latest judgement is set out 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
Overall judgement at the last full inspection
This inspection took place under the previous framework, which gave a single overall grade. Ofsted now publishes report cards instead, so newer inspections of other schools will look different. How Ofsted report cards work
- Quality of education
- Good
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Outstanding
- Personal development
- Good
- Leadership and management
- Good
- Sixth form
- Good
- Safeguarding
- Effective
A short monitoring inspection followed on : inspectors found the school has improved significantly.
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 157 | 160 | 156 |
| Attainment 8 score | 73.2 | 75.0 | 77.0 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.61 +0.36 to +0.85 | +0.79 +0.55 to +1.03 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 97% | 98.1% | 98.7% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 99% | 99.4% | 99.4% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 52% | 56.9% | 55.8% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 6.6 | 6.8 | 7.1 |
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 South Wilts Grammar School has moved over recent years against the local and national picture. Every figure is shown in the table beneath its chart.
| Year | This school | Wiltshire average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 73.2 | 38.8 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 75 | 37.1 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 77 | 36.5 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 5.6% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 5.5% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 4.2% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,142 |
| 2023/24 | 1,130 |
| 2024/25 | 1,185 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How South Wilts Grammar School compares
South Wilts Grammar School ranked 1st of 26 secondary schools in Wiltshire for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 99% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 81% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 77 | 4.2% | 2.4% | 1,200 | — |
| Bishop Wordsworth's Church of England Grammar School | 73.1 | 4.7% | 5.2% | 1,193 | 1.0 miles |
| Wyvern St Edmund's Academy | 42.2 | 9.8% | 21.9% | 1,337 | 1.2 miles |
| St Joseph's Catholic School | 40.4 | 7.3% | 25.1% | 565 | 1.3 miles |
| Sarum Academy | 33.7 | 14% | 40.1% | 747 | 1.6 miles |
| The Trafalgar School at Downton | 44.3 | 8.6% | 15.2% | 808 | 6.4 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
-
Ungraded inspection report22 January 2025
- 22 October 2019
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 2.38%
- English as an additional language
- 9.2%
- Overall absence
- 4.17%
- Persistent absence
- 6.63%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Bishop Wordsworth's Church of England Grammar School1.0 miles
Secondary · Salisbury
-
Wyvern St Edmund's Academy1.2 miles
Secondary · Salisbury
-
St Joseph's Catholic School1.3 miles
Secondary · Salisbury
-
Sarum Academy1.6 miles
Secondary · Salisbury
-
The Trafalgar School at Downton6.4 miles
Secondary · Salisbury
Other schools in Salisbury
South Wilts Grammar School ranks 1st of the 7 ranked secondary schools in Salisbury.
- Avon Valley Academy Secondary
- Bishop Wordsworth's Church of England Grammar School Secondary
- Sarum Academy Secondary
- St Joseph's Catholic School Secondary
- The Trafalgar School at Downton Secondary
- Wyvern St Edmund's Academy Secondary
- Alderbury and West Grimstead Church of England Primary School Primary
- Amesbury Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School Primary
- Bemerton St John Church of England Primary Primary
- Broad Chalke CofE Primary School Primary
- Bulford St Leonard's C of E (VA) Primary School Primary
- Chilmark and Fonthill Bishop Church of England Aided Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What ages does South Wilts Grammar School teach?
- South Wilts Grammar School teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Salisbury.
- Who is the headteacher of South Wilts Grammar School?
- The headteacher of South Wilts Grammar School is Dr Amanda Smith, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has South Wilts Grammar School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected South Wilts Grammar School, and its latest judgement is set out in the inspection section on this page, with the framework and the date it was made.
- How many pupils are at South Wilts Grammar School?
- South Wilts Grammar School has 1,200 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is South Wilts Grammar School full?
- South Wilts Grammar School has capacity for 1,022 pupils and 1,200 on roll (117%), so it is at or above 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 South Wilts Grammar School a faith school?
- No. South Wilts Grammar School has no designated religious character.
- Is South Wilts Grammar School a selective school?
- Yes. South Wilts Grammar School is recorded as Selective in the schools register, so entry involves selection.
- Is South Wilts Grammar School part of an academy trust?
- South Wilts Grammar School is part of SOUTH WILTS GRAMMAR SCHOOL. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have South Wilts Grammar School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 73.2 in 2022/23 and 77 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does South Wilts Grammar School compare with other schools in Wiltshire?
- South Wilts Grammar School ranked 1st of 26 secondary schools in Wiltshire for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 99% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 81% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is South Wilts Grammar School's absence rate?
- South Wilts Grammar School's overall absence rate is 4.2% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are South Wilts Grammar School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, South Wilts Grammar School'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 1 July 2026.