The Commonweal School
The Mall, Old Town, Swindon, SN1 4JE
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 19
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- THE COMMONWEAL SCHOOL
- Headteacher
- Mr Charles Drew
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- SEN provision
- PD - Physical Disability
- Constituency
- Swindon South
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,400
- Pupils on roll
- 1,442
- URN
- 137190
- Local authority
- Swindon
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01793612727
About this school
The Commonweal School is a secondary academy in Swindon. It teaches children aged 11 to 19 and has 1,442 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected The Commonweal School, and its latest judgement is set out below. Where the Department for Education has published them, its results and pupil characteristics appear below. Numbers and a report only go so far, so visit in person before you apply.
Ofsted judgement
Confirmed by a short inspection, not a full one
Ofsted's most recent visit was a short inspection on 14 June 2023, where inspectors confirmed the school remains Good and saw signs of improvement; a full inspection will follow. The school's last full inspection took place before September 2019, so its area grades are not part of Ofsted's current published data. Older reports are on the school's Ofsted page.
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 221 | 213 | 214 |
| Attainment 8 score | 47.2 | 44.9 | 46.3 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.11 -0.30 to +0.08 | -0.11 -0.32 to +0.09 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 45% | 43.7% | 38.3% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 70% | 63.8% | 64% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 23% | 28.6% | 35.5% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 4.0 | 3.9 | 4.1 |
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 The Commonweal 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 | Swindon average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 47.2 | 37.5 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 44.9 | 37.4 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 46.3 | 40 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 9.4% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 9.8% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 9.5% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,392 |
| 2023/24 | 1,398 |
| 2024/25 | 1,382 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How The Commonweal School compares
The Commonweal School ranked 6th of 14 secondary schools in Swindon for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 63% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 9% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 46.3 | 9.5% | 18.8% | 1,442 | — |
| UTC Swindon | 32.4 | 10.3% | 30.8% | 182 | 0.9 miles |
| The Deanery CofE Academy | 46.6 | 9% | 21.9% | 670 | 0.9 miles |
| Lawn Manor Academy | 37.5 | 9% | 40.4% | 969 | 1.2 miles |
| The Ridgeway School & Sixth Form College | 53.5 | 7.6% | 16.9% | 1,616 | 1.4 miles |
| St Joseph's Catholic College | 38 | 8% | 20.8% | 1,425 | 1.5 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.
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 18.84%
- English as an additional language
- 19.6%
- Overall absence
- 9.5%
- Persistent absence
- 23.43%
Location
Nearby schools
-
UTC Swindon0.9 miles
Secondary · Swindon
-
The Deanery CofE Academy0.9 miles
Secondary · Swindon
-
Lawn Manor Academy1.2 miles
Secondary · Swindon
-
The Ridgeway School & Sixth Form College1.4 miles
Secondary · Swindon
-
St Joseph's Catholic College1.5 miles
Secondary · Swindon
Other schools in Swindon
The Commonweal School ranks 8th of the 16 ranked secondary schools in Swindon.
- Abbey Park School Secondary
- Bradon Forest School Secondary
- Great Western Academy Secondary
- Highworth Warneford School Secondary
- Kingsdown School Secondary
- Lawn Manor Academy Secondary
- Lydiard Park Academy Secondary
- Nova Hreod Academy Secondary
- Royal Wootton Bassett Academy Secondary
- St Joseph's Catholic College Secondary
- The Deanery CofE Academy Secondary
- The Dorcan Academy Secondary
Common questions
- What ages does The Commonweal School teach?
- The Commonweal School teaches children aged 11 to 19. It is a secondary school in Swindon.
- Who is the headteacher of The Commonweal School?
- The headteacher of The Commonweal School is Mr Charles Drew, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has The Commonweal School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected The Commonweal 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 The Commonweal School?
- The Commonweal School has 1,442 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 19.
- Is The Commonweal School full?
- The Commonweal School has capacity for 1,400 pupils and 1,442 on roll (103%), 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 The Commonweal School a faith school?
- No. The Commonweal School has no designated religious character.
- Is The Commonweal School a selective school?
- No. The Commonweal School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Is The Commonweal School part of an academy trust?
- The Commonweal School is part of THE COMMONWEAL SCHOOL. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- What SEN provision does The Commonweal School have?
- The schools register lists The Commonweal School's special educational needs provision as: PD - Physical Disability. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have The Commonweal School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 47.2 in 2022/23 and 46.3 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does The Commonweal School compare with other schools in Swindon?
- The Commonweal School ranked 6th of 14 secondary schools in Swindon for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 63% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 9% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is The Commonweal School's absence rate?
- The Commonweal School's overall absence rate is 9.5% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are The Commonweal School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, The Commonweal 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.