The Dorcan Academy
St Paul's Drive, Covingham, Swindon, SN3 5DA
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- THE DORCAN ACADEMY
- Headteacher
- Mrs Sherryl Bareham
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Constituency
- Swindon South
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,234
- Pupils on roll
- 881
- URN
- 137684
- Local authority
- Swindon
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01793525231
About this school
The Dorcan Academy is a secondary academy in Swindon. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 881 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected The Dorcan Academy, 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
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
- Good
- Personal development
- Good
- Leadership and management
- Good
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 132 | 143 | 163 |
| Attainment 8 score | 41.6 | 38.2 | 44.3 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.04 -0.30 to +0.22 | -0.39 -0.62 to -0.15 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 30% | 28.7% | 44.8% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 55% | 49% | 62.6% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 30% | 42.7% | 15.3% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.5 | 3.4 | 3.8 |
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 Dorcan 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 | 41.6 | 37.5 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 38.2 | 37.4 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 44.3 | 40 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 8.8% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 9.5% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 9.8% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 797 |
| 2023/24 | 858 |
| 2024/25 | 888 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How The Dorcan Academy compares
The Dorcan Academy ranked 10th of 14 secondary schools in Swindon for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 54% 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 | 44.3 | 9.8% | 31.8% | 881 | — |
| Lawn Manor Academy | 37.5 | 9% | 40.4% | 969 | 1.4 miles |
| St Joseph's Catholic College | 38 | 8% | 20.8% | 1,425 | 1.5 miles |
| Kingsdown School | 41.4 | 8.4% | 28.3% | 1,108 | 2.5 miles |
| The Commonweal School | 46.3 | 9.5% | 18.8% | 1,442 | 2.6 miles |
| UTC Swindon | 32.4 | 10.3% | 30.8% | 182 | 2.7 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)
- 31.76%
- English as an additional language
- 10.2%
- Overall absence
- 9.76%
- Persistent absence
- 29.99%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Lawn Manor Academy1.4 miles
Secondary · Swindon
-
St Joseph's Catholic College1.5 miles
Secondary · Swindon
-
Kingsdown School2.5 miles
Secondary · Swindon
-
The Commonweal School2.6 miles
Secondary · Swindon
-
UTC Swindon2.7 miles
Secondary · Swindon
Other schools in Swindon
The Dorcan Academy ranks 12th 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 Commonweal School Secondary
- The Deanery CofE Academy Secondary
Common questions
- What ages does The Dorcan Academy teach?
- The Dorcan Academy teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Swindon.
- Who is the headteacher of The Dorcan Academy?
- The headteacher of The Dorcan Academy is Mrs Sherryl Bareham, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has The Dorcan Academy been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected The Dorcan 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 many pupils are at The Dorcan Academy?
- The Dorcan Academy has 881 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is The Dorcan Academy full?
- The Dorcan Academy has capacity for 1,234 pupils and 881 on roll (71%), 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 The Dorcan Academy a faith school?
- No. The Dorcan Academy has no designated religious character.
- Is The Dorcan Academy a selective school?
- No. The Dorcan Academy is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Is The Dorcan Academy part of an academy trust?
- The Dorcan Academy is part of THE DORCAN ACADEMY. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have The Dorcan Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 41.6 in 2022/23 and 44.3 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 Dorcan Academy compare with other schools in Swindon?
- The Dorcan Academy ranked 10th of 14 secondary schools in Swindon for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 54% 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 Dorcan Academy's absence rate?
- The Dorcan Academy's overall absence rate is 9.8% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are The Dorcan Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, The Dorcan 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 1 July 2026.