Kingsdown School
Hyde Rd, Stratton St Margaret, Swindon, SN2 7SH
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- RIVER LEARNING TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mrs Emma Leigh-Bennett
- Sponsor
- River Learning Trust
- SEN provision
- ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder
- Constituency
- Swindon North
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,260
- Pupils on roll
- 1,108
- URN
- 145139
- Local authority
- Swindon
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01793822284
About this school
Kingsdown School is a secondary academy in Swindon. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 1,108 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
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
A short monitoring inspection followed on : inspectors found that standards have been maintained.
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 167 | 173 | 154 |
| Attainment 8 score | 42.6 | 41.6 | 41.4 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.03 -0.26 to +0.20 | -0.36 -0.59 to -0.14 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 39% | 37.6% | 37% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 62% | 60.1% | 58.4% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 37% | 37% | 29.9% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.8 | 3.7 | 3.6 |
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 Kingsdown 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 | 42.6 | 37.5 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 41.6 | 37.4 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 41.4 | 40 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 10.9% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 9.4% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 8.4% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 942 |
| 2023/24 | 990 |
| 2024/25 | 1,029 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Kingsdown School compares
Kingsdown School ranked 11th of 14 secondary schools in Swindon for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 43% 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 | 41.4 | 8.4% | 28.3% | 1,108 | — |
| St Joseph's Catholic College | 38 | 8% | 20.8% | 1,425 | 1.9 miles |
| Nova Hreod Academy | 49.1 | 11.8% | 26.9% | 1,044 | 2.3 miles |
| The Dorcan Academy | 44.3 | 9.8% | 31.8% | 881 | 2.5 miles |
| Lawn Manor Academy | 37.5 | 9% | 40.4% | 969 | 2.5 miles |
| UTC Swindon | 32.4 | 10.3% | 30.8% | 182 | 2.6 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
-
Ungraded inspection report19 March 2025
- 28 January 2020
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 28.28%
- English as an additional language
- 7.9%
- Overall absence
- 8.36%
- Persistent absence
- 26.29%
Location
Nearby schools
-
St Joseph's Catholic College1.9 miles
Secondary · Swindon
-
Nova Hreod Academy2.3 miles
Secondary · Swindon
-
The Dorcan Academy2.5 miles
Secondary · Swindon
-
Lawn Manor Academy2.5 miles
Secondary · Swindon
-
UTC Swindon2.6 miles
Secondary · Swindon
Other schools in Swindon
Kingsdown School ranks 13th of the 16 ranked secondary schools in Swindon.
- Abbey Park School Secondary
- Bradon Forest School Secondary
- Great Western Academy Secondary
- Highworth Warneford 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
- The Dorcan Academy Secondary
Common questions
- What year groups does Kingsdown School teach?
- Kingsdown School teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Swindon.
- Who is the headteacher of Kingsdown School?
- The headteacher of Kingsdown School is Mrs Emma Leigh-Bennett, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Kingsdown School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Kingsdown 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 big is Kingsdown School?
- Kingsdown School has 1,108 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is Kingsdown School full?
- Kingsdown School has capacity for 1,260 pupils and 1,108 on roll (88%), 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 Kingsdown School a faith school?
- No. Kingsdown School has no designated religious character.
- Who runs Kingsdown School?
- Kingsdown School is part of RIVER LEARNING TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- What SEN provision does Kingsdown School have?
- The schools register lists Kingsdown School's special educational needs provision as: ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have Kingsdown School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 42.6 in 2022/23 and 41.4 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Kingsdown School rank locally?
- Kingsdown School ranked 11th of 14 secondary schools in Swindon for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 43% 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 Kingsdown School's absence rate?
- Kingsdown School's overall absence rate is 8.4% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Kingsdown School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Kingsdown 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 10 July 2026.