Great Western Academy
William Morris Way, Tadpole Garden Village, Swindon, SN25 2PP
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Free schools
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- GREAT WESTERN ACADEMY LIMITED
- Headteacher
- Mr David Clarke
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Constituency
- Swindon North
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,210
- Pupils on roll
- 1,039
- URN
- 145883
- Local authority
- Swindon
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01793209700
About this school
Great Western Academy is a secondary academy in Swindon. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 1,039 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. 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
- Sixth form
- Good
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 151 | 151 | 155 |
| Attainment 8 score | 47.3 | 47.7 | 45.5 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.08 -0.15 to +0.31 | +0.12 -0.11 to +0.35 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 44% | 52.3% | 41.3% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 70% | 72.2% | 69.7% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 48% | 39.7% | 40% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 4.2 | 4.3 | 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 Great Western 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 | 47.3 | 37.5 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 47.7 | 37.4 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 45.5 | 40 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 7.2% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 7.6% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 6.9% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 878 |
| 2023/24 | 952 |
| 2024/25 | 1,025 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Great Western Academy compares
Great Western Academy ranked 9th of 14 secondary schools in Swindon for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 59% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 26% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 45.5 | 6.9% | 16.3% | 1,039 | — |
| Abbey Park School | 46.2 | 7.4% | 17.1% | 1,193 | 0.7 miles |
| Nova Hreod Academy | 49.1 | 11.8% | 26.9% | 1,044 | 2.4 miles |
| Kingsdown School | 41.4 | 8.4% | 28.3% | 1,108 | 2.8 miles |
| Bradon Forest School | 48.1 | 8.8% | 18.6% | 987 | 3.2 miles |
| UTC Swindon | 32.4 | 10.3% | 30.8% | 182 | 3.7 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)
- 16.26%
- English as an additional language
- 11.2%
- Overall absence
- 6.93%
- Persistent absence
- 19.21%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Abbey Park School0.7 miles
Secondary · Swindon
-
Nova Hreod Academy2.4 miles
Secondary · Swindon
-
Kingsdown School2.8 miles
Secondary · Swindon
-
Bradon Forest School3.2 miles
Secondary · Swindon
-
UTC Swindon3.7 miles
Secondary · Swindon
Other schools in Swindon
Great Western Academy ranks 11th of the 16 ranked secondary schools in Swindon.
- Abbey Park School Secondary
- Bradon Forest School 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
- The Dorcan Academy Secondary
Common questions
- What year groups does Great Western Academy teach?
- Great Western Academy teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Swindon.
- Who is the headteacher of Great Western Academy?
- The headteacher of Great Western Academy is Mr David Clarke, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Great Western Academy last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Great Western 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 Great Western Academy?
- Great Western Academy has 1,039 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is Great Western Academy full?
- Great Western Academy has capacity for 1,210 pupils and 1,039 on roll (86%), 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 Great Western Academy a faith school?
- No. Great Western Academy has no designated religious character.
- Is Great Western Academy a selective school?
- No. Great Western Academy is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs Great Western Academy?
- Great Western Academy is part of GREAT WESTERN ACADEMY LIMITED. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Great Western Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 47.3 in 2022/23 and 45.5 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Great Western Academy rank locally?
- Great Western Academy ranked 9th of 14 secondary schools in Swindon for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 59% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 26% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Great Western Academy's absence rate?
- Great Western Academy's overall absence rate is 6.9% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Great Western Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Great Western 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 10 July 2026.