Melksham Oak Community School
Bowerhill, Melksham, SN12 6QZ
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- THE WHITE HORSE FEDERATION
- Headteacher
- Mr David Cooper
- Sponsor
- The White Horse Federation
- Constituency
- Melksham and Devizes
- Setting
- Urban: Further from a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,427
- Pupils on roll
- 1,058
- URN
- 146344
- Local authority
- Wiltshire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01225792700
About this school
Melksham Oak Community School is a secondary academy in Melksham. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 1,058 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 | 201 | 228 | 204 |
| Attainment 8 score | 39.8 | 39.1 | 41.4 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.53 -0.73 to -0.33 | -0.32 -0.50 to -0.13 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 39% | 30.3% | 31.4% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 55% | 57.9% | 64.2% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 24% | 15.8% | 55.9% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.4 | 3.3 | 3.7 |
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 Melksham Oak Community 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 | 39.8 | 38.8 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 39.1 | 37.1 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 41.4 | 36.5 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 11.2% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 13.9% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 11% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,282 |
| 2023/24 | 1,271 |
| 2024/25 | 1,134 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Melksham Oak Community School compares
Melksham Oak Community School ranked 20th of 26 secondary schools in Wiltshire 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 5% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 41.4 | 11% | 23.8% | 1,058 | — |
| St Augustine's Catholic College | 51.4 | 8.3% | 15.4% | 912 | 5.3 miles |
| The John of Gaunt School | 44.3 | 9.3% | 23.4% | 1,295 | 5.3 miles |
| The Clarendon Academy | 39.8 | 9.5% | 29.8% | 1,082 | 5.5 miles |
| The Corsham School | 47.5 | 9.2% | 18.3% | 1,427 | 5.7 miles |
| Devizes School | 45.3 | 9.9% | 23.1% | 947 | 5.7 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)
- 23.79%
- English as an additional language
- 4.1%
- Overall absence
- 11%
- Persistent absence
- 29.16%
Location
Nearby schools
-
St Augustine's Catholic College5.3 miles
Secondary · Trowbridge
-
The John of Gaunt School5.3 miles
Secondary · Trowbridge
-
The Clarendon Academy5.5 miles
Secondary · Trowbridge
-
The Corsham School5.7 miles
Secondary · Corsham
-
Devizes School5.7 miles
Secondary · Devizes
Other schools in Melksham
- Aloeric Primary School Primary
- Bowerhill Primary School Primary
- Churchfields, the Village School Primary
- Forest and Sandridge Church of England Primary School Primary
- River Mead School Primary
- Seend Church of England Primary School Primary
- Shaw CE Primary School Primary
- St Mary's Broughton Gifford Voluntary Controlled Church of England Primary School Primary
- The Manor CofE VC Primary School Primary
- Melksham House School Special schools
Common questions
- What year groups does Melksham Oak Community School teach?
- Melksham Oak Community School teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Melksham.
- Who is the headteacher of Melksham Oak Community School?
- The headteacher of Melksham Oak Community School is Mr David Cooper, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Melksham Oak Community School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Melksham Oak Community 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 Melksham Oak Community School?
- Melksham Oak Community School has 1,058 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is Melksham Oak Community School full?
- Melksham Oak Community School has capacity for 1,427 pupils and 1,058 on roll (74%), 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 Melksham Oak Community School a faith school?
- No. Melksham Oak Community School has no designated religious character.
- Who runs Melksham Oak Community School?
- Melksham Oak Community School is part of THE WHITE HORSE FEDERATION. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Melksham Oak Community School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 39.8 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 Melksham Oak Community School rank locally?
- Melksham Oak Community School ranked 20th of 26 secondary schools in Wiltshire 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 5% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Melksham Oak Community School's absence rate?
- Melksham Oak Community School's overall absence rate is 11% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Melksham Oak Community School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Melksham Oak Community 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.