Great Western Academy
Secondary · Free schools · Mixed · Swindon
William Morris Way, Swindon, SN25 2PP
68
headline score
Ranking (England)
—
No ranked results
Ofsted
Good
Graded 10/01/2023
Application demand
83%
1st preference success · Oversubscribed
Attendance
93.1%
19.2% persistently absent
At a glance
Pupils on roll
1,039
Capacity used
Has space86%
1,210 places
GCSE rank (England)
—
KS2 rank (England)
—
Application demand
Secondary entry · official council applications and offers
83%
1st preference success rate
153 of 184 families who put it first got an offer
162
Places offered
509
Total applications
3.1
Applications per place
| Preference (Sept 2025 entry) | Applications | Offers | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st preference | 184 | 153 | ● 83% |
| 2nd preference | 206 | 6 | ● 3% |
| 3rd preference | 119 | 3 | ● 3% |
| Total | 509 | 162 | 32% |
1st preference success by year
Swindon lets families list 3 preferences. 5 applications came from outside the council area (1 offered). Source: Department for Education, school-level applications and offers. Offers are made on each school's admissions criteria (e.g. siblings, distance, faith), so check the school's policy.
Details
- Type
- Free schools
- Phase
- Secondary
- Age range
- 11–18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sixth form
- Yes
- Headteacher
- David Clarke
- Address
- William Morris Way, Tadpole Garden Village, Swindon, SN25 2PP
- Phone
- 01793209700
- Local authority
- Swindon
- Ward / constituency
- St Andrews West & Tadpole · Swindon North
- Area
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- URN
- 145883
Pupils
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free school meals | 17% | — | — |
| English as additional language | 11% | — | — |
| SEN support | 12% | — | — |
Local deprivation (IDACI quintile 1 of 5)
1 = least deprived area, 5 = most deprived. Context only.
Academy trust: GREAT WESTERN ACADEMY LIMITED
1,039 pupils · 1,210 places. Intake figures describe the school's community — they aren't good or bad.
Ofsted inspections
- 23
10 January 2023
Full graded inspection
Good overall effectivenessSixth form Good Personal development Good Quality of education Good Safeguarding effective Yes Behaviour and attitudes Good Leadership and management Good
Attendance
2024/2025 school year · 838 pupils
Attendance
93.1%
Share of sessions attended · England 91.1%
Overall absence
6.9%
Sessions missed, any reason · England 8.9%
Persistent absence
19.2%
Pupils missing 10%+ of school · England 26.7%
Severe absence
2.5%
Pupils missing 50%+ of school · England 2.3%
Unauthorised absence
2.0%
Absences the school didn't approve
Persistent absence by year
Source: Department for Education, pupil absence by school (pupils aged 5–15). Lower absence is better. England figures are approximate 2023/24 averages.
GCSE results
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 score | 47.7 | — | — |
| Progress 8 score | 0.12 | — | 0.00 |
| Grade 5+ in English & maths | 52% | — | — |
| Grade 4+ in English & maths | 72% | — | — |
| EBacc average point score | 4.30 | — | — |
Progress 8 band
A-level results
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average points per entry | 31.44 | — | — |
Average grade: C (England B-)
GCSE results over time
Attainment 8 by year (2020 and 2021 exams were cancelled)
| Result | School | England (approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 | 45.5 | 46 |
| Grade 5+ English & maths | 41.3% | 46% |
| Grade 4+ English & maths | 69.7% | 65% |
| Entering EBacc | 40% | 40% |
| EBacc average point score | 4.09 | 4.1 |
| Pupils in cohort | 155 | — |
How different pupils progress (GCSE, 2023/2024)
Progress 8 by group. 0 is the national average; above 0 means pupils do better than similar children elsewhere.
A-level results over time
Average points per entry by year (2020 and 2021 exams were cancelled)
| Result | School | England (approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| Average points per entry | 31.42 | 35 |
| Average grade | C | — |
| AAB or better (2 facilitating) | 12.3% | 17% |
| A-level students | 87 | — |
Results by subject
Official DfE exam results for summer 2025. Green, amber and red compare against typical results in England; subjects with fewer than 5 entries aren't rated.
GCSE
Grade 4 is a standard pass, 5 a strong pass, 7 equals the old A.
| Subject | Entries | Grade 7+ | Grade 5+ | Grade 4+ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mathematics | 155 | 13% | 56% | 79% | |
| English Language | 155 | 14% | 49% | 69% | |
| English Literature | 153 | 12% | 44% | 67% | |
| Combined Science | 98 | 2% | 16% | 53% | |
| Business | 79 | 11% | 42% | 59% | |
| History | 72 | 19% | 47% | 68% | |
| Geography | 69 | 20% | 43% | 57% | |
| Art and Design | 61 | 8% | 43% | 56% | |
| Physics | 57 | 28% | 79% | 93% | |
| Biology | 56 | 18% | 70% | 88% | |
| Chemistry | 56 | 21% | 70% | 93% | |
| Spanish | 47 | 23% | 62% | 70% |
A level
| Subject | Entries | A* | A*–A | A*–B | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Psychology | 24 | 8% | 17% | 33% | |
| Mathematics | 22 | 18% | 36% | 55% | |
| Sociology | 16 | 6% | 13% | 25% | |
| English Language | 14 | 0% | 7% | 36% | |
| Business Studies | 13 | 8% | 15% | 62% | |
| Law | 11 | 0% | 0% | 18% | |
| Biology | 11 | 0% | 9% | 27% | |
| History | 11 | 0% | 9% | 36% | |
| Geography | 10 | 0% | 20% | 30% | |
| Physics | 9 | 0% | 22% | 44% | |
| Computer Science | 9 | 0% | 22% | 33% | |
| Mathematics (Further) | 8 | 13% | 38% | 63% |
Oxbridge
Cambridge offers by year
No Cambridge offers this year
UCAS apply centre 20654: Great Western Academy
| Cambridge admissions1 | 2025 |
|---|---|
| Applications | ≤5 |
| Offers | 0 |
| Success rate | — |
| Accepted offers | 0 |
1 Source: University of Cambridge, applications, offers and acceptances by UCAS apply centre. To protect privacy small counts are hidden: "<3" means 0–2 (up to 2023); "≤5" means 1–5 (from 2024). Success rate is only shown when exact numbers are published (England average is about 20%).
2 Schools ranked by number of offers; this doesn't account for school size. Oxford doesn't publish per-school figures, so they aren't shown.
Where students go next
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Higher education (university) | 59% | — | — |
| Apprenticeships | 6% | — | — |
| Any education or training | 63% | — | — |
Oxford/Cambridge application numbers aren't published per school in official data, so university progression is shown instead.
House prices near the school
Typical sold prices (Land Registry) within 1 km, last 12 months.
Loading prices…
Key application dates
National deadlines in England. Apply through Swindon council, not the school.
| Entry | Deadline | Offer day |
|---|---|---|
| Year 7 (secondary) | 31 October | 1 March (or next working day) |
Admissions policy: Non-selective. Check the school's own admissions rules on its website.
Source: Get Information About Schools and the DfE school and college performance tables (2023-2024); Oxbridge figures from the University of Cambridge's admissions by UCAS apply centre (Oxford doesn't publish per-school figures). Read the method.