Frequently Asked Questions

• Everything is done online. You must use the local authority website to apply for a school place.
• Apply for a place at Swindon Academy on the Swindon Borough Council School Admissions Form and submit the application no later than 31st October 2021. You can apply for 3 schools in your area.
• Offer emails are sent to parents by Swindon Borough Council School Admissions Team on 1st March. 
• Parent must accept the offer no later than 15th March.
• Once you have accepted the place, your child will be invited to sit the Entrance Exam which is held in April on a Saturday morning. 
• Parents will be notified within a few school days if their son/daughter has a place in the Grammar Stream or the main Academy. This is based on their scores in the test, and no other criteria.

Those pupils whose Entrance Exam test results suggest that they will be able to cope with the demands of the curriculum will be offered a place in the Grammar Stream.

The Grammar Stream has a more academic curriculum from the start of Year 7.  Pupils in the Grammar Stream will have their lessons together providing an ethos of high challenge and academic rigor. Some activities such as our College challenges (or "House"),  P.E, clubs, and performances are shared with pupils from across the wider school.

Among other subjects, pupils will study separate sciences, computer science, world of Languages or Latin and the Classics (subject to availability at Marlborough College).  There is more preparation and homework required at Grammar Steam.

• Whilst we will have reading, writing and maths SATs data for children who are offered a place at the academy, this often does not arrive in school until July and this is too late for deciding places in the Grammar Stream.
• We need to ensure that pupils placed the Grammar Stream are able to cope with the highly academic curriculum.  It is important to us that children are taught at the right level for them and we would not wish to place a child under strain by teaching them at a higher learning level than they are capable of.  Pupils will therefore take a verbal reasoning and a non-verbal reasoning test.

The entrance exam usually takes place between the end of March - the end of April, on a Saturday. Parents will be informed if your child has a place in the Grammar Stream within a week of their completing the exam.

Your son/daughter will have been offered a place at Swindon Academy by the local authority.  The Academy is one of the top performing schools in Swindon.  We are confident that your child will thrive and achieve well with the mainstream Academy, which operates a Sets system.

If you did not wish to accept a place at the Academy, you will need to notify Swindon Borough Council’s Admissions Team who will work with you to allocate your son/daughter a place at another secondary school in Swindon. 

The Grammar Stream is overseen by a Steering Group, made up of senior staff from Swindon Academy and senior staff from Marlborough College.   The Steering Group oversees curriculum plans for the Grammar Stream and monitors the progress of its students.

Our partnership with Marlborough College also provides regular opportunities for pupils to take part in projects there, especially in KS4 and in to the Sixth Form. In addition, a member of staff from Marlborough College has been appointed as the Partnership Manager, working at both Swindon Academy and Marlborough College.

Yes, they will wear a Swindon Academy uniform. Each child will be allocated to one of our four Colleges, the College they are assigned will determine the colour of their school tie.

Students are notified of their College at the Transition Day in June/early July.

No – the Grammar Stream is free to any child who has accepted a place at Swindon Academy, passed the entrance exam and is resident in Swindon.