Education

Primary

There are over 60 Primary schools in the Borough plus several brand new schools that are being built as part of the major new developments around the town. Many are joined by common purpose to the Excellence Cluster Swindon, a group of 40 primary and five secondary schools who have formed a strategic collaborative partnership to work collectively on a number of important issues in school improvement and pupil attainment.

Secondary

There are ten ‘state’ secondary schools in the borough of which six are community comprehensive schools, two are foundation schools and one is voluntary-aided. The Commonweal School is a specialist in arts, Kingsdown and Dorcan focus on technology and The Ridgeway is a sports specialist school in Wroughton. In addition there is one small non-selective independent school. You can take a look at all the secondary schools on this website.

Specialist Schools

There are also a number of schools for Children with Special Needs within Swindon and Independent schools within 20 miles of Swindon based in towns such as Cricklade, Marlborough and Calne.

Admission

The process and forms for admissions to Swindon schools is providing information on what to do when transfering schooling to Swindon. An on-line form is available for transfers though it is advised that you check through the information on these pages and on the official website about schools in Swindon.

Standards

Ofsted (the school’s inspectorate) can help with general information to help choose the best option for your children whilst Swindon’s schools performance tables provide the raw data on how local schools rate. Education standards in Swindon are rising with attendance better than UK average, exclusions reduced significantly in the past few years and the performance of primary schools enjoying constant improvement.

Further education

Swindon has two further education colleges. New College has a reputation for excellent results and high-quality education that attracts students from Swindon and a wide area beyond the town. Swindon College re-opens in new premises in North Star in September 2006. The move out of the town centre to a purpose built site will see great improvements to facilities bringing new opportunities for its students to excel.

In addition, the University of the West of England is working on developing a campus in Swindon town centre.

Information on pre-school learning can be found on this website under Children.