The Wellington Academy Review 2026: State day and boarding secondary with a distinct sixth form offer

A rare proposition in the state sector, The Wellington Academy combines a mainstream 11 to 19 education with an established boarding house, alongside a sixth form that blends A-level and vocational routes. Leadership is currently under interim arrangements, with Mrs Jennifer Moore listed as Interim Headteacher.

Academically, the picture is mixed. GCSE outcomes sit below the middle of the pack in England on the available measures, while sixth form results also place the academy in the lower performance band nationally. For many families, that will shift the focus onto fit, pastoral systems, and the practical advantages that matter locally, such as stability for service families and the supervised structure that boarding can provide.

Admissions are coordinated by Wiltshire Council for Year 7 day places, with national deadline dates and a clear annual timetable. Sixth form and boarding admissions run through the academy’s own processes.

The academy’s public messaging is clear about what it wants young people to become, ambitious, inquisitive and independent, and that tone runs through its systems and routines. A formal house structure underpins daily life, with rewards and recognition tied to house points and stated expectations around conduct and learning habits.

Pastoral organisation is structured rather than informal. Each year group has a non-teaching year group leader, overseen by a Head of Key Stage, working with tutors to set expectations for progress and conduct. This is a model that tends to suit students who benefit from predictable escalation routes and consistent adult ownership of attendance, behaviour, and family communication.

There is also a clear effort to make support accessible in more than one format. Alongside face-to-face routes, the academy runs an online “Worry Box” channel for students who are anxious or struggling to raise an issue directly. That is not a substitute for direct safeguarding reporting, but it can be a useful early step for students who need a lower-barrier way to ask for help.

For GCSEs, the academy’s FindMySchool ranking places it 3,256th in England and 4th in the Andover local area for GCSE outcomes (FindMySchool ranking based on official data). Its Attainment 8 score is 39.4, and the Progress 8 figure is -0.13, indicating slightly below-average progress from students’ starting points.

At sixth form, A-level outcomes also sit in the lower performance band on the FindMySchool measures. Ranked 2,234th in England and 2nd in the Andover local area for A-level outcomes (FindMySchool ranking based on official data), results show 1.37% of grades at A*, 5.48% at A, and 28.77% at A* to B. England averages for comparable A-level measures are higher (23.6% at A* to A, and 47.2% at A* to B).

What this means in practice is that the strongest argument for the academy is rarely a pure results narrative. Instead, families often focus on whether the school’s structure, student support, boarding option, and wider opportunities are the right match for the individual child, particularly where stability and routine are priorities.

The academy positions its curriculum around clear learning habits and repeatable routines rather than novelty. You see this reflected in how the day is timetabled, with a defined enrichment slot after the core lesson sequence, and in the expectation that students engage in at least one extra-curricular activity per week from a published menu.

In the sixth form, the offer is explicitly mixed, with both A-level and BTEC options. Entry criteria are published in headline form, with the general expectation of 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 5 including English and Maths for A-level pathways, and 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 including English and Maths for BTEC pathways. That clarity helps students self-select realistically, and it supports a sixth form culture that can include both academic and applied learners without forcing a single mould.

The academy does not publish a detailed university destinations breakdown with named universities and counts in the sources reviewed. In the available destination dataset for the 2023/24 cohort, 32% progressed to university, 35% moved into employment, 6% started apprenticeships, and 4% went into further education.

For students aiming at the most selective pathways, the latest recorded Oxbridge cycle shows 2 applications and 1 student achieving an acceptance. This is not an Oxbridge-heavy pipeline, but it is evidence that the route exists for the right student with the right academic profile and support.

A practical implication for families is that progression planning should be treated as an active process rather than assumed. Students considering competitive university courses, degree apprenticeships, or specialist routes benefit from engaging early with careers guidance and subject choice planning, especially at the GCSE to sixth form transition.

Year 7 day places (state-funded)

Applications for Year 7 day entry are handled through Wiltshire Council’s coordinated admissions system. For September 2026 entry, the application round opens on 1 September 2025, with the national deadline at midnight on 31 October 2025, and the national offer day on 1 March 2026.

The academy’s admissions materials also make clear that waiting lists are maintained and that the Local Authority route remains central for the main school day places, while sixth form and boarding have additional processes.

Because the last distance offered figure is not available for this academy, families should avoid assumptions based on proximity alone and use the Local Authority’s published criteria and historic allocation patterns as the more reliable guide.

Sixth form entry (Year 12)

Sixth form applications are made directly to the academy. The published process describes an online application followed by an individual course consultation, then a final interview held immediately after GCSE results are received, with offers conditional on achieving entry grades and subject-specific requirements.

Boarding entry

Boarding applications are handled through the academy’s own admissions processes (separate from the Local Authority’s Year 7 day-place route), with criteria and timetables set out in the academy’s admissions documentation.

Pastoral support is organised around year teams and tutor structures, with non-teaching year group leadership and oversight through key stage leads. This tends to provide clearer continuity for families, particularly when students need consistent behaviour, attendance, or wellbeing monitoring.

The wellbeing offer includes a combination of direct support routes and student-friendly channels, including the Worry Box system for raising concerns. A broader wellbeing message also references peer mentoring by sixth formers for younger pupils, which can strengthen transition and belonging when it is well supervised and clearly structured.

For families assessing fit, the most useful approach is to probe how concerns are handled day-to-day: who the first contact is, how quickly issues are escalated, and how the school balances firmness with restoration when students make mistakes.

Extracurricular life is framed as an expectation rather than an optional extra. The academy’s curriculum materials emphasise weekly participation, and the enrichment slot at the end of the school day creates practical space for it.

Two distinctive strands stand out in the published information:

Combined Cadet Force

The Combined Cadet Force (CCF) is a defined part of the academy’s wider offer, supported by a Ministry of Defence-sponsored structure. Eligibility is stated from Year 9, with term-time sessions scheduled on Wednesday afternoons (15:15 to 18:00), alongside opportunities for camps and weekend training. For some students, CCF provides a strong route to leadership practice, teamwork, and personal responsibility, particularly in a local area where service connections are common.

Enrichment charter and structured experiences

The academy also sets out a “student charter” style programme that includes educational trips linked to subjects, residential trips, opportunities to learn an instrument, performing arts productions, and representation through sport and inter-house competitions. The value here is not the list itself, it is the way it signals an organised, planned approach to personal development across the 11 to 19 journey, rather than relying on ad hoc volunteering by staff.

Boarding is a material part of the academy’s identity and is unusually developed for a state secondary. The boarding accommodation is described as purpose-built and located on the school site, with separate but inter-joining houses for boys and girls, and capacity for up to 100 boarders (38 were boarding at the time of the inspection in May 2022).

Ofsted’s boarding inspection in May 2022 judged “overall experiences and progress” as Good, with leadership and management also Good. The “helped and protected” judgement was “requires improvement to be good”, driven by issues around oversight of health and safety records, including fire safety and record-keeping expectations. The same report also describes strong relationships between house staff and boarders, and a boarding experience many students valued as stabilising and confidence-building.

For families, the boarding offer can be a genuine advantage when stability, supervised study, and consistent routines matter, including for some service families. The right questions to ask are practical: weekend rhythms, supervised prep expectations, how boarding and day students mix, and how maintenance, safety checks, and record systems are kept tight.

The academy publishes a structured school day timetable. Tutor time and assembly start at 08:30, lessons run through five periods, and an enrichment slot follows at 15:00. The published materials also indicate that “Period 6” is used for enrichment, detentions, and additional learning time.

Transport information is routed through Wiltshire Council for eligibility-based support, and the academy also references local bus routes serving nearby communities, including service housing areas.

Wraparound care is not typically a feature of secondary schools in the same way as primaries. For this academy, the published sources reviewed focus on enrichment and supervised structures rather than breakfast or after-school childcare; families who need formal wraparound-style arrangements should clarify what is available for their child’s year group and whether boarding or supervised after-school sessions can meet that need.

• Results are not the headline strength. GCSE and A-level measures place the academy in the lower performance band nationally on the available metrics. Families prioritising exam outcomes above all else may prefer to benchmark several local alternatives side-by-side before committing to this option.

• Boarding quality is strong, but oversight matters. The May 2022 boarding inspection judged overall experiences Good, but flagged specific weaknesses in “helped and protected” that required improvement, including fire safety record oversight and the specificity of risk assessments. Families considering boarding should ask how these systems are now managed and audited.

• Admissions routes differ by pathway. Year 7 day places run through Wiltshire Council deadlines and criteria, while boarding and sixth form have academy-led processes. That means families need to track two sets of requirements if they are considering boarding or post-16 entry.

• Best fit for students who benefit from structure. The house system, conduct expectations, and planned enrichment offer can suit students who do best with clear routines and consistent adult oversight. Those who want a looser, more informal culture may find the expectations heavy.

The Wellington Academy is best understood as a structured, opportunity-rich state secondary with a meaningful boarding option and a sixth form that supports both academic and applied routes. It suits families who value stability, routine, and personal development pathways such as CCF and planned enrichment, and who want a single 11 to 19 setting rather than a move at 16.

The challenge is matching expectations to outcomes. For families choosing primarily on exam performance, the published measures sit below England averages and warrant careful comparison. For families choosing on fit, pastoral structure, and the practical strengths of a state day-and-boarding model, it remains a distinctive option in the local market.