Swavesey Village College Review 2026: Outstanding, community-rooted, and deliberately structured for Years 7 to 11

A large 11 to 16 secondary in Swavesey that runs on clear routines, strong relationships, and a house system designed to make a big school feel smaller. Leadership stability has been a theme since Jim Stavrou was appointed headteacher in 2018, with a consistent focus on high expectations and broad participation beyond lessons.

The school’s most recent graded inspection outcome remains Outstanding, with the report describing calm behaviour, a well-planned curriculum, and strong personal development underpinned by the PLEDGES programme and house structure.

For families weighing up fit, the practical headline is that this is a state school with no tuition fees, but it is also popular. The school’s own admissions information points to sustained oversubscription across many years, which aligns with the demand data available for the most recent recorded cycle.

The dominant impression, based on formal external evidence and the school’s own published systems, is one of purposeful order rather than informality. Behaviour is described as calm and orderly; pupils are reported to be polite and focused in lessons, with positive working relationships between pupils and adults.

A key reason the environment holds together at scale is the house system. The school divides students across six houses, Brunel, Cavendish, Newton, Orwell, Pendleton and Wilberforce, with vertical tutor groups that mix Years 7 to 11. The intent is practical, each student has a tutor as the consistent adult link; each house also has a Senior Tutor and a Student Support Assistant, and siblings are placed in the same house to streamline family communication.

Student leadership is woven into the structure rather than treated as an optional extra. House roles include House Leader, Events Captain, Superleague Captain and Interform Captain, alongside wider opportunities such as contributing to focus groups, presenting at conferences, and taking part in staff recruitment interviews. For students who respond well to responsibility, that creates a steady pipeline of low-stakes leadership practice across the five years.

The ethos language is consistent across the trust and is framed around five values: The Pursuit of Excellence, Valuing People, Achievement For All, A High Quality Learning Environment, and Extending the Boundaries of Learning. In practice, the most distinctive piece of internal culture is the PLEDGES framework, which connects participation to character education in a tangible way.

On the FindMySchool GCSE outcomes measure (based on official data), Swavesey Village College is ranked 962nd in England and 15th in the Cambridge local area. That places it comfortably within the top 25% of schools in England for GCSE outcomes.

The underlying GCSE performance indicators also point to strong academic progress from students’ starting points. Progress 8 is 0.55, which indicates well above average progress across eight subjects. Average Attainment 8 is 53.5, and the EBacc average point score is 4.81.

The EBacc average point score is meaningfully above the England figure shown (4.08). This tends to correlate with a curriculum where languages and humanities are taken seriously, not only for the highest prior attainers.

A practical implication for families is that this is a school where a broad curriculum appears to be the norm. The most recent inspection commentary reinforces that, noting high proportions choosing ambitious courses, including languages, and describing curriculum planning that deliberately revisits knowledge so it sticks over time.

Curriculum intent and delivery are unusually explicit in the published evidence. Subject leaders are described as identifying what pupils should learn and when, with planning that revisits key content regularly. Teachers are reported to have strong subject knowledge, and lessons are described as using carefully designed activities that help pupils understand and remember important content, with misconceptions checked and corrected rather than left to drift.

For parents, the day-to-day implication is that learning should feel structured rather than improvised. That tends to suit students who like clarity about what success looks like. It can also help students who need predictable routines to stay engaged, provided support is well targeted.

Support for pupils with special educational needs and or disabilities is described in a specific, operational way. Staff are said to receive relevant information about individual needs and to use it to make adaptations in lessons. The school is also described as adjusting its approach as cohort needs change, and putting regular staff training in place to keep practice aligned.

Reading is treated as a whole-school priority rather than only an English department matter. The school is described as running programmes such as buddy reading, tutoring, and early morning reading for pupils who need it, and introducing a phonics programme for some students who require more intensive support.

This is an 11 to 16 school without a sixth form, so every student makes a post-16 transition after Year 11. The school encourages students to begin planning during the summer of Year 10, giving time to research courses and routes before application deadlines arrive.

In practical terms, this tends to suit families who want a strong Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4 experience, but who also want choice at 16. Students can choose sixth form, further education, or technical routes based on fit rather than defaulting into an internal option.

A useful way to evaluate support is whether students leave with the knowledge and habits needed for the next stage. The inspection evidence says pupils learn what they need to be successful in their next steps and progress on to positive destinations, with high-quality guidance about what comes next.

Entry is primarily at Year 7, and the application route is local authority coordinated through Cambridgeshire. For September 2026 intake, the school published a clear set of transition dates: an Open Evening on 25 September 2025, an application deadline of 31 October 2025, and offers released on the national offer day, 02 March 2026.

The published admission number on the school’s admissions page is 270 for Year 7 as of September 2025.

On catchment, the school sets out a defined area linked to specific partner primary schools (listed on the admissions page), which gives families a concrete starting point when thinking about eligibility and likelihood of allocation.

Demand is the recurring theme. The school states that applications have exceeded 240 since 2005 and places have been allocated using the published oversubscription criteria.

In the most recent recorded admissions cycle available here, there were 419 applications and 252 offers, which aligns with the school’s message that entry can be competitive.

Oversubscription criteria are published in full and follow the local authority framework, beginning with children with an education, health and care plan naming the school and looked after children, then progressing through other priority categories. Families considering this school should read the current criteria carefully because small wording differences can affect outcomes, particularly around catchment definitions and tie-breaks.

Pastoral support at Swavesey is strongly modelled around the house and tutor framework. The tutor is positioned as the consistent adult who monitors progress and supports personal development across Years 7 to 11, while the house provides an additional layer of oversight through the Senior Tutor and Student Support Assistant. This matters for families because it clarifies where concerns are likely to be handled first, and who will have the most continuous context over time.

Behaviour expectations appear to be well established and consistently applied. Rewards are described as a meaningful motivator and sanctions as rarely needed, which usually indicates that systems are doing the heavy lifting rather than relying on constant escalation. Attendance is treated as a leadership priority with systems that analyse patterns and respond quickly to emerging issues, including trying different strategies for students who find attendance difficult.

The personal development programme is a defining feature. The PLEDGES framework explicitly expects students to participate in at least one after-school club, linking participation to recognition at Bronze, Silver and Gold levels across areas such as Participation, Leadership, Excellence, Diversity, Giving, Environmental and Service. That is a coherent way to encourage breadth without making extracurricular feel like a bolt-on for the already confident.

The school is also explicit about reducing distraction and supporting attention through its phone-free approach, referencing research on screen time, anxiety, attention, and social development. For families, the key point is that this is presented as a deliberate cultural choice, not only a rule about confiscation.

The latest Ofsted report also confirmed that safeguarding arrangements are effective.

Extracurricular participation is not treated as optional at Swavesey, it is embedded into the PLEDGES system and reinforced by the house structure, which also runs inter-house competition through the Swavesey Super League culminating in a summer sports day. The implication for students is that joining in is normal, and there are built-in routes to recognition even for those who do not identify as sporty or extroverted.

The most recent inspection evidence names specific activities pupils value, including robotics, rock climbing, and multiple musical bands. These examples matter because they show breadth across STEM, physical challenge, and performing arts, rather than leaning heavily into a single pillar.

Trips are also used to extend curriculum thinking. A specific example given is a mathematics trip to Paris, which is the sort of enrichment that tends to appeal to academically curious students because it frames subject learning as something that travels beyond the classroom.

The published structure of the day begins with tutor time at 08:50 and runs through to the end of Period 5 at 15:10. That timing anchors planning for travel, clubs, and family schedules.

The school publishes term dates for 2025 to 2026, which is useful for working families aligning leave and childcare.

Transport is a live consideration for many families in rural and village settings. The school publishes bus travel arrangements and sets expectations around eligibility and how passes are managed, particularly for families outside catchment.

• Competition for places. The school has been clear that it has been oversubscribed for many years, and the most recent recorded demand data indicates more applications than offers. For families, that means a good education is not the only variable; allocation rules and location can be decisive.

• No sixth form. Every student transitions at 16. This can be a positive, it creates choice, but it also means planning should start early so Year 11 does not become a rushed scramble.

• SEND communication history. The latest inspection notes that some parents had not always felt their children with SEND were well supported in the past, and that leaders have worked to improve communication and consultation. Families may want to explore current practice in detail during transition conversations.

• Phone-free approach is a cultural choice. Many families will welcome the focus on attention and wellbeing; others may want clarity on how students manage travel and after-school coordination within the rules.

Swavesey Village College combines strong academic outcomes with unusually explicit structures for belonging and participation. The house model, the PLEDGES framework, and the phone-free stance all point to a school that values clarity and consistency as a route to both achievement and wellbeing. Best suited to families who want an academically strong, well-organised 11 to 16 experience with lots of structured opportunities outside lessons, and who are comfortable planning a separate post-16 move.