Bradon Forest School Review 2026: A Good 11–16 academy with structured routines and a strong enrichment culture

Bradon Forest School sits in Purton, serving families across Swindon and north Wiltshire, with a clear emphasis on order, consistency, and belonging. The day is tightly structured, with tutor time at 08:45 and lessons running through to 15:25, which suits students who respond well to routine and predictable expectations.

The school’s identity is reinforced through a three-house system, Battlewell, Peartree, and Ringsbury, alongside a rewards model that encourages pupils to log sustained involvement across activities rather than focusing only on one-off wins.

On outcomes, GCSE performance is broadly in line with the middle 35% of schools in England, with a FindMySchool ranking of 2024th in England and 6th locally (Swindon) for GCSE outcomes. Teaching and personal development were judged Good at the most recent inspection, and the school has a strong focus on careers and progression at the end of Year 11 rather than keeping students on-site for sixth form.

This is a school that signals its expectations early. Uniform standards are explicit, and day-to-day routines are designed to reduce uncertainty for students, particularly in the early months of Year 7. Tutor groups are a central organising unit, with most lessons taught in tutor group formation at the start of secondary transition, while subjects such as mathematics are set. That balance tends to support confidence, because students have a steady base alongside appropriately pitched academic groupings.

Belonging is reinforced through house identity and student leadership roles. The school’s published information points to older students taking formal responsibility for supporting new Year 7s as peer mentors, with relationships designed to run beyond induction and continue across the year. For families concerned about the jump from primary to secondary, that matters, because it provides a named, visible layer of student support in addition to staff pastoral systems.

The physical site reflects a school that has grown over time. Local historical records describe the school opening in 1962, followed by a series of later additions, including named blocks such as the Tyler block, Wills block, and May block. While families will focus on teaching and outcomes, these details point to a campus built around specialist spaces rather than a single, uniform building, which often affects how easily a school can timetable practical subjects and enrichment.

Leadership stability is another defining feature. The headteacher is Sarah Haines, appointed on 01/09/2021, with the school presenting a values-led narrative about challenge and aspiration alongside a strong emphasis on respect and inclusion. This is the kind of leadership profile that typically prioritises consistency, staffing development, and whole-school culture before attempting rapid structural change.

GCSE performance at Bradon Forest School is best understood as steady rather than headline-grabbing. The school’s Attainment 8 score is 46, and Progress 8 is -0.08, which indicates outcomes are close to average progress from starting points, but fractionally below the national midpoint used in the Progress 8 methodology.

In FindMySchool’s GCSE outcomes ranking, the school is placed 2024th in England and 6th in Swindon. That positioning sits in line with the middle 35% of schools in England (25th to 60th percentile). These are FindMySchool proprietary rankings based on official outcomes data, and they are most useful for parents comparing broadly similar local options.

Subject balance is also worth noting. The average EBacc APS is 4.03 (with an England benchmark figure shown as 4.08), and 14.6% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above across the EBacc. For many families, the implication is practical: the school offers an academic pathway, but it is not an EBacc-heavy results profile overall, so parents who strongly prioritise an EBacc programme for most pupils should ask clear questions about uptake, options guidance, and how the school supports languages and humanities at Key Stage 4.

Curriculum planning is framed around breadth at Key Stage 3, moving into more targeted preparation for Key Stage 4. The school describes its curriculum intent as enabling all students to study a full breadth of subjects in Key Stage 3, before building the skills needed for strong outcomes later.

For Year 7 transition, the approach is designed to reduce cognitive load. Students meet their tutor every morning, and the timetable and movement routines are clearly set out. This structure can be particularly helpful for students who find secondary transition daunting, because it creates a stable adult relationship and predictable start to each day.

By Key Stage 4, the school provides detailed guidance to families on GCSE content and revision support, including structured parent-facing materials for the GCSE years. That kind of documentation tends to correlate with clear departmental sequencing and a common language for home support, particularly in English, mathematics, and science where parental input is often most consistent.

Bradon Forest School is an 11–16 school, so the key transition point is the end of Year 11. The school places significant emphasis on progression support rather than assuming students will remain within a single institution. A dedicated progression office is described as a hub for careers guidance and next-step planning.

The school states that 99% of students leaving in Year 11 go on to further education. That is an important signal for families weighing up post-16 uncertainty, because it suggests the school measures its success not only through exam outcomes, but also through sustained participation beyond GCSEs.

For practical planning, published leavers information points families towards common local routes such as further education colleges. The wider implication is that parents should start post-16 exploration early in Year 10, particularly if a student is considering a selective sixth form, a specialist vocational route, or an apprenticeship programme that has an earlier application window than a typical college course.

Year 7 entry is coordinated through the local authority rather than directly by the school. For September 2026 entry, local authority admissions guidance sets 31 October 2025 as the on-time application deadline.

The school publishes a Year 7 admission number for September 2026 entry of 210. For families, this is a useful anchor because it indicates the intended scale of the incoming year group, which affects class sizes, timetable capacity, and the overall feel of the cohort.

Key transition milestones are also clearly signposted. The school’s Year 6 transition information confirms an induction day for new Year 7 students on Thursday 9 July 2026, with a parent information evening the same day. This matters because it gives families a concrete planning point for summer term transition, particularly for students who benefit from early familiarisation.

Where transport is a factor, the school publishes specific bus-application deadlines for 2026 intake families using local bus services, which is a sensible detail to check early if commuting is likely to shape the choice.

Parents comparing options can also use the FindMySchool Map Search to understand travel time and practical distance trade-offs when weighing Bradon Forest against other local secondaries, especially where daily transport is a deciding factor.

Pastoral care is built around the tutor group as a daily point of contact. Students see their tutor each morning, and the school sets out multiple routes for support, including year-team roles, student services, and peer mentors for Year 7 transition. The implication for parents is that concerns can usually be raised early, before patterns become entrenched, provided families engage promptly with the pastoral structure.

Mental wellbeing support is treated as a visible theme rather than a hidden service. Published materials for Year 11 include guidance designed to help students cope with the pressure of revision and exams, and school communications also signpost activities that link participation and wellbeing. This tends to suit students who need practical strategies and routine-based support rather than only reactive intervention.

For students with additional needs, the school publishes a SEND information report that emphasises inclusion in wider school life, including access to visits and extracurricular activities. The practical implication is that families should expect SEND planning to include participation beyond the classroom, not only in-class adjustments, although the detail and resourcing should be explored through direct conversation for any student with complex or highly individual needs.

Enrichment is a clear strength, and the school is unusually specific about its programme. The WHOOSH timetable (What’s On Out of School Hours) is positioned as a core entitlement rather than an optional add-on, spanning lunchtime and after-school opportunities across creative, social, and practical interests.

Several clubs stand out because they signal breadth in student identity. The school explicitly references activities such as Unique Club, Jazz Band, and Dungeons and Dragons. The educational value is not only social; these kinds of groups often create a safe space for students who may not find immediate belonging through sport, and they help schools build inclusive peer cultures.

Practical and creative routes are also prominent. Design and Technology club examples include student-made projects such as creative clocks and seasonal items produced for school events, which indicates access to workshop time beyond timetabled lessons. Drama is similarly active, with Key Stage 3 drama club activity including visiting practitioners from a local theatre company. These specifics matter because they show that participation is not limited to headline performances, it is embedded as regular practice.

For students who enjoy challenge and outdoor learning, the school runs Duke of Edinburgh at Bronze for Year 9 and reports large-scale participation in practice and qualifying expeditions. Alongside that, World Challenge preparation appears in school communications, which suggests the school sees residential and expedition-style learning as part of its wider development offer rather than a niche activity for a small group.

This is a state school with no tuition fees. Parents should still budget for the usual associated costs, including uniform, trips, optional clubs, and any paid extracurricular opportunities.

The school day begins with tutor time at 08:45 and runs to a 15:25 finish, with five lessons and a lunch break built into the standard timetable.

There is no on-site nursery and no sixth form provision as part of the core age range, so families should plan for a post-16 move at the end of Year 11.

For transport, school communications point to bus services and published application deadlines for families using local routes. For parents doing daily logistics planning, that is often as decisive as exam metrics, particularly for students with long travel days.

• Progress measures. A Progress 8 score of -0.08 suggests outcomes are close to average progress overall, but slightly below the central benchmark. Families with a child who needs strong catch-up momentum from Key Stage 2 should ask how the school targets support in English and mathematics in Years 7 to 9.

• EBacc profile. With 14.6% achieving grade 5 or above across EBacc subjects, this may not feel like an EBacc-led school for the majority of the cohort. If languages and a strongly academic humanities route are priorities, ask how the school encourages uptake and supports long-term language learning.

• Post-16 transition planning. The school is designed around an 11–16 model, so every student changes setting after Year 11. For some students this is positive, because it enables a fresh start and a specialist course choice; others prefer a school with an on-site sixth form to reduce transition points.

• Admission process is LA-coordinated. The on-time deadline is fixed and late applications are treated differently. Families new to the area should plan early, because admissions timetables do not flex around house moves or last-minute preference shifts.

Bradon Forest School suits families who want an orderly, well-defined secondary experience with a clear daily structure, visible pastoral systems, and a strong enrichment programme that includes both mainstream and niche clubs. Academic outcomes are steady rather than elite, and the school’s strengths lie in consistency, routines, and breadth of opportunity. It is best suited to students who respond well to structure, enjoy being part of a house system, and will make use of WHOOSH activities alongside their studies.