Royal Wootton Bassett Academy Review 2026: Large, structured secondary with a well-defined sixth form pathway

Royal Wootton Bassett Academy is a big, mixed 11 to 18 academy serving families across Royal Wootton Bassett and the wider Wiltshire and Swindon area. Its scale matters: the published capacity is 1,611, and recent official figures indicate the roll is higher than that, which typically brings both breadth of opportunity and a more complex logistics picture around movement, routines, and pastoral systems.

The most recent Ofsted inspection (26 and 27 November 2024) judged every graded area as Good, including sixth-form provision.

Founded on the Lime Kiln site in 1958, it has grown from a local secondary modern into a comprehensive-style academy with a clear internal structure and a long-established house system.

A school of this size succeeds or fails on whether systems feel purposeful rather than purely administrative. Here, the organising principle is consistency: tutor groups, heads of year, and dedicated student managers are designed to stay with groups through Years 7 to 11 where possible, so families are not reintroducing themselves to a new pastoral team each year. The published model places form tutors at the centre of day-to-day oversight, with heads of year and student managers supporting around attendance, wellbeing, behaviour concerns, and barriers to learning.

The house structure adds a second layer of identity. The five houses, Berwick, Compton, Winterbourne, Wootton and Bassett, are used for inter-house competitions and charity activity, and pupils regularly experience school life through that lens rather than simply through year-group membership. The practical implication is that a new Year 7 pupil is not starting from scratch socially inside a single tutor group; there is usually a wider, nameable “team” around them, with visible events and shared reference points.

Leadership is stable and locally rooted. Mrs Anita Ellis is the headteacher, and school history information records her headship as beginning in April 2020. That matters because it aligns with the period in which many parents will have noticed shifts in curriculum language and routines, particularly around learning habits and expectations.

One helpful signpost for parents is the way the school describes learning routines. The inspection report refers to a named lesson structure, the Bassett Lesson, which includes time for recall of previous work so pupils can connect prior learning to new content. This is not a marketing flourish; it is the sort of operational detail that tends to show up only when a school has attempted to standardise classroom experience across many staff and many sets.

Performance is best understood here as solid and broadly mid-range for England overall, with stronger relative positioning locally at post-16.

GCSE outcomes

Royal Wootton Bassett Academy ranks 2,134th in England for GCSE outcomes (FindMySchool ranking based on official data), and 9th among secondary schools in Swindon on the same measure. This reflects performance broadly in line with the middle 35% of schools in England (25th to 60th percentile).

At GCSE level, the average Attainment 8 score is 47.4 and Progress 8 is 0.08, which indicates pupils make slightly above-average progress from their starting points overall. The school’s average EBacc APS is 4.04.

A notable feature is a relatively low 9.6% recorded for pupils achieving grade 5 or above across the EBacc measure listed. Interpreting this for families depends on how the school enters pupils for the full EBacc suite and how options are structured at Key Stage 4. For parents where languages and the EBacc combination matter, the right next step is to look closely at the Key Stage 4 options guidance and ask directly how entry decisions are made for different starting points.

A-level outcomes

At A-level, the school sits relatively stronger in its area. Ranked 1,117th in England and 2nd in Swindon for A-level outcomes (FindMySchool ranking based on official data), its results again align with the middle 35% of England providers overall, but with clear local competitiveness for families seeking a school-based sixth form rather than a sixth form college.

Grade distribution shows 7.3% A*, 14.3% A, 28.7% B, and 50.3% at A* to B. England averages are 23.6% A* to A and 47.2% A* to B, suggesting the A* to B headline is slightly above the England figure, while A* to A is below it.

The practical implication is that the sixth form appears to support a broad attainment spread rather than being narrowly configured around very high A* to A outcomes. For many students, that is a positive, particularly when paired with effective guidance into apprenticeships, employment pathways, and a wide range of university courses.

The school’s strongest feature is the attempt to make teaching routines and curriculum sequencing consistent across a very large organisation. A named lesson structure focused on recall is one example, but other indicators matter too: reading strategy, SEND adaptation, and how teachers check understanding.

Reading is positioned as a skill for life, with targeted support for weaker readers identified as a routine expectation rather than an optional add-on. For families with a child entering Year 7 who has not yet developed confident fluency, that is a material reassurance, particularly in a school where subject teachers will expect pupils to handle increasingly complex texts from the outset.

For SEND and inclusion, the picture is mixed, with clear intent and identifiable facilities, but also an explicit improvement requirement around consistent adaptation in classrooms. The inspection report references additional support spaces, Big Pod and Little Pod, and a stated aim that pupils with SEND learn the same curriculum as their peers. The issue raised is precision: when teaching is not adapted closely enough, pupils with SEND can miss essential elements and fall behind. For parents, the implication is practical rather than abstract: ask how subject teachers receive pupil profiles, how adaptive teaching is checked in lessons, and how support spaces connect back into mainstream curriculum coverage.

Another improvement area raised is the reliability of classroom assessment for identifying gaps in understanding early enough to respond with appropriate support or challenge. In a large secondary, this is a common tension. It affects pupils who quietly drift as well as pupils who are capable of more but are not being stretched consistently. The strongest sixth forms tend to make this “checking for understanding” culture visible in day-to-day practice, not just in policy.

Where Students Go Next

For older students, the key question is whether the school provides credible routes to multiple destinations, not only university. The evidence suggests a genuinely mixed outcomes profile.

University, apprenticeships, and employment (official dataset)

For the 2023/24 cohort (size 136), the recorded leaver destinations show 51% progressing to university, 5% to apprenticeships, 26% into employment, and 3% into further education. This spread implies the sixth form is not operating as a single-track “university only” model, which can suit students who want a more applied route or who intend to earn while learning.

Oxbridge

In the measured period, there were 10 applications to Oxford and Cambridge combined, with 1 acceptance recorded. The realistic takeaway is that Oxbridge progression is present but not central, and the sixth form’s value is more likely to be in good guidance, strong subject access, and a stable learning environment than in a high-volume elite university pipeline.

Qualitative destination picture from the school

The school publishes a list of student destinations for 2024 that includes a wide range of courses and providers, with universities such as Bath, Bristol, Birmingham, Exeter, Leeds, Manchester, Sheffield, Southampton, Warwick and others, alongside specialist routes such as the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama, and college-based pathways. Because this is a list without student counts, it should be read as a breadth indicator rather than a “most go to X” claim. The implication for families is positive: subject choice, including applied options, appears to translate into varied and credible next steps.

Royal Wootton Bassett Academy is a state school with no tuition fees. Admission for Year 7 is handled through local authority coordinated admissions, with the academy’s published arrangements sitting behind that process.

Key deadline and offer timing

The school’s published admissions information states that applications for the September 2026 intake needed to be received by 12 noon on 31 October 2025, and that offers for on-time applications were issued on 1 March 2026.

Published Admission Number and oversubscription

For Year 7 entry, the Published Admission Number is 287. Where applications exceed places, the academy sets out priority order that includes, first, children with an Education, Health and Care Plan naming the school, followed by looked-after and previously looked-after children, then defined vulnerable children, then sibling-related criteria within a designated or shared area, and then other children in-area, with distance used as a tie-breaker where criteria cannot separate applicants. Straight-line distance to the front gates is the stated measurement approach.

For parents, the main practical implication is that “living near” is not a universal rule, because priority categories and designated area definitions can matter before distance is even applied. Families considering a move should not rely on assumptions; use FindMySchool’s Map Search to calculate straight-line distance and then cross-check the academy’s published criteria for which categories apply to your child.

Open events and tours

The school runs parent tours and booking is used to manage demand. The most reliable guidance, especially when dates change year to year, is to treat tours as typically happening in the early part of the autumn term and to check the current booking page at the point you are making decisions.

Transition into Year 7

The school also publishes transition information including an induction day reference for Year 6 pupils, but dates shown can be historical once the admissions cycle has passed. The pattern is useful for planning, even if the precise calendar details need confirming for the relevant year.

Pastoral support is deliberately structured. Tutor groups are typically around 27 to 28 students, and continuity is built into the staffing plan across the full five-year run from Year 7 to Year 11 where possible. A non-teaching student manager role exists alongside the head of year, designed to reduce barriers to learning and to coordinate with families and external agencies.

Bullying is addressed directly. The inspection report recognises that bullying incidents occur at times, that pupils report concerns to adults, and that the school acts to address them, while also acknowledging that some pupils need additional help to ensure incidents are resolved fully. For parents, the key question is process: ask what happens after the initial report, how follow-up is tracked, and how pupils are supported to rebuild confidence, particularly in a large site where social groups can be broad and fast-moving.

Personal development appears to be planned rather than incidental. The school’s iLearn programme is described as covering relationships, culture, and physical and mental health, with local relevance built in through workshops on safety topics. This kind of structured programme is often the difference between a school that reacts to issues and one that anticipates them.

In a large secondary, extracurricular quality depends on whether activities are routine, well-staffed, and easy for pupils to access, not simply whether they exist on paper. Royal Wootton Bassett Academy provides several strong indicators of consistency.

Duke of Edinburgh’s Award as a flagship

The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award programme is unusually well-established. The school states an average annual intake of around 90 pupils for Bronze, 40 for Silver, and 25 for Gold, supported by an internal team with loan equipment available for expeditions. That scale matters. It suggests the programme is not restricted to a small subset of pupils, and it creates a route where confidence, teamwork, and practical competence develop over several years.

Sport: structured offer and variety

Sport provision is organised with named clubs and clear schedules. The published Term 1 sport programme includes activities such as boys rugby across year groups, netball, girls rugby, gymnastics, badminton, table tennis, basketball, trampolining, and girls strength and weight lifting, as well as newer activities such as pickleball. The practical implication is breadth: pupils who are not on a traditional football or rugby pathway still have options that feel legitimate, and there are structured entry points by year group.

Music: ensembles and practical routes for different starting points

Music provision includes named groups such as String Group, Flute Ensemble, Brass Ensemble, Clarinet and Saxophone Ensemble, Orchestra or Wind Band (depending on week), and a Function Band, alongside KS3 clubs including Recorder Club, Keyboard Club, and a Music Tech Club. This mix is important. It offers both classical ensemble routes and contemporary or technical options, which tends to keep participation broader across different interests.

House competitions and leadership roles

House events, charity activity, and sixth form leadership roles reinforce a culture where pupils can be recognised for contribution, not only for grades or team selection. Sixth form students can apply for leadership roles and are used as role models, including volunteering as peer readers and sports coaches. For many families, this is a key differentiator between a sixth form that feels like “Year 12 and 13 lessons only” and one that genuinely prepares students for adult responsibility.

The school publishes that the compulsory end time for the school day is 3.00pm, with 32.5 hours provided in a typical week, and notes that some sixth form lessons can run from 3.00pm to 4.00pm on Mondays to Thursdays to allow deeper study.

For sixth form specifically, the published day includes iLearn from 8.30am to 9.00am, followed by five teaching periods ending at 3.00pm, and students are expected to attend from 8.30am even though they may arrive from 8.00am if they wish.

Transport can be a material extra cost for some families. The school publishes a paid bus service priced at £1,175.00 for the 2025/26 school year, with an instalment option. Routes, stops, and arrangements can change, so parents should check the current timetable and eligibility each year before committing.

Wraparound care is not typically a feature of secondary schools in the same way as primaries. The published materials focus more on enrichment, study routines, and sixth form expectations than on extended childcare-style provision.

• SEND classroom adaptation remains an improvement focus. The intent is clear and support spaces exist, but teaching is not always adapted precisely enough for pupils with SEND, which can affect progress if not addressed early.

• Checking understanding consistently is a key development area. When assessment routines do not identify gaps accurately, pupils can miss support or stretch, especially in a large school where teachers manage many classes.

• Size brings opportunity and complexity. A big roll can mean wider subject access and more clubs, but it also requires pupils who cope well with structured routines and a busier social environment.

• Transport can add significant annual cost. Families relying on the school bus should plan for the published fee and keep an eye on stop changes and timetable updates.

Royal Wootton Bassett Academy offers a well-organised secondary experience with a clearly defined pastoral structure, a broad curriculum, and a sixth form that supports a wide range of next steps. The strongest fit is for families who value consistency, routine, and a large-school breadth of activities, including a sizeable Duke of Edinburgh’s Award pathway and a structured music and sport offer. Admission is shaped by published criteria and coordinated deadlines, so families should approach the process methodically and verify how the oversubscription priorities apply to their circumstances.