New College Swindon, Swindon

Post-16
Further education
Mixed
Ages 1699

Data last updated 11 Sept 2026

Location

Key Information

DfE GIAS
Head:Ms Leah Palmer
LA:Swindon
Phone:01793611470
Address:New College Drive, Swindon, SN3 1AH
Admissions:Not applicable
Status:open

Ofsted Rating

Ofsted · 6 months ago
-

Overall

Requires Improvement

Quality of Education

Good

Behaviour & Attitudes

Requires Improvement

Personal Development

Requires Improvement

Leadership & Management

Inspected 25 March 2026View full report
URN:130851
UKPRN:10004579
Diocese:Not applicable
Constituency:Swindon South
Urban/Rural:Urban: Nearer to a major town or city

Ofsted Insights

What This School Does Well

New College Swindon has made strong improvements in helping learners succeed, with more students now achieving their target grades and completing valuable work experience with major employers. The college provides excellent support for vulnerable learners and those with SEND through strengthened wellbeing services and tailored programmes. Learners benefit from high-quality careers guidance that helps them understand their next steps, whether to university, apprenticeships, or employment.

Key Strengths

  • Increased proportion of young learners achieving their qualifications and target grades
  • Strong work experience placements - three quarters of learners with high needs and a high proportion of sixth-form students have completed placements
  • Effective progress monitoring systems allowing staff to intervene quickly when learners struggle
  • Improved careers advice and guidance with dedicated apprenticeship adviser and industry-linked skills boards
  • Governors now receive accurate, timely information enabling them to hold leaders accountable

Areas for Improvement

  • Some learners still unaware of their target grades and personal targets
  • Progress monitoring for learners with high needs and SEND on specialist courses needs further development
  • Continued work needed to increase qualification achievement on entry-level courses for learners with SEND

Extracurricular Activities

Skills competitions, business challenge initiatives, careers-related tutorials, work experience placements, mock interviews with employers

New College Swindon is a further education college in Wiltshire with around 3,815 young learners, 3,468 adult learners, and 640 apprentices. This monitoring inspection found that leaders have made good progress in addressing areas identified for improvement in the previous inspection.

At a Glance

No

Boarding

No

Nursery

No

Sixth Form

No

Special Measures

Sixth Form Performance (A-Level)

A-Level Results

C-

Average grade

26.2

Points per entry

C-

Best 3 A-Levels

3%

Achieving AAB+

Below average

Value added

327

A-Level students

85%

Retention rate

2024/25 academic year

A-Level Subjects Offered

Psychology304
Sociology210
Psychology208
Business Studies190
Business Studies:Single180
Sociology146
Mathematics134
Mathematics124
Biology118
Economics102
Chemistry86
Economics76
Graphics66
English Literature56
Biology56
Film Studies54
History54
Art and Design (Photography)54
Geography54
Computer Science54

+ 52 more subjects

2023/24 academic year - entries by number of students

After A-Levels - Leaver Destinations

After A-Levels (Year 13) - 1,886 students

Continued education31%
Higher education23%
Further education7%
Apprenticeships5%
Employment40%
Not in education/employment19%

202223 data

University & Higher Education Destinations

5%

Top-third university

44%

Degree course

51%

Any L4+ destination

1%

Apprenticeships

Based on 1,053 students completing 16-18 study

2021/22 cohort - "Top-third" = most selective third of UK universities by student intake

Getting There

Bus Stops

New College (SE-bound)
137m · 2 min walk
Randolph Close (SW-bound)
179m · 3 min walk
Lawn Manor Academy (E-bound)
243m · 4 min walk
Helston Road (S-bound)
288m · 5 min walk
Burghley Close (NE-bound)
308m · 5 min walk
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Capacity & Demand

Area Demand Pressure - Swindon

Low pressure
New homes approved:3,754
Projected new pupils:676

Based on MHCLG housing supply data for Swindon

Admissions Demand - Swindon

Low demand1.05x oversubscription

Places available

2,816

Applications

2,957

Got 1st preference

87.0%

Got preferred school

97.3%

Secondary admissions across Swindon (2025/26)

Inspection History(10)

25 March 2026
Quality of EducationRequires Improvement
Behaviour & AttitudesGood
Personal DevelopmentRequires Improvement
Leadership & ManagementRequires Improvement
18 March 2025
24 January 2024

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