South Wilts Grammar School, Salisbury

From the headteacher's welcome: "Welcome to South Wilts Grammar School where excellence, curiosity and aspiration combine to form an exceptional educational experience and lead to remarkable outcomes and life opportunities for our students. Academic outcomes are exceptional at South Wilts, thanks to a curriculum that is broad, balanced and incredibly ambitious."

Coming up: an open day on Thursday 19 November 2026. Check the school's website before you go, as dates can change.

In 2026, pupils at South Wilts Grammar School averaged an Attainment 8 score of 76.5, the average grade across their best eight GCSEs. The average state school scored 45.9 in Wiltshire and 47 across England.

100% passed English and maths at grade 5 or above, against 44% in Wiltshire and 47% in England.

That is in line with 2025, when the score was 77.

Its most recent Progress 8 score, for 2024, was 0.79: pupils made well above average progress compared with pupils nationally who started secondary school at the same level. Progress 8 was not published for 2026.

Pupils sat GCSEs in 20 subjects; after English and maths, the most popular were Physics, Biology and Religious Studies.

South Wilts Grammar School is a grammar school: places go to children who reach the required standard in its entrance test, and only then are the oversubscription criteria applied.

For September 2026 entry, 230 families put South Wilts Grammar School as their first choice and 266 named it as one of their preferences, for 158 places offered. That is 1.5 first choices for every place. 73 families who put it first were not offered a place there.

South Wilts Grammar School admits pupils through an entrance test, usually called the 11-plus. Children have to be registered for it in advance, normally in the spring or summer of Year 5; the test itself is usually sat in September of Year 6, and results come out in October, before the 31 October deadline for naming secondary schools.

Passing the test makes a child eligible rather than guaranteeing a place: when more children pass than there are places, South Wilts Grammar School ranks them by the criteria in its admissions policy, which can include test score and distance. Check Wiltshire's admissions pages and the school's own policy for this year's registration deadline - a child who is not registered in time cannot sit the test.

Wiltshire has 2 state grammar schools in all, so a child who passes may have several selective schools to choose between.

The nearest other state secondary schools to South Wilts Grammar School are Five Rivers Online School (0.6 miles); Bishop Wordsworth's Church of England Grammar School (1 mile, Outstanding, selective, Attainment 8 73.5); Wyvern St Edmund's Academy (1.2 miles, Good, Attainment 8 46.1); and St Joseph's Catholic School (1.3 miles, Requires improvement, Attainment 8 41).

South Wilts Grammar School's 2026 results were higher than all 3 of them.

252 parents answered Ofsted's Parent View survey about South Wilts Grammar School (as of September 2025): 95% would recommend the school, 96% say their child is happy there and 61% of those with a view say bullying is dealt with well.

The strongest agreement was that their child feels safe (99%); the weakest, that the school deals with bullying well (among parents with a view) (61%).

Of the 160 pupils who finished Year 11 in 2023/24, 98% stayed in education or training for at least two terms, including 3% to a further education college and 1% into work.

Of the 176 students who left the sixth form in 2023/24, 62% went on to university or other higher education, 1% to apprenticeships and 28% into work. 42% went to one of the most selective third of universities.

3.3% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, well below the average state school (25%), and 8.9% speak English as an additional language, against 18.8% on average, according to the 2026 school census.

The largest ethnic groups are White British (70%) and Asian (11%).

In 2026, 56 pupils (4.7%) received SEN support and 5 (0.4%) had an education, health and care plan, against 16.2% and 4.6% at the average state school. The most common need among them is speech, language and communication needs.

The nearest railway station is Salisbury Rail Station, about 1130 metres away (roughly a 14-minute walk).

19 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is South Wilts Grammar School (n-bound), 40 metres away.

In August 2026, police recorded 293 crimes within a mile of the school, most often violence and sexual offences, anti-social behaviour and shoplifting. That is well above the typical figure around schools in Wiltshire (34), as is usual near a town centre.

In 2024/25, South Wilts Grammar School issued 7 suspensions, 0.6 for every 100 pupils (the average state school: 6.3), and no permanent exclusions.

The primary schools closest to South Wilts Grammar School are Sarum St Paul's CofE (VA) Primary School (0.4 miles); St Mark's CofE Junior School, Salisbury (0.4 miles); Wyndham Park Infants' School (0.5 miles); and Salisbury, Manor Fields Primary School (0.7 miles). Admission does not depend on which primary a child attends unless the school's policy names feeder schools.