Kingsbury Green Academy

Kingsbury Green Academy is performing at the expected standard overall, with safeguarding standards met. The school is part of Ascend Learning Trust and has experienced significant leadership and governance changes since its previous inspection, including a headteacher appointed in September 2024. It also includes a specially resourced provision, the Enhanced Learning Package, for pupils with communication and interaction needs, and has a well-above-average proportion of pupils with education, health and care plans. Curriculum and teaching, inclusion, leadership and governance, personal development and wellbeing, and post-16 provision are all at expected standard, while achievement and attendance and behaviour need attention. Leaders have a secure understanding of provision and have made positive changes, including support for post-16 and attendance, and staff generally feel positive about working there. Pupils benefit from a broad, ambitious curriculum, effective SEND and disadvantaged-pupil support, strong pastoral care, good careers education, and a wide range of wider opportunities including Duke of Edinburgh and clubs. Pupils behave well in lessons and around school, relationships are positive, and bullying is rare and dealt with promptly. Post-16 students are well supported and prepared for their next steps, though A-level outcomes are below average. The main concerns are underachievement in national examinations and persistent gaps in pupils' knowledge, especially in reading and mathematics, which limit progress across the curriculum. Too many pupils do not attend well enough, and some pupils use discriminatory language, meaning not all pupils feel equally welcome. Teachers do not consistently build on prior learning or correct misconceptions promptly, and support for gaps in mathematics and handwriting is less developed. Leaders have identified these barriers, but their work has not yet had sustained impact.

Strengths

• Broad and ambitious curriculum designed for all pupils, with clear expectations for learning at each stage.
• Strong inclusion work, including effective support for pupils with SEND and disadvantaged pupils.
• Well-structured leadership and governance systems, with leaders identifying improvement priorities.
• Staff benefit from a well-structured professional learning programme, including bespoke training for new staff.
• Pupils receive extensive pastoral support and trusted adults to help with worries or difficulties.
• High-quality careers information, advice and guidance, including a careers fair and university links.
• A coherent personal development programme with a wide range of clubs, sports, arts and Duke of Edinburgh opportunities.
• Pupils behave well, relationships are positive, and bullying is rare and dealt with promptly.
• Post-16 students achieve well in vocational qualifications and are well prepared for next steps.
• Pupils with the most complex SEND needs follow an individualised curriculum suited to them.
• Students feel well prepared for adulthood, including personal finance and road safety.
• The school actively seeks views of parents, staff, pupils and the community and has made changes such as uniform and homework policy.

Areas for Improvement

• Pupils' achievement in national examinations is significantly below national averages in outcomes and progress.
• Too many pupils have gaps in reading and mathematical knowledge that limit achievement across the curriculum.
• Pupils' written work is not consistently high quality due to weaknesses in handwriting, spelling and grammar.
• Teachers do not consistently build securely on prior learning or correct errors and misconceptions promptly.
• Support for pupils with gaps in mathematics and handwriting is less developed than reading support.
• A significant minority of pupils do not attend often enough, which stops them achieving well.
• Persistent absence remains above national average and overall attendance has not improved.
• Some pupils do not understand fundamental British values well enough, and discriminatory language persists among a minority.
• Some pupils from different backgrounds do not always feel welcome in school.
• Post-16 students' achievement in national examinations is below average, including A-level outcomes.
• Leaders have identified key barriers to achievement, but their work has not yet had sustained impact.
• Disadvantaged pupils' GCSE outcomes are below national averages.

Admissions: local authority offers data from the Department for Education. A school is oversubscribed when at least 5% of the families who put it first were not offered a place, and undersubscribed when everyone who put it first got in but 10% or more of its places were unfilled in the Department's school capacity survey (the latest survey is used for entry years it does not cover). Places: Department for Education, School capacity, from local authorities' annual survey as at 1 May. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024–25); the survey was not run in 2020. Places include sixth form places. Forecasts are the local authority's own for the school's planning area, an area it uses to plan places that is not the school's catchment area. The forecast starts from a head count in 2025; the dashed line is the Department's estimate of places in that area, including those the authority has firm plans for. Planned places are cumulative, and only those with firm plans are counted.

In 2024–25 pupils at Kingsbury Green Academy attended 89.6% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 27.4% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 23.4%).

Sessions missed

Pupils persistently absent

Source: Department for Education, Pupil absence in schools in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Persistent absence means missing 10% or more of sessions; severe absence means 50% or more. No figures were published for 2019/20.

In 2024–25, 6.9% of pupils at Kingsbury Green Academy were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). No pupils were permanently excluded.

Pupils suspended at least once

Source: Department for Education, Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). A pupil can be suspended more than once, so suspensions per 100 pupils can be higher than the share of pupils suspended. Very small numbers are hidden by the DfE. Exclusion figures dropped in 2020 and 2021 because of school closures.

In 2025–26 Kingsbury Green Academy had 17.4 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 16.7% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 14.1%).

Pupils per teacher

Teachers who left the school within a year

Source: Department for Education, School workforce in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Pupils per teacher counts full-time-equivalent pupils and teachers. Turnover is the share of a year's teachers (full-time equivalent) who were not at the school the following year, whether they moved to another school or left state-funded teaching. Turnover and sickness figures run one year behind the ratios. Sick leave is the share of teachers who took at least one day in the year, so it swings widely at small schools, where a few teachers can make it 0% or 100%. The national figures are for all state schools of the same type.

In 2025–26, 15.6% of pupils at Kingsbury Green Academy were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 5.5% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 3.5%).

Pupils by main type of need

Source: Department for Education, Special educational needs in England (the 2025–26 school census). SEN support is extra help in school without an EHC plan. National figures are for all state-funded secondary schools. Counts are as published, with small numbers not hidden.

In 2024–25 Kingsbury Green Academy received £7,699 and spent £7,898 for each of its 1,059 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £391,000 (£370 per pupil).

Across all 7 schools of Ascend Learning Trust, income was £8,018 and spending £8,086 per pupil.

Income per pupil

Spending per pupil

Source: Department for Education, Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool. Each year is the one the financial year ends in (2024 is 2023–24). Academy figures include a share of the trust's central services, shared out by pupil numbers, and are rounded to the nearest £1,000. Premises costs were defined differently from 2024, so compare them across that gap with care.

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Calne · Wiltshire local authority: places and applications

Kingsbury Green Academy is part of Ascend Learning Trust, which runs 7 schools. The nearest others:

• Noremarsh Junior School Swindon
• Royal Wootton Bassett Academy Swindon
• Lawn Manor Academy Swindon
• Wellington Lions Primary Academy Tidworth
• The Wellington Academy Ludgershall
• Wellington Eagles Primary Academy Andover

What is Kingsbury Green Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Kingsbury Green Academy is Needs attention, from an inspection in June 2026.

When was Kingsbury Green Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

Kingsbury Green Academy was last inspected in June 2026.

How many pupils does Kingsbury Green Academy have?

Kingsbury Green Academy has 1,077 pupils on roll.

What age range does Kingsbury Green Academy cover?

Kingsbury Green Academy for pupils aged 11 to 18.

What are Kingsbury Green Academy's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 37.2, and 33% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Kingsbury Green Academy?

Kingsbury Green Academy is at White Horse Way, Calne, Wiltshire, SN11 8YH.