UK Schools
The Swanage School
The Swanage School is a mixed secondary free school in Swanage, Dorset Council, teaching 349 pupils aged 11 to 16. Ofsted rated it Good at its last graded inspection in November 2023. In 2024–2025, GCSE Attainment 8 was 36.9 (England 46.1). The 2025–2026 school year runs from 3 September 2025 to 17 July 2026.
Ofsted inspection
The latest published Ofsted judgement for The Swanage School.
Scale: Outstanding Good Requires improvement Inadequate
Term dates & holidays 2025–2026
Autumn, spring and summer terms, half-terms, INSET days and bank holidays for The Swanage School.
- 1–2 INSET Days: No students in school
- 3 Start of Autumn Term (Year 7 & Year 11 in school, Year 7 induction)
- 4–5 All students in school / Year 7 off-site activities
- 26 INSET Day: No students in school
- 27–31 Autumn Half Term Holiday
- 3 INSET Day: No students in school
- 1 Assessment Day: No students in school
- 19 Last day of Autumn Term
- 22–31 Christmas Holiday
- 1–2 Christmas Holiday
- 5 INSET Day: No students in school
- 6 Start of Spring Term for students
- 16–20 Spring Half Term Holiday
- 26 Last day of Spring Term for students
- 27 Assessment Day: No students in school
- 30–31 Easter Holiday
- 1–10 Easter Holiday
- 13 INSET Day: No students in school
- 14 Start of Summer Term for students
- 4 Early May Bank Holiday
- 5 Assessment Day: Year 11 only
- 25–29 Summer Half Term Holiday
- 17 Last day of Summer Term for students
- 20 INSET Day: No students in school
- 21–31 Summer Holiday
- 1–31 Summer Holiday
Key dates (2025–2026)
- INSET Days: No students in school Sep 1-2, 2025 Inset Day
- Start of Autumn Term (Year 7 & Year 11 in school, Year 7 induction) Sep 3, 2025 Term
- All students in school / Year 7 off-site activities Sep 4-5, 2025 Event
- INSET Day: No students in school Sep 26, 2025 Inset Day
- Autumn Half Term Holiday Oct 27-31, 2025 Holiday
- INSET Day: No students in school Nov 3, 2025 Inset Day
- Assessment Day: No students in school Dec 1, 2025 Event
- Last day of Autumn Term Dec 19, 2025 Term
- Christmas Holiday Dec 22, 2025 - Jan 2, 2026 Holiday
- INSET Day: No students in school Jan 5, 2026 Inset Day
- Start of Spring Term for students Jan 6, 2026 Term
- Spring Half Term Holiday Feb 16-20, 2026 Holiday
- Last day of Spring Term for students Mar 26, 2026 Term
- Assessment Day: No students in school Mar 27, 2026 Event
- Easter Holiday Mar 30 - Apr 10, 2026 Holiday
- INSET Day: No students in school Apr 13, 2026 Inset Day
- Start of Summer Term for students Apr 14, 2026 Term
- Early May Bank Holiday May 4, 2026 Holiday
- Assessment Day: Year 11 only May 5, 2026 Event
- Summer Half Term Holiday May 25-29, 2026 Holiday
- Last day of Summer Term for students Jul 17, 2026 Term
- INSET Day: No students in school Jul 20, 2026 Inset Day
- Summer Holiday Jul 21 - Aug 31, 2026 Holiday
Exam results & performance
The measures that carry the most signal. Open a section to compare The Swanage School with Dorset Council and England.
Key stage 4 (GCSE) 36.9 Attainment 8 score
Year 11 results across eight qualifications, including English and maths.
This school Dorset Council England
Attendance 30.3% Persistently absent pupils
Absence across the whole school year.
This school Dorset Council England
What pupils do after GCSEs 93% In education, apprenticeship or work
Still in education, an apprenticeship or work a year after key stage 4.
This school Dorset Council England
About this data source & caveats
Progress 8 is not published for 2024–2025. This year group missed their key stage 2 tests in 2020, so there is no baseline to measure progress from.
Attendance comparisons are pupil-weighted averages we calculate from every school’s published absence figure — the DfE absence file has no local authority or England rows of its own.
We show the headline measures only. Threshold and curriculum-policy figures — grade 4+ in English and maths, EBacc entry and points, the per-subject key stage 2 breakdown, academic and applied splits at 16 to 18 — reflect admissions and curriculum choices more than school quality, so they are left to GOV.UK. Progress measures matter most because they compare pupils with others who started at the same level; attainment on its own largely tracks a school’s intake.
Figures are the Department for Education’s official published results for The Swanage School. Results are suppressed where too few pupils were entered. England figures are the average for state-funded schools. “Top x%” is this school’s position among all schools in England with a published figure for that measure — the DfE does not publish league table rankings.
Source: Compare school and college performance, Department for Education. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Location & catchment area
Indicative only. This is a nearest-school (Voronoi) estimate — the area closer to The Swanage School than to any other secondary school. Real admissions depend on the school’s own policy (straight-line distance, siblings, faith, feeder schools and available places) and change each year. Always confirm with the school and local authority admissions team.