Schoolchildren in Swindon get off to a slower start than they do across the rest of the South West and England, and this continues at every stage of education. 

Swindon Borough Council’s public health team has conducted a health needs assessment for the borough’s children and young people which also explored education.

It says of the first year in school: “Swindon exhibits a lower proportion of children achieving a good level of development by the end of reception than the South West and England.

“Swindon’s children demonstrate lagging development in communication, language, and literacy skills by the end of the reception year. This indicates potential disparities in the readiness of Swindon's children to engage with the formal education system.”

This is identified in the assessment as a potential place for intervention.

In the rest of their first years in school, Swindon’s children do well: ”consistently performing just above the England average in reading, writing and maths in Key Stage One.”

But later problems appear: “In Key Stage Two, whilst children achieve expected standards in grammar, spelling and punctuation, achievement in reading and maths falls below the England average.”

Another key indicator of performance is the Attainment 8 score which measures how youngsters at Key Stage four, between ages 14 and 16, do across eight standard subjects at GCSE level.

The report says: “In Swindon, Attainment 8 scores are closely aligned with England and South West levels, although marginally lagging behind both of their respective averages.”

And for those who carry on to Key Stage Five – taking A-Levels - a continued slight lag behind regional and national averages continues.

The report says:” Swindon’s children and young people achieving three or more A grades in their A-level subjects is significantly lower at 5.9 per cent compared to 13.3 per cent for England. In addition, Swindon pupils are less likely to achieve AAB in their A-levels than their peers nationally.

Of those youngsters who finish Key Stage 5, 45 per cent continue to further or higher education, with 32 per cent going on to higher education and studying for a higher qualification such as a degree.

That is the largest single portion of the cohort, with 27 per cent entering employment. This ratio is slightly different from the national picture, with a larger proportion of Swindon’s students entering employment and fewer continuing into higher education.

The proportion of youngsters who are not in education, training or employment after they finish secondary schooling is 6.2 per cent in Swindon, higher than the regional average of 5.8 per cent and the England average of 5.2 per cent.