About Us

We are a supportive, friendly 11-18 secondary school located in the heart of South Yorkshire at the junction where Barnsley, Doncaster and Rotherham meet. Because of this, we welcome students from a large catchment area into our post 16 community and many of our post 16 students do continue their education with us from Y11.

Our aim is to inspire, encourage and support our students to find the best pathway in life once they leave us aged 18. We have very high aspirations for our students and encourage them to be as ambitious as possible in their choices. We support students to select a bespoke programme of study based on their academic strengths, their passions and career goals.

This starts in year 11 with preliminary interviews, subject taster sessions, marketing events, open evenings and the application and enrolment process. Once students have selected three level 3 courses (A level and equivalent), we ensure students consistently make good progress from the start of year 12 to the end of year 13 through our quality subject teaching and supportive pastoral team. We feel that the attentive mentorship of the post 16 team is our greatest strength at Swinton Academy and is overwhelmingly the reason students give for staying on at Swinton. All students are guided and supported by a personal tutor and post 16 leadership, which enhances the strong relationships students build with their subject teachers.

Pupils have warm relationships with teachers and value this strongly. In the words of
one sixth-form student, ‘It is the reason I decided to study here.’ [Ofsted, 2023]

Alongside our academic curriculum, we are very proud of our personal development programme that encourages our students to develop as a well-rounded young person ready to live confidently and independently in the wider world. We try to offer our students as many extra-curricular opportunities as possible to widen their horizons, broaden cultural capital and enable them to see themselves in contexts they might never have imagined.

Finally, we support our students to find the best pathway for them after they leave us. We support our students in researching and applying for those next steps that best suit them, whether that is a degree at university, a degree apprenticeship with an established organisation or entering the workplace at 18. Students are given a wealth of support and guidance from our experienced careers team, which is supported by work experience placements in year 12.       

Students who are already a member of Swinton Academy will find out more throughout year 11 about the process of joining us post 16.

If you are currently a student or the parent of a student at a centre other than Swinton Academy, please register for our Post 16 Open Evening, which takes place in the Autumn term, by clicking on the Google form link below:

https://forms.gle/9R94GF6AwwwEXkMp7

If you require any further information regarding our provision, please contact us using the details below:

email: post16@swintonacademy.org                                            telephone: 01709 570586