Malmesbury School is a highly respected, larger than average-sized and growing mixed 11-18 comprehensive school (1428) serving a rural community in the town of Malmesbury and the surrounding villages. The school has a strong sense of community and aspiration and is always striving to improve to ensure students achieve the best possible outcomes. We have around 12 feeder schools in our catchment area and many additional feeder schools outside of catchment.

We became a new-style academy converter in August 2011. In May 2012 the school was inspected and graded as ‘Outstanding’ in every category. In July 2013 the school became a National Support School and in May 2014 we were approved by the DfE to be an Academy Sponsor. In July 2014 we became a Teaching School, and we established The Avon Teaching School Alliance (Avon TSA) which was an alliance of secondary schools, primary schools and other educational institutions across Wiltshire and Gloucestershire who work collaboratively to develop, improve, and invest in teachers at all stages of their career. The Avon TSA ceased its work in August 2021. In 2015 we established the Athelstan Multi Academy Trust, which now consists of five secondary schools (Malmesbury School, Bradon Forest School, The Dean Academy, Chipping Sodbury School, and Sir William Romney). The Trust offers further career development opportunities for colleagues to work across more than one school in a supportive environment. There is also a growing satellite sixth form developing across the three of the trust schools, with Malmesbury School at the centre of this.

We are proud to be the community comprehensive school in the very truest sense of the word. We take almost all the students in our catchment area, and many from beyond, and in September 2022 we had 254 students joining in Year 7 from over 20 primary schools.

Most students are of White British heritage; the percentage of students (year 7-13) with an Educational Health Care Plan (EHCP) is 2.8% compared to 4.4% nationally. The percentage of students eligible for free school meals (FSM) at any time in the last 6 years is 15% compared to 20.8% nationally. 5.5% of our school community have English as an Additional Language (EAL).