New College Swindon submit bid for Great Western Primary AcAademy

Proposals for a new primary school for North Swindon have successfully been submitted to the Department for Education.

Great Western Primary Academy, proposed by a partnership led by New College Swindon, have submitted the application for a new school for 420 pupils to open in September 2019.

This application represents many months of dedication and hard work. To complete the lengthy application form, New College Swindon had to write detailed education plans and budgets; explain why the school is needed by this community and demonstrate that it has local support. 

If their application is approved, the next stage will be a rigorous interview with the Department for Education, after which they will hear whether their school has been given the green light to open.

Graham Taylor, Principal of New College Swindon, said:

“I’m delighted to announce that the bid has now been submitted to the Department for Education. It’s incredibly exciting to see the bid moving forward and we’d like to thank everyone who has supported the project so far. We still have a long road ahead of us, but we’re all confident we have a strong bid to tackle the shortage of primary places in North Swindon.”

New College Swindon have been supported through the application process by national education charity New Schools Network.

Sarah Pearson, Interim Director of New Schools Network, said:

“New College Swindon has worked tirelessly to prepare an application for the Department for Education and we hope they will have the chance to put their plans into action and see their vision of a fantastic new school realised.

“There are now more than 500 free schools open or approved to open across the country and the momentum of the programme continues to increase. These schools are proving popular with parents and are providing good, new school places where they are needed.”

New College Swindon are still seeking to raise awareness of the project amongst parents in the area and advise those wanting more information to visit and like their page at www.facebook.com/GWPASwindon