| Motto | "We're changing lives" |
|---|---|
| Established | 2009 |
| Type | Sponsored Academy |
| President | HRH Duke of York |
| Principal | Andy Schofield |
| Chair of Governors | David Cowley |
| Founder | Wellington Academy Trust |
| Specialism | Languages, Business & Enterprise |
| Location | Wiltshire SP11 9RR England |
| DfE URN | 135804 |
| Ofsted | Reports |
| Staff | 130 |
| Students | 750 |
| Gender | Coeducational |
| Ages | 11–18 |
| Houses | Named after those at Wellington College |
| Colours | Sky blue, claret and black |
| Cadet cap badge | 22 Royal Engineers |
| Website | www.thewellingtonacademy.org.uk |
Wellington Academy, founded in 2009, was Wiltshire's first academy. Located in Tidworth, the academy is an 11-18 non-selective state-funded school, sponsored by Wellington College, an independent school in Berkshire.[1][2][3]
The President of the academy is HRH Duke of York.[4] In 2010, HM The Queen met Principal Andy Schofield with students from the academy and discussed plans for the new campus, during a visit to Wellington College.[5]
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The academy was designed by London based architects BDP,[6] built by Kier [7][8][9] and was shortlisted in the best academy category for the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) Awards in 2009.[10][11]
Wellington Academy specialises in languages and business & enterprise. The campus houses a community sports, fitness centre and bowling green, beauty and treatment spa, cadet centre with indoor shooting range, twin boarding houses for 100 students, and Castledown Radio media centre. Located near to Tidworth Garrison on Salisbury Plain, almost half of the school's students are from service families.[12][13] The academy has a skills centre in the adjacent Castledown Business Park.[14]
The academy's first set of results in 2010 established the school as one of Wiltshire's highest performing.[15][16] The academy was visited by Ofsted in December 2010 and was deemed to have made outstanding progress since opening.[17]
Wellington Academy is the first academy in the country to take its name from an independent school, Wellington College, founded as a national monument to the Duke of Wellington [18] by Queen Victoria in 1859.[19] Other independent schools were initially slow to do something similar, despite the high profile campaign led by Wellington College's Master Anthony Seldon, though the situation has now begun to change, with around 28 independent schools now helping to run Academies, including Sevenoaks School, Dulwich College, Malvern College, Marlborough College, Oundle School, Uppingham School, and Winchester College, with strong encouragement from Government for even greater involvement.[20][21][22][23][24][25]