St John's Academy

The School currently has 1700+ pupils on its roll aged from 11-18 yrs from Marlborough and the surrounding villages.  This includes from existing and new housing developments, such as the Redrow development at Marleburg Grange to the south of the town.  Planning permission was originally granted for the new school in 2003 and included an all-weather pitch on the land to the south west of the existing Sixth Form building. This has not been built out and the land is currently left as unmade hardstanding.Two temporary portacabin buildings are sited on the land which are used as changing rooms.

Whilst the school has a good supply of grass pitches for outdoor sports and games, there is only one indoor sports hall which is used by all 1700 pupils. However this is unavailable during certain times of the year, such as during exam times, but also provides inadequate space for the number of pupils and cannot support indoor activities during bad weather.

The school does not currently have an All Weather Pitch (AWP) which severely restricts the sports and games activities that can be offered to pupils.  As part of the planning permission for the Redrow development at Marleberg Grange, money was secured by the Council (through a legal agreement) to provide facilities for the additional places generated by this new housing.  Whilst there is sufficient classroom space, there is a clear and unmet need for additional sports facilities.  These monies will contribute towards the new sports hall.  More recently, the current COVID measures have also brought into realisation that the school needs additional outdoor social space for pupils.  The proposal gives the School the opportunity to provide this as well.