Old Swinford Hospital educates a ide diversity of students form the local area, from further afield in the UK and from a variety of non-UK backgrounds. In a typical year the school will admit pupils from some forty or fifty "feeder" schools. Although the school starts at year 7, only about 70% of pupils in the school spend seven years at the school.

Stourbridge is surrounded by a wealth of Arts venues and organisations, within a thirty mile radius. Drama students have visited The Old Rep Theatre, the Alexandra Theatre, The Birmingham Hippodrome, The Wolverhampton Grand Theatre, The Rose Theatre, The Swan Theatre, the RSC in Stratford (40 miles) and the Symphony Hall, amongst many others, to see a range of theatrical, musical, orchestral, operatic productions and plays. 1 mile from OSH, Drama students have the Glasshouse Theatre, the Town Hall, the Stagecoach Drama Group at Redhill School and the Netherton Arts Centre in Dudley. Drama also has the Crescent Theatre, a successful amateur company who have worked with and supported students. In Stourbridge there is the Bonded Warehouse where artwork is displayed and is in walking distance. We have taken groups to the Ikon and B'ham Museum and Art Gallery on the train. We have taken G&T arts students tothe BIAD Private View evening and have had lecturers come to OSH to lecture arts students on course and university options. We also take groups to exhibitions at the New Art Gallery Walsall on the school minibuses. Dance Performances and festivals which are held annually in Dudley take place at Stourbridge Town Hall (0.5 miles), Brierley Hill Civic Hall (3 miles) and Thorns Community School (2.5 miles). For music there are also 1 mile away from OSH St Mary's Church, Oldswinford (Concert Venue), St Thomas's Church Stourbridge, St James's Church Wollaston and St James's Church Lower Gornal.

The majority of students (and all boarders in years7 to11) are admitted without reference to their academic ability. Sixteen day pupils (outboarders) are admitted into Year 7 each year under a form of permitted academic selection. Sixth Form students must all achieve at least 7 GCSEs at grade C in order to be admitted to the Sixth Form, although a few are admitted to the Sixth Form with lesser qualifications.

Whilst the majority of students are from relatively prosperous homes, some 19% of students come from LSOAs in the bottom 50% when ranked by prosperity indices. These include students whose place in the school is supported by the Feofffees or by other charitable foundations such as the Royal Wanstead Children's Foundation of which Old Swinford Hospital is a major partner school.