Thornhill Academy

Sunderland · SR2 7NA

General information Secondary School · 11-16 years Who goes here 526 pupils, 49.6% FSM

Parent score Rate this school No reviews yet - be the first SEN 21.3% on SEN support Behaviour 12.2% absence rate Staff 31.3% turnover Financials £9,535 per pupil Environment Buildings and facilities

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Thornhill Academy

General Information

Address: Thornholme Road, Sunderland, SR2 7NA – View on map
Phone: 01915007981
Website: Visit school website
Headteacher: Mr Liam Clark
Age range: 11-16 years
Demand for places (Year 7, September 2026): 51 families put it first for 83 places – 6 for every 10 places. Every one of them was offered a place. No places went to families living outside the council area. Children putting it first, for every 10 places: 2023 6 · 2024 9 · 2025 9 · 2026 6
Sixth form: No
Intake: Mixed
Religious character: Does not apply
Nursery provision: No

Who goes here

526 pupils out of 1050 places Plenty of room

Pupils eligible for free school meals: 261
% eligible for free school meals: 49.6%
Pupil mix: 8 in 10 (more mixed than the Sunderland average)
English as an additional language: 42% (England 22%)

Staff

Teachers leaving each year

Teacher turnover: 31.3% a year (Sunderland 14.7%, typical in England 15.5%)
Where they went: about 43% moved to another school, 57% left state schools altogether (retirement, other careers, independent schools, abroad)
Data years: 2022/23 to 2024/25 (average of 3 years, DfE school workforce census)

Teachers who moved school or left state schools in the year after each November, as a share of all the school's teachers. Some turnover is healthy – retirements, promotions, moving house.

Behaviour

Awaiting Data

About this Behaviour status

We've asked this school for real behaviour figures under Freedom of Information and haven't had a response yet.

Across Sunderland: suspensions by reason

Suspensions for sexual misconduct: 16 (1.0 per 1,000 pupils; England 1.7)
Permanent exclusions for sexual misconduct: 2
Suspensions for bullying: 18 (1.1 per 1,000 pupils; England 1.9)
Suspensions for abuse against sexual orientation or gender identity: 22 (1.3 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.8)
Data year: 2024/25 (DfE suspensions and exclusions statistics)

These are figures for all state secondary schools in Sunderland, not this school's own – the government doesn't publish them school by school. A suspension can have up to three reasons. Most sexual harassment between pupils never leads to a suspension, so these figures show only part of the picture.

Attendance

Overall absence: 12.2%
Persistently absent pupils: 34.4%
Data year: 2024/25

About persistent absence

A pupil is counted as "persistently absent" if they miss 10% or more of their possible school sessions - roughly one day in every two weeks. Schools and Ofsted both pay close attention to this figure specifically, since it can highlight a pattern the overall absence rate alone might hide.

SEN

No dedicated Unit or Resourced Provision

SEN Unit and Resourced Provision

Most mainstream schools don't have a dedicated SEN Unit or Resourced Provision - it isn't a mark against a school that doesn't, just a different kind of setup than one that does.

Pupils on SEN Support: 21.3%
Pupils with an EHC Plan: 1.9%
Data year: 2025/26

Most common needs - SEN Support

Social, emotional and mental health: 51 pupils
Moderate learning difficulty: 28 pupils
Autistic spectrum disorder: 14 pupils
Speech, language and communications needs: 13 pupils
Physical disability: 3 pupils

Most common needs - EHC Plan

Autistic spectrum disorder: 4 pupils
Social, emotional and mental health: 4 pupils
Moderate learning difficulty: 2 pupils

These figures show the makeup of the school.

About these SEND figures

These figures give a sense of the makeup of the school - they aren't a judgement on the quality of support provided.

Parent score - no reviews yet –

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Behaviour

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Openness

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Teaching Quality

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School Ethos

–

Ability to Deal with Problems

–

Headteacher Approval

–

SafeguardingSafeguarding (parent rating)How parents rate the school on keeping children safe - how safe their child feels, and how well concerns are listened to and acted on. It's parents' experience, not an inspection result; Ofsted checks safeguarding separately.

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Would recommend –

Educational Attainment

Good 2024 report

About this Ofsted rating

Ofsted changed how it rates schools in the last couple of years, so ratings from different years aren't always on the same scale - that's why we show the year alongside every rating.

Attainment 8 score: 41.4
Compared with the area: 3.1 points below the Sunderland average (44.5)
Compared with schools with similar pupils: Below (−3.4 points against an expected 44.8)
Grade 4+ in English and maths: 54% (Sunderland 63%, England 65%) Improving
Data year: 2024/25

View the School Context Comparator – how this school's results compare with schools teaching similar pupils.

GCSE results over time

This schoolSunderland averageEngland↗ Improving Up 3.4 points since 2022/23. In 2024/25 this school was 3.1 points below the Sunderland average (44.5).

About the Attainment 8 score

Attainment 8 measures a pupil's average result across 8 GCSE-equivalent qualifications (English and maths count double). It shows how pupils performed, not how much progress they made getting there - a school with a higher score doesn't necessarily add more value, since pupils often arrive with different starting points. Progress 8 is the measure designed to account for that, but it currently can't be calculated for any school for the two most recent academic years, due to a nationwide gap in the data caused by COVID-19 disruption to Key Stage 2 testing.

15th of 18 secondary schools in Sunderland for Attainment 8

#13Castle View Enterprise Academy41.9
#14Oxclose Community Academy41.8
#15Thornhill Academy41.4
#16Sandhill View Academy38.6
#17Washington Academy33.1

Click to see the full ranking

Attainment 8 ranking

Illustrative MVP scores - not based on verified data yet.

Rank School Score

#1Hetton Academy51.8
#2St Aidan's Catholic Academy51.2
#3St Anthony's Girls' Catholic Academy50.7
#4Southmoor Academy49.0
#5St Robert of Newminster Catholic School and Sixth Form College, Washington48.9
#6Monkwearmouth Academy45.8
#7Red House Academy44.8
#8Farringdon Community Academy44.6
#9Venerable Bede Church of England Academy44.1
#10Kepier43.6
#11Christ's College43.2
#12Biddick Academy42.5
#13Castle View Enterprise Academy41.9
#14Oxclose Community Academy41.8
#15Thornhill Academy41.4
#16Sandhill View Academy38.6
#17Washington Academy33.1
#18Academy 36031.7

Leaver Destinations

In education, employment, or training a year later: 82.0%
Went into further education: 76.0%
Data year: 2024/25

About leaver destinations

This shows where a school's Year 11 leavers were recorded the following year - in a "sustained" destination means in education, an apprenticeship, or employment for at least 6 months, not just enrolled briefly. It's a different picture from exam results alone, and can highlight schools that support pupils well beyond just their GCSE grades.

GCSE Subjects Offered

Maths (General)
English Literature
English Language
Science Double Award
History
Art & Design
Religious Studies
Geography
Chemistry (General)
Biology
Physics (General)
Photography
Music Studies (General)
Speech & Drama
French Language
Statistics
Bengali
Arabic

About this subject list

This isn't the school's own description of its curriculum - it's real DfE exam entry data, showing which GCSE subjects this school's pupils were actually entered for in 2024/25. A subject not appearing here may still be taught but had no pupils entered that year, so treat this as a helpful guide rather than a complete guarantee - it's worth confirming directly with the school for the year your child would actually study.

View full Ofsted inspection report

12th of 13 secondary schools in Sunderland for Ofsted rating

#10St Anthony's Girls' Catholic AcademyGood
#11St Robert of Newminster Catholic School and Sixth Form College, WashingtonGood
#12Thornhill AcademyGood
#13Venerable Bede Church of England AcademyGood

Click to see the full ranking

Ofsted Rating ranking

Based on real Ofsted ratings (via official DfE data) for schools on the same four-word grading scale.

Rank School Score

#1Academy 360Good
#2Castle View Enterprise AcademyGood
#3Christ's CollegeGood
#4KepierGood
#5Monkwearmouth AcademyGood
#6Oxclose Community AcademyGood
#7Red House AcademyGood
#8Southmoor AcademyGood
#9St Aidan's Catholic AcademyGood
#10St Anthony's Girls' Catholic AcademyGood
#11St Robert of Newminster Catholic School and Sixth Form College, WashingtonGood
#12Thornhill AcademyGood
#13Venerable Bede Church of England AcademyGood

Financials

Spending per pupil: £9,535 (2024-25)

About this spending figure

A higher or lower position here isn't a sign of a better or worse school - schools have different needs and circumstances - but it can help reassure you that a school has sufficient funding behind your child's education.

4th of 18 secondary schools in Sunderland for spending per pupil

#2Sandhill View Academy£9,904
#3Farringdon Community Academy£9,820
#4Thornhill Academy£9,535
#5Washington Academy£9,236
#6Academy 360£9,167

Click to see the full ranking

Spending Per Pupil ranking

Based on official DfE financial return data (Consistent Financial Reporting / Academies Accounts Return) - not a ranking of school quality.

Rank School Score

#1Red House Academy£10,734
#2Sandhill View Academy£9,904
#3Farringdon Community Academy£9,820
#4Thornhill Academy£9,535
#5Washington Academy£9,236
#6Academy 360£9,167
#7Hetton Academy£8,532
#8Castle View Enterprise Academy£8,513
#9Venerable Bede Church of England Academy£8,360
#10Monkwearmouth Academy£8,229
#11Oxclose Community Academy£8,210
#12Biddick Academy£8,035
#13Kepier£7,915
#14Southmoor Academy£7,662
#15St Robert of Newminster Catholic School and Sixth Form College, Washington£7,434
#16St Anthony's Girls' Catholic Academy£6,931
#17St Aidan's Catholic Academy£6,283
#18Christ's College£6,250

View on the Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool (GOV.UK)

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General Information

Who goes here

Staff

Teachers leaving each year

Behaviour

Across Sunderland: suspensions by reason

Attendance

SEN

Most common needs - SEN Support

Most common needs - EHC Plan

Educational Attainment

Attainment 8 ranking

Leaver Destinations ?

GCSE Subjects Offered ?

Ofsted Rating ranking

Financials

Spending Per Pupil ranking

Leaver Destinations

GCSE Subjects Offered