Thomas Gainsborough School
Performance (KS4 GCSE)
Three-year trends
Last three years of DfE data. How to read trends
Ofsted judgements
Getting a place
Red dashed line = one first choice per place. How to read this
The cut-off distance is how far the last child offered a place lived, not a catchment boundary: it moves every year with the number of applicants, and in 2025 the last place went under “Priority Group 4.2 – children who do not attend a named partner school on proxim”. Published by the council in its 2025 allocation figures, and checked against that document before we show it. In 2026 the school was not oversubscribed, so no distance limit applied.
Application figures: DfE, school level applications and offers (2026 intake).
School profile
- Age range
- 11–18
- Pupils on roll
- 1,615
- Gender
- Mixed
- Admissions
- Non-Selective
Pupil background
Special educational needs
Attendance
Staffing & funding
“Typical” = the median secondary school in England. What this means
What pupils do next
The share of this school's Year 11 leavers in education, training or employment for at least two terms afterwards.
DfE, KS4 destination measures.
Nearby secondary schools
Location
Official sources
Thomas Gainsborough School at a glance
Located in Sudbury, Suffolk, Thomas Gainsborough School is a secondary school, classified by the DfE as a converter academy. The school educates roughly 1,615 pupils aged 11 to 18. The school's average Attainment 8 score in the latest GCSE results was 46.1 — broadly in line with the national average (national average: 46). Its Attainment 8 score has fallen by 2.3 points compared with the previous year. On our composite score, which combines the DfE attainment measures above, this places it around the middle of secondary schools nationally.
46% of pupils achieved a grade 5 or above in both English and maths, in line with the national average of about 45%. 65% achieved a standard pass (grade 4+) in English and maths. Getting a place is straightforward: for the September 2026 intake every family who made Thomas Gainsborough School their first choice was offered one of its 271 Year 7 places. In 2025 the furthest child offered a place lived 3.02 miles from the school in a straight line, according to the council's published allocation figures; the distance changes every year with demand. After Year 11, 96% of its leavers went on to education, an apprenticeship or work that they stayed in for at least two terms. Overall pupil absence was 9.5%. There are about 20.6 pupils per teacher. Thomas Gainsborough School does not currently have a recent graded Ofsted judgement on record (often the case for newer or recently converted schools), so it is worth asking when its next inspection is expected. This overview is generated automatically from the latest published DfE performance tables and Ofsted data; figures are rounded, and you can check the originals via the official links above.