Thornhill Academy

Thornhill Academy at a glance

Located in Sunderland, Thornhill Academy is a secondary school, classified by the DfE as a sponsor-led academy. The school educates roughly 564 pupils aged 11 to 16. Ofsted judged the school to be 'Good' at its most recent inspection. In the most recent GCSE results, pupils achieved an average Attainment 8 score of 41.4, below the national average of 46. That marks an improvement of 2.2 points in its Attainment 8 score on the previous year. On our composite score, which combines the DfE attainment measures above, this places it in the lower half of secondary schools nationally.

33% of pupils achieved a grade 5 or above in both English and maths, below the national average of about 45%. 54% achieved a standard pass (grade 4+) in English and maths. Thornhill Academy was not oversubscribed for September 2026: all 51 families who put it first were offered a place. After Year 11, 82% of its leavers went on to education, an apprenticeship or work that they stayed in for at least two terms. Overall pupil absence was 11.5%. There are about 16.2 pupils per teacher. The school serves a community with above-average levels of disadvantage: about 46% of pupils have been eligible for free school meals in the last six years, compared with roughly 24% nationally — useful context when reading the results above. When comparing schools, it is still worth visiting in person to see whether the atmosphere and approach suit your child. 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.