Thorn Grove Primary School

Thorn Grove Primary School continues to uphold the standards set during its previous inspection, maintaining a strong performance overall. Pupils arrive with enthusiasm and engage actively in a broad curriculum that encourages both academic and personal development. The school fosters a supportive and inclusive environment where pupils feel valued and respected, contributing to their emotional well-being and readiness to learn. Noteworthy is the school’s effective support for all pupils, including those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), ensuring that the curriculum is ambitious and tailored to promote success.

Strengths

• Pupils are eager and happy to attend school, showing enthusiasm for learning.
• The curriculum is ambitious and enriched with extra-curricular activities.
• Pupils generally behave extremely well and manage disagreements maturely.
• Teachers demonstrate strong subject knowledge and address learning barriers effectively.
• Reading is prioritized, leading to confident and fluent readers.
• The school culture celebrates diversity and fosters a sense of community.

Areas for Improvement

• Pupils do not have enough opportunities to produce high-quality writing.
• Expectations for writing quality and depth are not consistently high enough.
• A small group of pupils has high levels of persistent absence impacting their learning.

Admissions: local authority offers data from the Department for Education. A school is oversubscribed when at least 5% of the families who put it first were not offered a place, and undersubscribed when everyone who put it first got in but 10% or more of its places were unfilled in the Department's school capacity survey (the latest survey is used for entry years it does not cover). Places: Department for Education, School capacity, from local authorities' annual survey as at 1 May. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024–25); the survey was not run in 2020. Places include sixth form places. Forecasts are the local authority's own for the school's planning area, an area it uses to plan places that is not the school's catchment area. The forecast starts from a head count in 2025; the dashed line is the Department's estimate of places in that area, including those the authority has firm plans for. Planned places are cumulative, and only those with firm plans are counted.

In 2024–25 pupils at Thorn Grove Primary School attended 94.6% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 13.8% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 13.0%).

Sessions missed

Pupils persistently absent

Source: Department for Education, Pupil absence in schools in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Persistent absence means missing 10% or more of sessions; severe absence means 50% or more. No figures were published for 2019/20.

In 2024–25, 0.4% of pupils at Thorn Grove Primary School were suspended at least once (nationally 1.1%). No pupils were permanently excluded.

Pupils suspended at least once

Source: Department for Education, Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). A pupil can be suspended more than once, so suspensions per 100 pupils can be higher than the share of pupils suspended. Very small numbers are hidden by the DfE. Exclusion figures dropped in 2020 and 2021 because of school closures.

In 2025–26 Thorn Grove Primary School had 21.8 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 10.4% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 15.7%).

Pupils per teacher

Teachers who left the school within a year

Source: Department for Education, School workforce in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Pupils per teacher counts full-time-equivalent pupils and teachers. Turnover is the share of a year's teachers (full-time equivalent) who were not at the school the following year, whether they moved to another school or left state-funded teaching. Turnover and sickness figures run one year behind the ratios. Sick leave is the share of teachers who took at least one day in the year, so it swings widely at small schools, where a few teachers can make it 0% or 100%. The national figures are for all state schools of the same type.

In 2025–26, 11.7% of pupils at Thorn Grove Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 2.7% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 4.1%).

Pupils by main type of need

Source: Department for Education, Special educational needs in England (the 2025–26 school census). SEN support is extra help in school without an EHC plan. National figures are for all state-funded primary schools. Counts are as published, with small numbers not hidden.

In 2025–26 Thorn Grove Primary School received £7,722 and spent £7,423 for each of its 214 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £76,000 (£356 per pupil).

Income per pupil

Spending per pupil

Source: Department for Education, Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool. Each year is the one the financial year ends in (2024 is 2023–24).

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Bishop'S Stortford · Hertfordshire local authority: places and applications

What is Thorn Grove Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Thorn Grove Primary School is Good, from an inspection in November 2024.

When was Thorn Grove Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Thorn Grove Primary School was last inspected in November 2024.

How many pupils does Thorn Grove Primary School have?

Thorn Grove Primary School has 223 pupils on roll.

What age range does Thorn Grove Primary School cover?

Thorn Grove Primary School for pupils aged 3 to 11.

What are Thorn Grove Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 60% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Thorn Grove Primary School?

Thorn Grove Primary School is at Thorn Grove, Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire, CM23 5LD.