Thirsk Community Primary School

Thirsk Community Primary School demonstrates a strong educational environment with effective leadership and a commitment to safety and inclusion. The school has made notable progress in improving attendance and behaviour, establishing a respectful atmosphere where pupils engage well in their learning. Despite these strengths, the school faces challenges in pupil achievement, particularly in reading, writing, and mathematics. Many pupils are not meeting the national expectations, which raises concerns about their preparedness for secondary education. The school has undergone leadership changes recently, which is part of its ongoing efforts to strengthen teaching and governance.

Strengths

• Strong focus on safeguarding, creating a safe environment for all pupils.
• Effective action taken by leaders to improve attendance and reduce persistent absence.
• Positive behaviour culture where bullying is rare and pupils feel supported.
• Well-structured early years education with a focus on communication and language.
• Inclusive support for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).
• Thorough personal development programme that promotes social skills and community involvement.

Areas for Improvement

• Pupil achievement in reading, writing, and mathematics is below national averages.
• Inconsistency in teaching practices across subjects, particularly in writing.
• Lack of sufficient support for handwriting, spelling, punctuation, and grammar.
• Leaders' improvement strategies have not fully embedded due to leadership transitions.

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 Thirsk Community Primary School attended 91.9% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 23.7% 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, 0.7% of pupils at Thirsk Community 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 Thirsk Community Primary School had 20.3 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 25.6% 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, 10.7% of pupils at Thirsk Community Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 5.7% 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 Thirsk Community Primary School received £10,579 and spent £10,438 for each of its 122 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £90,000 (£736 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 Thirsk · North Yorkshire local authority: places and applications

What is Thirsk Community Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Thirsk Community Primary School is Needs attention, from an inspection in April 2026.

When was Thirsk Community Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Thirsk Community Primary School was last inspected in April 2026.

How many pupils does Thirsk Community Primary School have?

Thirsk Community Primary School has 122 pupils on roll.

What age range does Thirsk Community Primary School cover?

Thirsk Community Primary School for pupils aged 2 to 11.

What are Thirsk Community Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 30% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Thirsk Community Primary School?

Thirsk Community Primary School is at Hambleton Place, Thirsk, North Yorkshire, YO7 1SL.