Thomas Telford School

Thomas Telford School demonstrates strong overall performance, achieving a 'Good' rating in overall effectiveness, and 'Outstanding' in key areas such as the quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and sixth-form provision. Having been last inspected 13 years ago while rated 'Outstanding' under a previous framework and subsequently exempt from routine inspections until late 2022, the school's continued focus on high academic standards and personal growth for students remains evident. The school prioritizes working with families to foster a supportive learning environment and displays high standards in pupil behaviour and engagement.

Strengths

• High expectations permeate all aspects of school life.
• Pupils produce work of a very high standard.
• Extensive support for pupils with special educational needs.
• Rich and extensive careers programme for all year groups.
• Exceptional personal development opportunities with a variety of extracurricular activities.

Areas for Improvement

• Inconsistent use of attendance codes hampers oversight of pupil behaviour.
• Behaviour policy lacks full reflection of interventions to support pupils.

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 Thomas Telford School attended 95.4% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 9.7% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 23.4%).

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, 6.9% of pupils at Thomas Telford School were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). 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 2017–18 Thomas Telford School had 14.5 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 15.9). Of its teachers in 2017–18, 21.5% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 18.3%).

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, 6.9% of pupils at Thomas Telford School were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 0.2% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 3.5%).

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 secondary schools. Counts are as published, with small numbers not hidden.

In 2024–25 Thomas Telford School received £7,854 and spent £7,131 for each of its 1,633 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £9,521,000 (£5,830 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). Academy figures include a share of the trust's central services, shared out by pupil numbers, and are rounded to the nearest £1,000. Premises costs were defined differently from 2024, so compare them across that gap with care.

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Telford · Telford and Wrekin local authority: places and applications

What is Thomas Telford School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Thomas Telford School is Good, from an inspection in July 2023.

When was Thomas Telford School last inspected by Ofsted?

Thomas Telford School was last inspected in July 2023.

How many pupils does Thomas Telford School have?

Thomas Telford School has 1,657 pupils on roll.

What age range does Thomas Telford School cover?

Thomas Telford School for pupils aged 11 to 18.

What are Thomas Telford School's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 51.8, and 51% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Thomas Telford School?

Thomas Telford School is at Old Park, Telford, Shropshire, TF3 4NW.