Thomas Knyvett College

Thomas Knyvett College is a secondary school that requires attention in several areas but shows positive capacity for improvement under its relatively new leadership. The school joined The Howard Partnership Trust and has undergone significant changes, including the appointment of a new principal. Leaders at all levels have a clear understanding of the school's challenges and have focused on the most urgent priorities first. Governance is a notable strength, with trustees providing effective support and challenge. Safeguarding standards are met, and pupils report feeling safe and well supported pastorally.

Strengths

• Trustees are highly effective in fulfilling their statutory responsibilities and holding leaders to account.
• Leaders accurately identify and monitor improvement priorities, taking decisions in the best interests of pupils.
• The school provides effective pastoral care, and pupils trust staff to support them with concerns.
• Pupils are typically respectful, behave well, and bullying is uncommon and reducing.
• Safeguarding standards are met, and pupils feel safe.
• Leaders have established effective partnerships with external professionals to meet pupils' needs.
• Pupils benefit from a broad range of extracurricular opportunities and leadership roles.

Areas for Improvement

• Pupils' achievement is varied, and some do not achieve as well as they could in national examinations.
• Teaching quality is inconsistent, and sometimes expectations of pupils are not high enough.
• Gaps in pupils' knowledge are not identified and addressed in a timely manner.
• Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) sometimes make insufficient progress from their starting points.
• Attendance is not consistently high, and some pupils, including disadvantaged pupils and those with SEND, are absent too often.
• A small but significant minority of pupils do not behave as well as they should.
• Support for pupils with SEND and disadvantaged pupils is not consistently well matched to their needs.
• Pupils' understanding of fundamental British values and protected characteristics is variable.
• Leaders have not yet secured consistent high-quality teaching across the curriculum.

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 Knyvett College attended 91.5% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 27.1% 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, 13.8% of pupils at Thomas Knyvett College were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). 6 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 Thomas Knyvett College had 15.2 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 17.2% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 14.1%).

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, 15.4% of pupils at Thomas Knyvett College were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 4.3% 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 Knyvett College received £9,266 and spent £9,507 for each of its 688 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £410,000 (£596 per pupil).

Across all 13 schools of The Howard Partnership Trust, income was £9,406 and spending £9,407 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 Ashford (Spelthorne) · Surrey local authority: places and applications

Thomas Knyvett College is part of The Howard Partnership Trust, which runs 14 schools. The nearest others:

• Meadhurst Primary School Ashford
• Kenyngton Manor Primary School Sunbury-On-Thames
• Sunbury Manor School Sunbury-On-Thames
• Three Rivers Academy Walton-On-Thames
• Linden Bridge School Worcester Park
• Cuddington Community Primary School Worcester Park
• Fox Grove School Leatherhead
• West Hill School Leatherhead
• Eastwick Infant School Leatherhead
• Eastwick Junior School Leatherhead

What is Thomas Knyvett College's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Thomas Knyvett College is Needs attention, from an inspection in July 2026.

When was Thomas Knyvett College last inspected by Ofsted?

Thomas Knyvett College was last inspected in July 2026.

How many pupils does Thomas Knyvett College have?

Thomas Knyvett College has 671 pupils on roll.

What age range does Thomas Knyvett College cover?

Thomas Knyvett College for pupils aged 11 to 16.

What are Thomas Knyvett College's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 38.7, and 31% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Thomas Knyvett College?

Thomas Knyvett College is at Stanwell Road, Ashford, Surrey, TW15 3DU.