Thornhill Primary School

Thornhill Primary School is a larger-than-average primary school serving a disadvantaged community, with well above-average free school meals eligibility. The school is part of the Hamwic Education Trust. Pupils are happy, behave well, and benefit from strong pastoral care. The curriculum is ambitious, and early years and key stage 1 provision is effective, with children making steady progress despite wide starting gaps. Safeguarding is met, and leadership is ambitious and improvement-focused. However, pupils' achievement at the end of key stage 2 is a significant concern: outcomes in reading, writing and mathematics are well below national averages, especially for disadvantaged pupils. Persistent absence is also high, particularly for disadvantaged pupils and those with SEND. Leaders are taking decisive action to address these issues, and there are early signs of improvement, but much work remains.

Strengths

• Pupils are happy, courteous and behave well, showing respect and kindness.
• The curriculum is interesting and ambitious, with a clear progression from early years to Year 6.
• Early years provision is strong, skilfully addressing language and communication gaps.
• Reading is a high priority, and phonics is typically taught well.
• Leadership and governance are ambitious, with effective collaboration and support for staff.
• Personal development and wellbeing are well supported through a comprehensive PSHE curriculum and wide-ranging clubs.
• Safeguarding standards are met, with an open and positive culture.
• Attendance is rising and persistent absence is reducing for most groups due to effective leadership.

Areas for Improvement

• Pupils' achievement at the end of key stage 2 is low in reading, writing and mathematics, especially for disadvantaged pupils.
• Many pupils in key stage 2 have gaps in their knowledge that hinder their learning.
• Some disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND have persistently low attendance.
• Staff sometimes do not identify and address gaps in pupils' knowledge before introducing new learning.
• Adaptations for pupils with SEND are inconsistent across some subjects.
• Phonics checks in early years are not always precise enough to secure children's 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 Thornhill Primary School attended 92.0% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 20.3% 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, 6.2% of pupils at Thornhill 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 Thornhill Primary School had 17.3 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 4.9% 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, 16.7% of pupils at Thornhill Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 3.1% 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 2024–25 Thornhill Primary School received £8,431 and spent £8,197 for each of its 341 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £44,000 (£129 per pupil).

Across all 36 schools of Hamwic Education Trust, income was £7,058 and spending £7,015 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 Southampton · Southampton local authority: places and applications

Thornhill Primary School is part of Hamwic Education Trust, which runs 36 schools. The nearest others:

• Sholing Junior School Southampton
• Harefield Primary School Southampton
• Sholing Infant School Southampton
• Glenfield Infant School Southampton
• Beechwood Junior School Southampton
• Weston Park Primary School Southampton
• Ludlow Infant Academy Southampton
• Townhill Infant School Southampton
• Weston Secondary School Southampton
• Woolston Infant School Southampton

What is Thornhill Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Thornhill Primary School is Needs attention, from an inspection in June 2026.

When was Thornhill Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Thornhill Primary School was last inspected in June 2026.

How many pupils does Thornhill Primary School have?

Thornhill Primary School has 318 pupils on roll.

What age range does Thornhill Primary School cover?

Thornhill Primary School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

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

In 2025, 21% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Thornhill Primary School?

Thornhill Primary School is at Byron Road, Thornhill, Southampton, Hampshire, SO19 6FH.