Thornton Primary School
Thornton Road, Ward End, Birmingham, B8 2LQ
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Community school
- Ages
- 7 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Headteacher
- Mrs Cathy Grace
- Constituency
- Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 480
- Pupils on roll
- 473
- URN
- 103268
- Local authority
- Birmingham
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01213270824
About this school
Thornton Primary School is a community primary school in Birmingham. It teaches children aged 7 to 11 and has 473 pupils on roll.
You can read Ofsted's latest judgement for the school below. Where the Department for Education has published them, its results and pupil characteristics appear below. Seeing a school for yourself shows what no page can, so arrange a visit before you apply.
Ofsted judgement
Confirmed by a short inspection, not a full one
Ofsted's most recent visit was a short inspection on 24 May 2023, where inspectors confirmed the school remains Good. The school's last full inspection took place before September 2019, so its area grades are not part of Ofsted's current published data. Older reports are on the school's Ofsted page.
Exam results
Key stage 2 (end of primary school)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 2 | 149 | 121 | 120 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 64% | 62% | 67% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 0% | 3% | 4% |
| Expected standard in reading | 77% | 68% | 76% |
| Expected standard in maths | 76% | 78% | 81% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 79% | 77% | 78% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 106.0 | 104.0 | 107.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 106.0 | 105.0 | 107.0 |
| Reading progress | -0.20 | - | - |
| Writing progress | -3.10 | - | - |
| Maths progress | +0.90 | - | - |
Progress measures ended nationally after the 2022/23 school year, when the key stage 1 assessments they were based on were stopped. Blank progress figures in later years are not missing school data.
Trends over time
How Thornton Primary School has moved over recent years against the local and national picture. Every figure is shown in the table beneath its chart.
| Year | This school | Birmingham average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 64% | 55.7% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 62% | 58.3% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 67% | 60.1% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 7.3% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 7.3% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 6.9% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 505 |
| 2023/24 | 480 |
| 2024/25 | 477 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Thornton Primary School compares
Thornton Primary School ranked 125th of 266 primary schools in Birmingham for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 57% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 26% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 67% | 6.9% | 58.5% | 473 | — |
| Sladefield Infant School | — | 6.8% | 45.8% | 266 | 0.2 miles |
| St Cuthbert's RC Junior and Infant (NC) School | 52% | 6.4% | 61.4% | 234 | 0.5 miles |
| Ward End Primary School | 69% | 7.8% | 48.1% | 878 | 0.5 miles |
| Alston Primary School | 59% | 6.2% | 54.8% | 636 | 0.7 miles |
| Nansen Primary School | 61% | 7.2% | 55.4% | 528 | 0.7 miles |
Results reflect each school's cohort as much as its teaching, and free school meals share is context, not a judgement. Small gaps between neighbouring schools are rarely meaningful on their own.
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 58.49%
- English as an additional language
- 80.5%
- Overall absence
- 6.92%
- Persistent absence
- 18.88%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Sladefield Infant School0.2 miles
Primary · Birmingham
-
St Cuthbert's RC Junior and Infant (NC) School0.5 miles
Primary · Birmingham
-
Ward End Primary School0.5 miles
Primary · Birmingham
-
Alston Primary School0.7 miles
Primary · Birmingham
-
Nansen Primary School0.7 miles
Primary · Birmingham
Other schools in Birmingham
Thornton Primary School ranks 126th of the 273 ranked primary schools in Birmingham.
- Abbey Catholic Primary School Primary
- Acocks Green Primary School Primary
- Adderley Primary School Primary
- Al-Furqan Primary School Primary
- Albert Bradbeer Primary Academy Primary
- Allens Croft Primary School Primary
- Alston Primary School Primary
- Anderton Park Primary School Primary
- Anglesey Primary School Primary
- Arden Primary School Primary
- Ark Tindal Primary Academy Primary
- Aston Tower Community Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Thornton Primary School teach?
- Thornton Primary School teaches children aged 7 to 11. It is a primary school in Birmingham.
- Who is the headteacher of Thornton Primary School?
- The headteacher of Thornton Primary School is Mrs Cathy Grace, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Thornton Primary School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Thornton Primary School, and its latest judgement is set out in the inspection section on this page, with the framework and the date it was made.
- How big is Thornton Primary School?
- Thornton Primary School has 473 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 7 to 11.
- Is Thornton Primary School full?
- Thornton Primary School has capacity for 480 pupils and 473 on roll (99%), so it is close to full. Places are allocated through the local authority's admissions process, so capacity alone does not tell you whether a place is available.
- Is Thornton Primary School a faith school?
- No. Thornton Primary School has no designated religious character.
- Does Thornton Primary School have a nursery?
- No. The schools register records Thornton Primary School as having no nursery classes.
- How have Thornton Primary School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 64% in 2022/23 and 67% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Thornton Primary School rank locally?
- Thornton Primary School ranked 125th of 266 primary schools in Birmingham for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 57% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 26% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Thornton Primary School's absence rate?
- Thornton Primary School's overall absence rate is 6.9% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Thornton Primary School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Thornton Primary School's key stage results are shown in the results section on this page, with the last three years so you can see the trend rather than a single year.
School details come from the Department for Education's Get Information About Schools register. Inspection outcomes come from Ofsted, and exam results from the Department for Education's school performance service. This page was last updated on 1 July 2026.