Thornhill Primary School
Grove Road, Houghton Regis, Dunstable, LU5 5PE
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Community school
- Ages
- 2 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Headteacher
- Mrs Bernice Waite
- Nursery provision
- Has Nursery Classes
- Constituency
- Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 660
- Pupils on roll
- 516
- URN
- 109504
- Local authority
- Central Bedfordshire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01582863516
About this school
Thornhill Primary School is a community primary school in Dunstable. It teaches children aged 2 to 11 and has 516 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
Ofsted did not give an overall grade. Between September 2024 and September 2025 inspections graded each area of a school's work without a single overall judgement, ahead of the move to report cards. How Ofsted report cards work
- Quality of education
- Good
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Good
- Personal development
- Outstanding
- Leadership and management
- Good
- Early years
- Good
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 2 (end of primary school)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 2 | 30 | 30 | 41 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 73% | 70% | 68% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 3% | 10% | 10% |
| Expected standard in reading | 80% | 80% | 78% |
| Expected standard in maths | 83% | 83% | 85% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 80% | 83% | 83% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 106.0 | 106.0 | 106.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 106.0 | 107.0 | 107.0 |
| Reading progress | +0.80 | - | - |
| Writing progress | -1.70 | - | - |
| Maths progress | +2.40 | - | - |
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 Thornhill 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 | Central Bedfordshire average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 73% | 47.8% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 70% | 49.1% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 68% | 49.9% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 6.2% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 6.3% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 4.6% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 294 |
| 2023/24 | 319 |
| 2024/25 | 450 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Thornhill Primary School compares
Thornhill Primary School ranked 10th of 48 primary schools in Central Bedfordshire for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 61% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 71% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 68% | 4.6% | 17.9% | 516 | — |
| Lime Tree Primary Academy | 57% | 5.9% | 31.3% | 360 | 0.4 miles |
| St Vincent's Catholic Primary School | 73% | 3.9% | 10.2% | 213 | 0.6 miles |
| Tithe Farm Primary School | 41% | 6.3% | 22.1% | 432 | 0.7 miles |
| Chalton Lower School | — | 4.6% | 10.9% | 65 | 0.8 miles |
| Thomas Whitehead Church of England Academy | 39% | 6.8% | 36.1% | 206 | 0.9 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.
Inspection history
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 17.92%
- English as an additional language
- 54.4%
- Overall absence
- 4.56%
- Persistent absence
- 8.08%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Lime Tree Primary Academy0.4 miles
Primary
-
St Vincent's Catholic Primary School0.6 miles
Primary · Dunstable
-
Tithe Farm Primary School0.7 miles
Primary · Dunstable
-
Chalton Lower School0.8 miles
Primary · Luton
-
Thomas Whitehead Church of England Academy0.9 miles
Primary · Dunstable
Other schools in Dunstable
Thornhill Primary School ranks 5th of the 20 ranked primary schools in Dunstable.
- Ardley Hill Academy Primary
- Ashton St Peter's VA C of E School Primary
- Beecroft Academy Primary
- Dunstable Icknield Lower School Primary
- Eaton Bray Academy Primary
- Edlesborough Primary Academy Primary
- Hadrian Academy Primary
- Harlington Lower School Primary
- Houghton Regis Primary School Primary
- Kensworth Church of England Academy Primary
- Lancot School Primary
- Lark Rise Academy Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Thornhill Primary School teach?
- Thornhill Primary School teaches children aged 2 to 11. It is a primary school in Dunstable.
- Who is the headteacher of Thornhill Primary School?
- The headteacher of Thornhill Primary School is Mrs Bernice Waite, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Thornhill Primary School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Thornhill 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 Thornhill Primary School?
- Thornhill Primary School has 516 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 2 to 11.
- Is Thornhill Primary School full?
- Thornhill Primary School has capacity for 660 pupils and 516 on roll (78%), so it has space against its published capacity. Places are allocated through the local authority's admissions process, so capacity alone does not tell you whether a place is available.
- Is Thornhill Primary School a faith school?
- No. Thornhill Primary School has no designated religious character.
- Does Thornhill Primary School have a nursery?
- Yes. The schools register records Thornhill Primary School as having nursery classes.
- How have Thornhill Primary School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 73% in 2022/23 and 68% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Thornhill Primary School rank locally?
- Thornhill Primary School ranked 10th of 48 primary schools in Central Bedfordshire for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 61% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 71% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Thornhill Primary School's absence rate?
- Thornhill Primary School's overall absence rate is 4.6% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Thornhill Primary School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Thornhill 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 29 June 2026.