Thirsk School & Sixth Form College
Topcliffe Road, Sowerby, Thirsk, YO7 1RZ
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Community school
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Headteacher
- Miss Emma Lambden
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Constituency
- Thirsk and Malton
- Setting
- Urban: Further from a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,255
- Pupils on roll
- 1,029
- URN
- 121666
- Local authority
- North Yorkshire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01845522024
About this school
Thirsk School & Sixth Form College is a community secondary school in Thirsk. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 1,029 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Thirsk School & Sixth Form College, and its latest judgement is set out below. Where the Department for Education has published them, its results and pupil characteristics appear below. Numbers and a report only go so far, so visit in person before you apply.
Ofsted judgement
Ofsted no longer gives schools a single overall grade. Each area of the school's work is graded on a five-point scale, and safeguarding is judged separately.
- Inclusion
- Expected standard
- Curriculum and teaching
- Expected standard
- Achievement
- Expected standard
- Attendance and behaviour
- Expected standard
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Expected standard
- Leadership and governance
- Expected standard
- Post-16 provision
- Expected standard
- Safeguarding
- Met
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 141 | 195 | 165 |
| Attainment 8 score | 42.0 | 43.6 | 43.5 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.04 -0.20 to +0.27 | -0.07 -0.27 to +0.13 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 28% | 35.9% | 38.8% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 58% | 61.5% | 58.8% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 45% | 35.9% | 45.5% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.7 | 3.8 | 3.9 |
Progress 8 is paused nationally for the 2024/25 and 2025/26 school years. Those pupils sat no key stage 2 tests during the Covid pandemic, so there is no starting point to measure progress from. A blank figure here is not missing school data.
Trends over time
How Thirsk School & Sixth Form College has moved over recent years against the local and national picture. Every figure is shown in the table beneath its chart.
| Year | This school | North Yorkshire average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 42 | 41.9 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 43.6 | 41.8 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 43.5 | 40.4 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 8% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 10.3% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 9.2% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 986 |
| 2023/24 | 1,016 |
| 2024/25 | 1,014 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Thirsk School & Sixth Form College compares
Thirsk School & Sixth Form College ranked 26th of 41 secondary schools in North Yorkshire for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 51% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 11% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 43.5 | 9.2% | 23% | 1,029 | — |
| Northallerton School & Sixth Form College | 37.5 | 12.5% | 30% | 1,002 | 8.4 miles |
| Boroughbridge High School | 43 | 9.4% | 21.9% | 388 | 9.5 miles |
| Ripon Grammar School | 70.9 | 4.9% | 4.3% | 957 | 9.7 miles |
| Outwood Academy Easingwold | 52 | 7.4% | 14.1% | 823 | 9.8 miles |
| Outwood Academy Ripon | 46.6 | 7.4% | 27.8% | 609 | 9.8 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)
- 22.95%
- English as an additional language
- 5.1%
- Overall absence
- 9.17%
- Persistent absence
- 25.14%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Northallerton School & Sixth Form College8.4 miles
Secondary · Northallerton
-
Boroughbridge High School9.5 miles
Secondary · York
-
Ripon Grammar School9.7 miles
Secondary · Ripon
-
Outwood Academy Easingwold9.8 miles
Secondary · York
-
Outwood Academy Ripon9.8 miles
Secondary · Ripon
Other schools in Thirsk
- Alanbrooke Academy Primary
- All Saints Catholic Primary School, a Catholic Voluntary Academy Primary
- Carlton Miniott Primary Academy Primary
- Dishforth Airfield Community Primary School Primary
- Dishforth Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School Primary
- Keeble Gateway Academy Primary
- Knayton Church of England Academy Primary
- Pickhill Church of England Primary School Primary
- Sessay Church of England Primary School Primary
- South Kilvington Church of England Academy Primary
- Sowerby Primary Academy Primary
- Thirsk Community Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What ages does Thirsk School & Sixth Form College teach?
- Thirsk School & Sixth Form College teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Thirsk.
- Who is the headteacher of Thirsk School & Sixth Form College?
- The headteacher of Thirsk School & Sixth Form College is Miss Emma Lambden, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Thirsk School & Sixth Form College been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Thirsk School & Sixth Form College, and its latest judgement is set out in the inspection section on this page, with the framework and the date it was made.
- How many pupils are at Thirsk School & Sixth Form College?
- Thirsk School & Sixth Form College has 1,029 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is Thirsk School & Sixth Form College full?
- Thirsk School & Sixth Form College has capacity for 1,255 pupils and 1,029 on roll (82%), 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 Thirsk School & Sixth Form College a faith school?
- No. Thirsk School & Sixth Form College has no designated religious character.
- Is Thirsk School & Sixth Form College a selective school?
- No. Thirsk School & Sixth Form College is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- How have Thirsk School & Sixth Form College's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 42 in 2022/23 and 43.5 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Thirsk School & Sixth Form College compare with other schools in North Yorkshire?
- Thirsk School & Sixth Form College ranked 26th of 41 secondary schools in North Yorkshire for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 51% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 11% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Thirsk School & Sixth Form College's absence rate?
- Thirsk School & Sixth Form College's overall absence rate is 9.2% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Thirsk School & Sixth Form College's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Thirsk School & Sixth Form College'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 30 June 2026.