Thurston Community College
Norton Road, Thurston, Bury St Edmunds, IP31 3PB
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Community school
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Principal
- Ms Maéve Taylor
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Constituency
- Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket
- Setting
- Larger rural: Further from a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,800
- Pupils on roll
- 1,512
- URN
- 124802
- Local authority
- Suffolk
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01359230885
About this school
Thurston Community College is a community secondary school in Bury St Edmunds. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 1,512 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 6 March 2024, 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 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 269 | 265 | 265 |
| Attainment 8 score | 45.8 | 44.4 | 46.9 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.14 -0.31 to +0.03 | -0.16 -0.33 to +0.01 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 43% | 41.5% | 50.6% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 66% | 64.5% | 66.8% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 13% | 28.7% | 23.4% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.8 | 3.9 | 4.1 |
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 Thurston Community 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 | Suffolk average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 45.8 | 37.4 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 44.4 | 37.3 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 46.9 | 36 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 7.7% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 8.5% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 7.8% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,570 |
| 2023/24 | 1,499 |
| 2024/25 | 1,484 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Thurston Community College compares
Thurston Community College ranked 10th of 43 secondary schools in Suffolk for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 65% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 18% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 46.9 | 7.8% | 18% | 1,512 | — |
| Sybil Andrews Academy | 49.5 | 7.8% | 14.5% | 657 | 2.3 miles |
| Ixworth High School | 44 | 9.3% | 22.9% | 512 | 3.5 miles |
| King Edward VI CEVC School | 45.4 | 9.9% | 20% | 1,189 | 4.5 miles |
| Bury St Edmunds County High School | 49.8 | 9.5% | 24.6% | 657 | 4.5 miles |
| St Benedict's Catholic School | 49.8 | 7.2% | 12.7% | 968 | 4.6 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)
- 17.95%
- English as an additional language
- 1.9%
- Overall absence
- 7.83%
- Persistent absence
- 24.03%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Sybil Andrews Academy2.3 miles
Secondary · Bury St. Edmunds
-
Ixworth High School3.5 miles
Secondary · Ixworth
-
King Edward VI CEVC School4.5 miles
Secondary · Bury St Edmunds
-
Bury St Edmunds County High School4.5 miles
Secondary · Bury St Edmunds
-
St Benedict's Catholic School4.6 miles
Secondary · Bury St Edmunds
Other schools in Bury St Edmunds
- Bury St Edmunds County High School Secondary
- King Edward VI CEVC School Secondary
- St Benedict's Catholic School Secondary
- Abbots Green Primary Academy Primary
- All Saints' Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School, Lawshall Primary
- Bardwell Church of England Primary School Primary
- Barningham Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School Primary
- Barrow Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School Primary
- Beck Row Primary Academy Primary
- Cockfield Church of England Primary School Primary
- Elmswell Community Primary School Primary
- Great Barton Church of England Primary Academy Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Thurston Community College teach?
- Thurston Community College teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Bury St Edmunds.
- Who is the principal of Thurston Community College?
- The principal of Thurston Community College is Ms Maéve Taylor, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Thurston Community College last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Thurston Community 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 big is Thurston Community College?
- Thurston Community College has 1,512 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is Thurston Community College full?
- Thurston Community College has capacity for 1,800 pupils and 1,512 on roll (84%), 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 Thurston Community College a faith school?
- No. Thurston Community College has no designated religious character.
- Is Thurston Community College a selective school?
- No. Thurston Community College is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- How have Thurston Community College's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 45.8 in 2022/23 and 46.9 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Thurston Community College rank locally?
- Thurston Community College ranked 10th of 43 secondary schools in Suffolk for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 65% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 18% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Thurston Community College's absence rate?
- Thurston Community College's overall absence rate is 7.8% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Thurston Community College's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Thurston Community 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.