Thorndown Primary School
Hill Rise, St Ives, PE27 6SE
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Community school
- Ages
- 4 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Headteacher
- Mr Christopher Snape
- Nursery provision
- Has Nursery Classes
- Constituency
- Huntingdon
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 630
- Pupils on roll
- 478
- URN
- 136814
- Local authority
- Cambridgeshire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01480375103
About this school
Thorndown Primary School is a community primary school in St Ives. It teaches children aged 4 to 11 and has 478 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 2 November 2022, 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 | 90 | 81 | 75 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 60% | 63% | 61% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 2% | 9% | 5% |
| Expected standard in reading | 77% | 83% | 84% |
| Expected standard in maths | 79% | 70% | 81% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 74% | 74% | 87% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 106.0 | 107.0 | 108.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 104.0 | 105.0 | 107.0 |
| Reading progress | +0.60 | - | - |
| Writing progress | -1.90 | - | - |
| 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 Thorndown 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 | Cambridgeshire average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 60% | 56.8% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 63% | 55.7% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 61% | 57.4% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 5.3% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 4.5% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 4.7% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 516 |
| 2023/24 | 501 |
| 2024/25 | 493 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Thorndown Primary School compares
Thorndown Primary School ranked 105th of 195 primary schools in Cambridgeshire for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 43% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 66% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 61% | 4.7% | 17.4% | 478 | — |
| Wheatfields Primary School | 57% | 4.1% | 16.1% | 287 | 0.6 miles |
| Westfield Junior School | 48% | 4.4% | 23.9% | 234 | 0.7 miles |
| Eastfield Infant and Nursery School | — | 4.4% | 20% | 211 | 0.8 miles |
| Wyton on the Hill Community Primary School | 39% | 3.7% | 19.2% | 134 | 1.2 miles |
| Hemingford Grey Primary School | 66% | 4.5% | 9.9% | 244 | 1.2 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)
- 17.44%
- English as an additional language
- 15.4%
- Overall absence
- 4.7%
- Persistent absence
- 10.96%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Wheatfields Primary School0.6 miles
Primary · St Ives
-
Westfield Junior School0.7 miles
Primary · St Ives
-
Eastfield Infant and Nursery School0.8 miles
Primary · St Ives
-
Wyton on the Hill Community Primary School1.2 miles
Primary · Huntingdon
-
Hemingford Grey Primary School1.2 miles
Primary · Huntingdon
Other schools in St Ives
- Eastfield Infant and Nursery School Primary
- Holywell CofE Primary School Primary
- Westfield Junior School Primary
- Wheatfields Primary School Primary
- St Ivo Academy Secondary
- Aurora Fairway School Special schools
Common questions
- What year groups does Thorndown Primary School teach?
- Thorndown Primary School teaches children aged 4 to 11. It is a primary school in St Ives.
- Who is the headteacher of Thorndown Primary School?
- The headteacher of Thorndown Primary School is Mr Christopher Snape, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Thorndown Primary School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Thorndown 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 Thorndown Primary School?
- Thorndown Primary School has 478 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 4 to 11.
- Is Thorndown Primary School full?
- Thorndown Primary School has capacity for 630 pupils and 478 on roll (76%), 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 Thorndown Primary School a faith school?
- No. Thorndown Primary School has no designated religious character.
- Does Thorndown Primary School have a nursery?
- Yes. The schools register records Thorndown Primary School as having nursery classes.
- How have Thorndown Primary School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 60% in 2022/23 and 61% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Thorndown Primary School rank locally?
- Thorndown Primary School ranked 105th of 195 primary schools in Cambridgeshire for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 43% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 66% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Thorndown Primary School's absence rate?
- Thorndown Primary School's overall absence rate is 4.7% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Thorndown Primary School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Thorndown 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.