Thomas Bennett Community College
Ashdown Drive, Tilgate, Crawley, RH10 5AD
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- THE KEMNAL ACADEMIES TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mr Daniel Hatley
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- The Kemnal Academies Trust
- SEN provision
- ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder
- Constituency
- Crawley
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,450
- Pupils on roll
- 1,261
- URN
- 138620
- Local authority
- West Sussex
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01293526255
About this school
Thomas Bennett Community College is a secondary academy in Crawley. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 1,261 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
Overall judgement at the last full inspection
This inspection took place under the previous framework, which gave a single overall grade. Ofsted now publishes report cards instead, so newer inspections of other schools will look different. How Ofsted report cards work
- Quality of education
- Good
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Good
- Personal development
- Good
- Leadership and management
- Good
- Sixth form
- Good
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 188 | 193 | 176 |
| Attainment 8 score | 31.5 | 32.5 | 33.1 |
| Progress 8 score | -1.05 -1.26 to -0.84 | -0.95 -1.16 to -0.73 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 19% | 21.8% | 22.2% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 43% | 42% | 43.8% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 22% | 14% | 18.8% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 2.7 | 2.9 | 2.9 |
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 Thomas Bennett 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 | West Sussex average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 31.5 | 37.1 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 32.5 | 37.2 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 33.1 | 36 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 11.3% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 11.5% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 11.6% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,257 |
| 2023/24 | 1,271 |
| 2024/25 | 1,262 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Thomas Bennett Community College compares
Thomas Bennett Community College ranked 38th of 38 secondary schools in West Sussex for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 24% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 4% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 33.1 | 11.6% | 37.8% | 1,261 | — |
| Holy Trinity CofE Secondary School, Crawley | 41.7 | 12% | 32.4% | 1,340 | 0.9 miles |
| St Wilfrid's Catholic Comprehensive School, Crawley | 45.5 | 6.5% | 16% | 1,174 | 1.0 miles |
| Oriel High School | 45.4 | 8.8% | 14.9% | 1,441 | 1.5 miles |
| Ifield Community College | — | — | — | 1,214 | 1.5 miles |
| Hazelwick School | 50.2 | 6.6% | 18.7% | 1,913 | 2.1 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)
- 37.84%
- English as an additional language
- 28.8%
- Overall absence
- 11.56%
- Persistent absence
- 32.1%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Holy Trinity CofE Secondary School, Crawley0.9 miles
Secondary · Crawley
-
St Wilfrid's Catholic Comprehensive School, Crawley1.0 miles
Secondary · Crawley
-
Oriel High School1.5 miles
Secondary · Crawley
-
Ifield Community College1.5 miles
Secondary · Crawley
-
Hazelwick School2.1 miles
Secondary · Crawley
Other schools in Crawley
Thomas Bennett Community College ranks 6th of the 6 ranked secondary schools in Crawley.
- Hazelwick School Secondary
- Holy Trinity CofE Secondary School, Crawley Secondary
- Ifield Community College Secondary
- Oriel High School Secondary
- St Wilfrid's Catholic Comprehensive School, Crawley Secondary
- Broadfield Primary Academy Primary
- Brook Infant School and Nursery Primary
- Crawley Down Village CofE School Primary
- Desmond Anderson Primary Academy Primary
- Fairway Infant School, Copthorne Primary
- Forge Wood Primary School Primary
- Gossops Green Primary Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Thomas Bennett Community College teach?
- Thomas Bennett Community College teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Crawley.
- Who is the headteacher of Thomas Bennett Community College?
- The headteacher of Thomas Bennett Community College is Mr Daniel Hatley, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Thomas Bennett Community College last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Thomas Bennett 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 Thomas Bennett Community College?
- Thomas Bennett Community College has 1,261 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is Thomas Bennett Community College full?
- Thomas Bennett Community College has capacity for 1,450 pupils and 1,261 on roll (87%), 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 Thomas Bennett Community College a faith school?
- No. Thomas Bennett Community College has no designated religious character.
- Is Thomas Bennett Community College a selective school?
- No. Thomas Bennett Community College is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs Thomas Bennett Community College?
- Thomas Bennett Community College is part of THE KEMNAL ACADEMIES TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- What SEN provision does Thomas Bennett Community College have?
- The schools register lists Thomas Bennett Community College's special educational needs provision as: ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have Thomas Bennett Community College's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 31.5 in 2022/23 and 33.1 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Thomas Bennett Community College rank locally?
- Thomas Bennett Community College ranked 38th of 38 secondary schools in West Sussex for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 24% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 4% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Thomas Bennett Community College's absence rate?
- Thomas Bennett Community College's overall absence rate is 11.6% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Thomas Bennett Community College's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Thomas Bennett 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 1 July 2026.