Lord Williams's School
Oxford Road, Thame, OX9 2AQ
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- THAME PARTNERSHIP ACADEMY TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mr Neil Dimbleby
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- SEN provision
- SLCN - Speech, language and Communication, ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder
- Constituency
- Henley and Thame
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 2,290
- Pupils on roll
- 2,259
- URN
- 138667
- Local authority
- Oxfordshire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01844210510
About this school
Lord Williams's School is a secondary academy in Thame. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 2,259 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Lord Williams's School, and its latest judgement is set out 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 | 323 | 317 | 345 |
| Attainment 8 score | 49.3 | 48.4 | 46.2 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.04 -0.20 to +0.12 | +0.06 -0.10 to +0.22 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 56% | 49.2% | 47.8% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 77% | 74.1% | 68.4% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 27% | 24.3% | 26.4% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 4.3 | 4.2 | 4.0 |
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 Lord Williams's 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 | Oxfordshire average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 49.3 | 38.1 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 48.4 | 37.2 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 46.2 | 37.5 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 10.2% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 11.4% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 11.1% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 2,229 |
| 2023/24 | 2,276 |
| 2024/25 | 2,290 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Lord Williams's School compares
Lord Williams's School ranked 21st of 41 secondary schools in Oxfordshire for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 62% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 5% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 46.2 | 11.1% | 14.8% | 2,259 | — |
| Wheatley Park School | 51.5 | 8.4% | 16% | 1,146 | 6.2 miles |
| Icknield Community College | 51.2 | 8% | 14.6% | 804 | 6.8 miles |
| Princes Risborough School | 40.3 | 12.4% | 19.5% | 1,083 | 7.2 miles |
| Waddesdon Church of England School | 51 | 6.6% | 11.9% | 1,012 | 7.3 miles |
| The Mandeville School | 38.9 | 12% | 27.7% | 966 | 8.4 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)
- 14.82%
- English as an additional language
- 6.4%
- Overall absence
- 11.12%
- Persistent absence
- 26.44%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Wheatley Park School6.2 miles
Secondary · Oxford
-
Icknield Community College6.8 miles
Secondary · Watlington
-
Princes Risborough School7.2 miles
Secondary · Princes Risborough
-
Waddesdon Church of England School7.3 miles
Secondary · Aylesbury
-
The Mandeville School8.4 miles
Secondary · Aylesbury
Other schools in Thame
- Barley Hill Primary School Primary
- John Hampden Primary School Primary
- St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Thame Primary
- Tetsworth Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What ages does Lord Williams's School teach?
- Lord Williams's School teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Thame.
- Who is the headteacher of Lord Williams's School?
- The headteacher of Lord Williams's School is Mr Neil Dimbleby, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Lord Williams's School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Lord Williams's 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 many pupils are at Lord Williams's School?
- Lord Williams's School has 2,259 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is Lord Williams's School full?
- Lord Williams's School has capacity for 2,290 pupils and 2,259 on roll (99%), so it is close to full. Places are allocated through the local authority's admissions process, so capacity alone does not tell you whether a place is available.
- Is Lord Williams's School a faith school?
- No. Lord Williams's School has no designated religious character.
- Is Lord Williams's School a selective school?
- No. Lord Williams's School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Is Lord Williams's School part of an academy trust?
- Lord Williams's School is part of THAME PARTNERSHIP ACADEMY TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- What SEN provision does Lord Williams's School have?
- The schools register lists Lord Williams's School's special educational needs provision as: SLCN - Speech, language and Communication; ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have Lord Williams's School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 49.3 in 2022/23 and 46.2 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Lord Williams's School compare with other schools in Oxfordshire?
- Lord Williams's School ranked 21st of 41 secondary schools in Oxfordshire for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 62% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 5% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Lord Williams's School's absence rate?
- Lord Williams's School's overall absence rate is 11.1% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Lord Williams's School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Lord Williams's 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.