Thornhill Academy
Thornholme Road, Sunderland, SR2 7NA
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy sponsor led
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- CONSILIUM ACADEMIES
- Headteacher
- Mr Liam Clark
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- Consilium Academies
- Constituency
- Sunderland Central
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,050
- Pupils on roll
- 526
- URN
- 144990
- Local authority
- Sunderland
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01915007981
About this school
Thornhill Academy is a secondary academy in Sunderland. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 526 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. Numbers and a report only go so far, so visit in person 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
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 117 | 144 | 108 |
| Attainment 8 score | 38.0 | 39.2 | 41.4 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.67 -0.95 to -0.40 | -0.40 -0.66 to -0.13 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 32% | 29.2% | 33.3% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 46% | 48.6% | 53.7% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 23% | 22.2% | 8.3% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.2 | 3.2 | 3.4 |
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 Thornhill Academy has moved over recent years against the local and national picture. Every figure is shown in the table beneath its chart.
| Year | This school | Sunderland average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 38 | 37.6 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 39.2 | 38.2 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 41.4 | 38.3 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 11.4% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 11.5% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 12.2% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 578 |
| 2023/24 | 596 |
| 2024/25 | 564 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Thornhill Academy compares
Thornhill Academy ranked 15th of 18 secondary schools in Sunderland for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 43% 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 | 41.4 | 12.2% | 46.1% | 526 | — |
| St Anthony's Girls' Catholic Academy | 50.7 | 6.8% | 21.1% | 1,297 | 0.2 miles |
| St Aidan's Catholic Academy | 51.2 | 6.1% | 19.5% | 1,057 | 0.3 miles |
| Southmoor Academy | 49 | 8.2% | 33.3% | 1,398 | 0.8 miles |
| Venerable Bede Church of England Academy | 44.1 | 12.7% | 32.3% | 738 | 1.6 miles |
| Sandhill View Academy | 38.6 | 10.8% | 51.1% | 743 | 1.6 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)
- 46.1%
- English as an additional language
- 44.7%
- Overall absence
- 12.22%
- Persistent absence
- 34.36%
Location
Nearby schools
-
St Anthony's Girls' Catholic Academy0.2 miles
Secondary · Sunderland
-
St Aidan's Catholic Academy0.3 miles
Secondary · Sunderland
-
Southmoor Academy0.8 miles
Secondary · Sunderland
-
Venerable Bede Church of England Academy1.6 miles
Secondary · Sunderland
-
Sandhill View Academy1.6 miles
Secondary · Sunderland
Other schools in Sunderland
Thornhill Academy ranks 11th of the 13 ranked secondary schools in Sunderland.
- Castle View Enterprise Academy Secondary
- Farringdon Community Academy Secondary
- Monkwearmouth Academy Secondary
- Red House Academy Secondary
- Sandhill View Academy Secondary
- Southmoor Academy Secondary
- St Aidan's Catholic Academy Secondary
- St Anthony's Girls' Catholic Academy Secondary
- Venerable Bede Church of England Academy Secondary
- Whitburn Church of England Academy Secondary
- Hylton Red House Nursery School Nursery
- Mill Hill Nursery School Nursery
Common questions
- What year groups does Thornhill Academy teach?
- Thornhill Academy teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Sunderland.
- Who is the headteacher of Thornhill Academy?
- The headteacher of Thornhill Academy is Mr Liam Clark, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Thornhill Academy last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Thornhill Academy, 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 Thornhill Academy?
- Thornhill Academy has 526 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is Thornhill Academy full?
- Thornhill Academy has capacity for 1,050 pupils and 526 on roll (50%), 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 Thornhill Academy a faith school?
- No. Thornhill Academy has no designated religious character.
- Is Thornhill Academy a selective school?
- No. Thornhill Academy is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs Thornhill Academy?
- Thornhill Academy is part of CONSILIUM ACADEMIES. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Thornhill Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 38 in 2022/23 and 41.4 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Thornhill Academy rank locally?
- Thornhill Academy ranked 15th of 18 secondary schools in Sunderland for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 43% 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 Thornhill Academy's absence rate?
- Thornhill Academy's overall absence rate is 12.2% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Thornhill Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Thornhill Academy'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 10 July 2026.