Thornton Dale CofE Primary School
Castle Close, Thornton-le-Dale, Pickering, YO18 7TW
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Academy sponsor led
- Ages
- 4 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- Church of England
- Trust
- ELEVATE MULTI ACADEMY TRUST
- Headteacher
- Miss Camarah Mosey
- Diocese
- Diocese of York
- Sponsor
- Elevate Multi Academy Trust
- Constituency
- Thirsk and Malton
- Setting
- Larger rural: Further from a major town or city
- Capacity
- 190
- Pupils on roll
- 146
- URN
- 147763
- Local authority
- North Yorkshire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01751474345
About this school
Thornton Dale CofE Primary School is a Church of England primary academy in Pickering. It teaches children aged 4 to 11 and has 146 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
Ofsted did not give an overall grade. Between September 2024 and September 2025 inspections graded each area of a school's work without a single overall judgement, ahead of the move to report cards. How Ofsted report cards work
- Quality of education
- Good
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Outstanding
- Personal development
- Outstanding
- Leadership and management
- Outstanding
- Early years
- Outstanding
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 2 (end of primary school)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 2 | 25 | 27 | 16 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 80% | 67% | 63% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 20% | 7% | 19% |
| Expected standard in reading | 84% | 89% | 75% |
| Expected standard in maths | 84% | 78% | 88% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 84% | 81% | 69% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 108.0 | 108.0 | 107.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 107.0 | 105.0 | 107.0 |
| Reading progress | +2.20 | - | - |
| Writing progress | +2.70 | - | - |
| Maths progress | +2.40 | - | - |
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 Thornton Dale CofE 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 | North Yorkshire average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 80% | 56.9% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 67% | 58.6% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 63% | 59.2% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 5.3% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 4.9% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 4.1% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 135 |
| 2023/24 | 144 |
| 2024/25 | 137 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Thornton Dale CofE Primary School compares
Thornton Dale CofE Primary School ranked 110th of 233 primary schools in North Yorkshire for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 47% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 83% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 63% | 4.1% | 8% | 146 | — |
| Pickering Community Infant School | — | 4.6% | 14.7% | 197 | 2.0 miles |
| Pickering Community Junior School | 45% | 4.4% | 21% | 184 | 2.5 miles |
| St Joseph's Catholic Primary School - a Catholic voluntary academy | 58% | 4.9% | 48.5% | 84 | 2.6 miles |
| Rillington Primary School | 64% | 6.3% | 20.6% | 111 | 5.6 miles |
| Sinnington Community Primary School | 100% | 4% | 4% | 110 | 5.8 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)
- 8.03%
- English as an additional language
- 0.7%
- Overall absence
- 4.08%
- Persistent absence
- 8.87%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Pickering Community Infant School2.0 miles
Primary · Pickering
-
Pickering Community Junior School2.5 miles
Primary · Pickering
-
St Joseph's Catholic Primary School - a Catholic voluntary academy2.6 miles
Primary · Pickering
-
Rillington Primary School5.6 miles
Primary · Malton
-
Sinnington Community Primary School5.8 miles
Primary · York
Other schools in Pickering
Common questions
- What year groups does Thornton Dale CofE Primary School teach?
- Thornton Dale CofE Primary School teaches children aged 4 to 11. It is a primary school in Pickering.
- Who is the headteacher of Thornton Dale CofE Primary School?
- The headteacher of Thornton Dale CofE Primary School is Miss Camarah Mosey, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Thornton Dale CofE Primary School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Thornton Dale CofE 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 Thornton Dale CofE Primary School?
- Thornton Dale CofE Primary School has 146 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 4 to 11.
- Is Thornton Dale CofE Primary School full?
- Thornton Dale CofE Primary School has capacity for 190 pupils and 146 on roll (77%), 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 Thornton Dale CofE Primary School a faith school?
- Yes. Thornton Dale CofE Primary School is designated Church of England, in the Diocese of York.
- Does Thornton Dale CofE Primary School have a nursery?
- No. The schools register records Thornton Dale CofE Primary School as having no nursery classes.
- Who runs Thornton Dale CofE Primary School?
- Thornton Dale CofE Primary School is part of ELEVATE MULTI ACADEMY TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Thornton Dale CofE Primary School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 80% in 2022/23 and 63% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Thornton Dale CofE Primary School rank locally?
- Thornton Dale CofE Primary School ranked 110th of 233 primary schools in North Yorkshire for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 47% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 83% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Thornton Dale CofE Primary School's absence rate?
- Thornton Dale CofE Primary School's overall absence rate is 4.1% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Thornton Dale CofE Primary School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Thornton Dale CofE 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 10 July 2026.