Thirsk School & Sixth Form College

About Thirsk School & Sixth Form College

Thirsk School & Sixth Form College sits slightly below the North Yorkshire average for Progress 8, with a score of -0.07 compared to the local authority average of 0.07. That gap of 0.14 is modest, and the school’s Progress 8 banding is rated as ‘Average’, so it’s not a cause for alarm. What’s more telling is the variation within subjects: English Progress 8 is notably lower at -0.37, while maths (-0.04) and the EBacc subjects (-0.05) are much closer to the LA norm. The school’s Attainment 8 score of 43.6 and its EBacc average point score of 3.84 give a solid baseline, but the English figure suggests there’s room for improvement in literacy outcomes. In the North Yorkshire league table, Thirsk ranks 23rd out of 39 secondary schools, placing it in the bottom half of the authority. That’s not a poor showing given the strength of the top performers in the area — the three highest-ranked schools all have Progress 8 scores above 0.7 — but it does mean Thirsk is more of a solid, middle-of-the-road option than a standout.

Ofsted last inspected the school in 2022 and judged it to be Good overall, a rating it has held consistently since at least 2017. The sixth form provision was also rated Good. At GCSE, 61.5% of pupils achieved a grade 4 or above in English and maths, though the figure drops to 35.9% for a grade 5 or above. The EBacc entry rate is 35.9%, and 25.1% of pupils achieved the EBacc at grade 4 or above. At A-level, the school’s value-added score is -0.07, again in line with the national average, and the average points per entry is 32.85, equivalent to a C+ grade. The best three A-levels average out at a C+ too, with 7.7% of entries achieving grades AAB or higher. With 53 pupils in the sixth form cohort, it’s a relatively small but functional post-16 provision. The school’s 21.8% of pupils eligible for free school meals is above the national average, so its results are achieved with a more disadvantaged intake than many of its peers.

The school is oversubscribed: for 172 places in Year 7, it received 281 applications, with 160 first-preference applications and 159 offers made to first-preference families. That’s a healthy level of demand. Facilities include a swimming pool, astro turf, sports hall, tennis courts, art studios, a library, a chapel, and a dedicated sixth form centre. Sports on offer include athletics, netball, rugby, rounders, basketball, and gymnastics, while clubs range from Eco Club and Drama to Young Enterprise, DofE, and Model UN. SEND provision is broad, covering specific learning difficulties like dyslexia, moderate learning difficulties, social, emotional and mental health needs, speech and language needs, hearing and visual impairments, physical disabilities, and autistic spectrum disorder. This is a school that suits families looking for a well-resourced, inclusive secondary with a decent sixth form, in a market town setting, where academic results are solidly average rather than exceptional.

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