Thurlby Community Primary Academy

About Thurlby Community Primary Academy

Thurlby Community Primary Academy is a mixed state primary in South Kesteven, Lincolnshire, that is proving increasingly popular with local families. The school has 205 pupils on roll, just shy of its 210-capacity, and the demand is clear: for the 2025/26 academic year, there were 88 applications for just 30 places, with 37 of those as first preferences. That gives an oversubscription ratio of nearly 3:1, and only 27 first-preference offers were made. The pupil body is notably diverse in terms of disadvantage, with 23.9% of children eligible for free school meals — a figure that sits well above the national primary average of around 23%, suggesting the school serves a genuine cross-section of the community. Headteacher Katherine Finch leads a school that, based on its intake and application numbers, clearly holds strong appeal for parents in the area.

Academically, Thurlby delivers solid results that place it comfortably within the top half of schools nationally. In the 2023/24 Key Stage 2 assessments, 69% of pupils reached the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined — comfortably above the local authority average of 57%. The school’s ranking in South Kesteven is 19th out of 48 primaries, putting it in the top 40% locally, and nationally it sits in the 34th percentile. Subject-level scores are strong: 84% met expectations in maths, 81% in reading, and 81% in writing. Higher-standard attainment is more modest, with 13% reaching the higher benchmark across all three subjects. Ofsted visited in June 2024 and awarded a Good rating across every category — quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership, and early years provision — a significant turnaround from the school’s previous Inadequate rating in 2018.

The school offers a broad range of facilities including a library, dining hall, gymnasium, ICT suite, art studios, music rooms, and a sensory room, plus an outdoor playground and a chapel. Sports provision covers athletics, tennis, cricket, rounders and football, and there are clubs for chess, science, choir and gardening. SEND support is well-developed, with provisions for specific learning difficulties (including dyslexia), moderate learning difficulties, social, emotional and mental health needs, speech and language communication needs, physical disabilities, and autistic spectrum disorder. Thurlby is a good fit for families who want a well-subscribed community primary with strong academic foundations, a broad enrichment offer, and a proven track record of improvement under current leadership. It does not have a nursery or sixth form, and is not a boarding school.

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