UK Schools
Thornhill Academy
Thornhill Academy is a mixed secondary academy in Sunderland, Sunderland City Council, teaching 526 pupils aged 11 to 16. Ofsted rated it Good at its last graded inspection in May 2024. In 2024–2025, GCSE Attainment 8 was 41.4 (England 46.1). The 2025–2026 school year runs from 8 September 2025 to 22 July 2026.
Ofsted inspection
The latest published Ofsted judgement for Thornhill Academy.
Scale: Outstanding Good Requires improvement Inadequate
Term dates & holidays 2025–2026
Autumn, spring and summer terms, half-terms, INSET days and bank holidays for Thornhill Academy.
- 4 Inset Day (school closed to students)
- 5 Inset Day (school closed to students)
- 8 Start of Autumn Term
- 27–31 Autumn Half Term Holiday
- 14 Inset Day (school closed to students)
- 19 End of Autumn Term
- 22–31 Christmas Holiday
- 25 Christmas Day
- 26 Boxing Day
- 1–2 Christmas Holiday
- 1 New Year's Day
- 5 Start of Spring Term
- 23–27 Spring Half Term Holiday
- 2 End of Spring Term
- 3–17 Easter Holiday
- 3 Good Friday (Variable date)
- 6 Easter Monday (Variable date)
- 20 Start of Summer Term
- 4 Early May Bank Holiday (First Monday in May)
- 25–29 Summer Half Term Holiday
- 25 Spring Bank Holiday (Last Monday in May)
- 22 End of Summer Term
- 23 Summer Holiday (approx. six weeks)
- 31 Summer Bank Holiday (Last Monday in August)
Key dates (2025–2026)
- Inset Day (school closed to students) September 4, 2025 Inset Day
- Inset Day (school closed to students) September 5, 2025 Inset Day
- Start of Autumn Term September 8, 2025 Term
- Autumn Half Term Holiday October 27-31, 2025 Holiday
- Inset Day (school closed to students) November 14, 2025 Inset Day
- End of Autumn Term December 19, 2025 Term
- Christmas Holiday December 22, 2025 - January 2, 2026 Holiday
- Start of Spring Term January 5, 2026 Term
- Spring Half Term Holiday February 23-27, 2026 Holiday
- End of Spring Term April 2, 2026 Term
- Easter Holiday April 3-17, 2026 Holiday
- Start of Summer Term April 20, 2026 Term
- Summer Half Term Holiday May 25-29, 2026 Holiday
- End of Summer Term July 22, 2026 Term
- Summer Holiday (approx. six weeks) July 23 - Early September 2026 Holiday
- New Year's Day January 1, 2026 Event
- Good Friday (Variable date) April 3, 2026 Event
- Easter Monday (Variable date) April 6, 2026 Holiday
- Early May Bank Holiday (First Monday in May) May 4, 2026 Holiday
- Spring Bank Holiday (Last Monday in May) May 25, 2026 Holiday
- Summer Bank Holiday (Last Monday in August) August 31, 2026 Holiday
- Christmas Day December 25, 2025 Holiday
- Boxing Day December 26, 2025 Event
Exam results & performance
The measures that carry the most signal. Open a section to compare Thornhill Academy with Sunderland City Council and England.
Key stage 4 (GCSE) 41.4 Attainment 8 score
Year 11 results across eight qualifications, including English and maths.
This school Sunderland City Council England
Attendance 34.4% Persistently absent pupils
Absence across the whole school year.
This school Sunderland City Council England
What pupils do after GCSEs 82% In education, apprenticeship or work
Still in education, an apprenticeship or work a year after key stage 4.
This school Sunderland City Council England
About this data source & caveats
Progress 8 is not published for 2024–2025. This year group missed their key stage 2 tests in 2020, so there is no baseline to measure progress from.
Attendance comparisons are pupil-weighted averages we calculate from every school’s published absence figure — the DfE absence file has no local authority or England rows of its own.
We show the headline measures only. Threshold and curriculum-policy figures — grade 4+ in English and maths, EBacc entry and points, the per-subject key stage 2 breakdown, academic and applied splits at 16 to 18 — reflect admissions and curriculum choices more than school quality, so they are left to GOV.UK. Progress measures matter most because they compare pupils with others who started at the same level; attainment on its own largely tracks a school’s intake.
Figures are the Department for Education’s official published results for Thornhill Academy. Results are suppressed where too few pupils were entered. England figures are the average for state-funded schools. “Top x%” is this school’s position among all schools in England with a published figure for that measure — the DfE does not publish league table rankings.
Source: Compare school and college performance, Department for Education. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Location & catchment area
Indicative only. This is a nearest-school (Voronoi) estimate — the area closer to Thornhill Academy than to any other secondary school. Real admissions depend on the school’s own policy (straight-line distance, siblings, faith, feeder schools and available places) and change each year. Always confirm with the school and local authority admissions team.