SF School Facts UK

Secondary school in Eastleigh, Hampshire

Thornden School

Winchester Road, Chandler's Ford, Eastleigh, Hampshire, SO53 2DW

Ofsted Good · 2022 Full
School website 02380269722

Ofsted

Goodas at 21 June 2022

Graded Good at its last graded inspection, on 21 June 2022.

Ofsted stopped awarding single-word overall grades in September 2024. This grade is 4 years old and will not be updated — the school keeps it until its next inspection, which will not produce a replacement grade.

Read the Ofsted report

GCSE results 2024/25

Attainment 8 score

59.9 England 47

The average grade across eight GCSEs, doubling English and maths. 50 is roughly a grade 5 average.

Grade 5+ in English & maths

73% England 46.2%

Grade 4+ in English & maths

88% England 66.2%

EBacc average point score

5.5 England 4.2

Entered the EBacc

58% England 40.8%

On Attainment 8 this school is in the top 10% of state-funded secondaries in England.

Compared with the fifth of schools whose intake is least disadvantaged, which is where this one sits, it is in the better-performing half.

Progress 8 2023/24

0.74confidence interval 0.57 to 0.91

Taking that range into account, pupils made more progress than similar pupils nationally. DfE bands this as well above average.

Progress 8 measures how far pupils moved between the end of primary and their GCSEs, which makes it far fairer than raw attainment. It is shown for 2023/24 because it could not be calculated for 2024/25: that year group would have sat their key stage 2 tests in summer 2020, when the tests were cancelled, so there is no starting point to measure from. Every school in England is affected, not just this one.

Pupils

Pupils on roll
1440
Places
1400
How full
Full — 1440 pupils against 1400 places
Girls / boys
687 / 753
Overall absence
5%

secondary schools average 8.6%

Persistently absent
11%

secondary schools average 23.9% — pupils missing 10% or more of sessions

Free school meals, last 6 years
6%

England 25.7%

English as an additional language
13%

England 18.7%

With an EHC plan
3%

England 3.5%

On SEN support
6%

England 15%

What pupils do next

After GCSEs

In education, work or training
98%

England 91.4%

Stayed in education
95%

England 85.4%

Started an apprenticeship
2%

England 3.5%

No sustained destination
1%

England 5.8%

Pupils in the cohort
291

A destination counts only if it lasted at least six months, which is why these figures lag the exam results by a year. Small cohorts move these percentages a long way — check the cohort size before reading much into a gap.

The neighbourhood around the school

Census 2021 figures for Eastleigh 001B, the statistical neighbourhood the school sits in — roughly 1,500 residents. It describes the area, not the pupils, who may travel in from further away.

Adults with a degree
55%

England 33.8%

Adults with no qualifications
7%

England 18.3%

Households owning their home
94%

England 62.7%

Households in social housing
1%

England 17%

Households with no car
5%

England 21.9%

Adults economically inactive
44%

England 39.9%

School details

Type
Academy converter
Phase
Secondary
Ages
Ages 11–16
Gender
Mixed
Admissions
Non-selective
Religious character
None
Sixth form
No
Nursery
No
Boarding
Day school
Trust
HISP MULTI ACADEMY TRUST LTD
Headteacher
Headteacher: Caroline Lowing
Local authority
Hampshire
Ward
Hiltingbury
Constituency
Eastleigh
URN
136715

The unique reference number used in all official school data.

Nearest secondary schools

SchoolOfstedAttainment 8Distance
The Toynbee SchoolCommunity school No grade 47.8 1.2 mi
Crestwood Community SchoolCommunity school Good 2024 38.1 1.2 mi
Saint George Catholic Voluntary Aided College SouthamptonVoluntary aided school Outstanding 2023 60 3.4 mi
The King's SchoolOther independent school No grade 3.5 mi
Wyvern CollegeAcademy converter Good 2023 44.8 3.7 mi
Cantell SchoolFoundation school Outstanding 2024 46.9 4 mi
The Gregg SchoolOther independent school No grade 4.2 mi
Bitterne Park SchoolFoundation school Good 2024 43.1 4.5 mi

Schools with a similar intake

State-funded secondary schools nationally whose share of disadvantaged pupils is closest to this school's. This is the fairest like-for-like comparison the published data supports.

SchoolOfstedAttainment 8
Heckmondwike Grammar SchoolAcademy converter Good 2022 80.2
Harrogate Grammar SchoolAcademy converter Outstanding 2022 56.6
The Holt SchoolAcademy converter Outstanding 2023 63.7
Calday Grange Grammar SchoolAcademy converter No grade 68.1
St John the Baptist Catholic Comprehensive School, WokingAcademy converter No grade 58.1
The Rochester Grammar SchoolAcademy converter Good 2023 68.4
St Michael's Church of England High SchoolAcademy converter Good 2022 58.9
The Robert Smyth AcademyAcademy converter Good 2022 53

Where these figures come from

  • School details, address and pupil numbers — Get Information About Schools, the DfE register, as at 14 August 2026.
  • Exam results — DfE performance tables, 2024/25, and 2023/24 for Progress 8.
  • Free school meals, EAL and SEN — school census, 2024/25.
  • Ofsted — Ofsted management information, latest inspections as at 30 June 2026.
  • Neighbourhood figures — ONS Census 2021, lower layer super output area.

All published under the Open Government Licence v3.0. If something here looks wrong, the school's own website is the authority on admissions and open days.