SF School Facts UK

Primary school in Birmingham

Thornton Primary School

Thornton Road, Ward End, Birmingham, West Midlands, B8 2LQ

Ofsted Good · 2023
School website 01213270824
Ofsted Good May 2023
Met the expected standard 64% around the middle nationally
Pupils 473 99% full
Local deprivation 2/10 more deprived

Ofsted

Goodas at 24 May 2023

Remained Good at its last ungraded inspection, on 24 May 2023.

Ofsted stopped awarding single-word overall grades in September 2024. This grade is 3 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

Current published outcome
Good
Last overall grade in this dataset
Good
Days since inspection
1,227 days
Framework era
Historic overall-grade framework (ended September 2024)

These four fields describe the latest published inspection on this record. The dataset does not keep a previous inspection row, so a school inspected under the current framework will usually have no overall grade to show as “prior”.

Key stage 2 results 2024/25

Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths

64% England 60.7%

Reached the higher standard

0% England 8.1%

Average reading score

106 England 105.3

Average maths score

106 England 104.1

On the headline measure this school is around the middle of state-funded primaries in England.

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

There are no progress measures for primary schools any more. They were calculated from a key stage 1 baseline, and statutory key stage 1 tests ended in 2023, so nothing has been published since. That makes attainment the only official measure — and attainment tracks intake closely, which is why the comparison against similar schools above is the more useful of the two lines.

Pupils

Pupils on roll
473
Places
480
How full
Nearly full — 473 of 480 places taken
Girls / boys
233 / 240
Overall absence
7%

primary schools average 5.2%

Persistently absent
19%

primary schools average 12.8% — pupils missing 10% or more of sessions

Free school meals, last 6 years
58%

England 25.7%

English as an additional language
81%

England 18.7%

With an EHC plan
1%

England 3.5%

On SEN support
13%

England 15%

School funding 2025-26 financial year

Not found for this URN in the 2025-26 release.

Evidence found
Not found for this URN in the 2025-26 release; this is not represented as £0.
Source coverage
DfE mainstream-school allocations for running costs for pupils aged 5-16, importer snapshot 23 August 2026.
What this means
The official mainstream allocation release does not provide a publishable row for this establishment.
What this does not mean
The school received no public funding or has no budget; other establishment types and funding streams use different publications.

Allocation is not expenditure. DfE says this release combines the schools block with several other revenue grants and excludes capital spending. Funding is shown for context and is never used in School Facts ordering, peer groups or quality claims. Source, licence and coverage.

Roads and getting there

Road casualties within 500m

Child pedestrian casualties
10

England average 1.6 — pedestrians under 16, over five years

All reported collisions
83

England average 24.2 over five years

Of those, serious or fatal
21
Busiest road nearby
U

790 vehicles a day (2019)

Public transport

Bus stops within 500m
17

England average 11.9

Nearest station
Stechford Rail Station

1.3 km away — railway station

Traffic volume is the context the collision count needs: a school beside a major road will record more collisions than one on a quiet street without being any less well run.

Every collision reported to the police within 500m of the school over the five years to 2024, from the Department for Transport's road casualty statistics. A high count usually says the school sits on or near a busy road, not that the school is unsafe — counts rise with traffic and with how built up an area is, and a rural school on a fast road may have fewer collisions but a worse one. Distances are straight-line from the school's recorded position.

The area around the school

2/10 Deprivation decile

Among the most deprived fifth of England.

3/10 Child poverty decile

Among the more deprived half of England for children in low-income families.

Indices of Deprivation 2019, for the small area the school stands in. 1 means the most deprived tenth of England, 10 the least. The second measure counts only children living in low-income families, which is the one that describes the intake a school is likely to draw on.

What homes cost nearby

Median sale price
£195,000

postcode sector B8 2 · 152 sales

Typical range
£159,250 to £230,000

middle half of sales

Semi-detached
£225,000
Terraced
£188,750
Flat
£62,000

Homes around this school are cheaper than most of England.

Every residential sale registered in this postcode sector since January 2024, from HM Land Registry. A sector covers roughly 2,500 addresses. England's median over the same period was £293,000.

Who lives there

Adults with a degree
19%

England 33.8%

Adults with no qualifications
35%

England 18.3%

In professional or managerial work
4%

England 13.4%

Households deprived in 2+ ways
30%

England 17.8%

Residents in very good health
49%

England 48.4%

Housing

Owned by the occupier
59%

England 62.7%

Social housing
9%

England 17%

Privately rented
32%

England 19.2%

Detached homes
40%

England 38.2%

Four or more bedrooms
17%

England 22.5%

No car
25%

England 21.9%

Census 2021, for Birmingham 044F and the wider neighbourhood around it. These figures describe the area, not the pupils — children may travel in from much further away, and for selective, faith and independent schools they usually do.

School details

Type
Community school
Phase
Primary
Ages
Ages 7–11
Gender
Mixed
Religious character
None
Sixth form
No
Nursery
No
Boarding
Day school
Headteacher
Headteacher: Cathy Grace
Register status
Open
Local authority
Birmingham
Ward
Ward End
Constituency
Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North
URN
103268

The unique reference number used in all official school data.

Official DfE record
Open the register entry

The source record for this establishment and URN.

The URN identifies this registered establishment. If a school converts or is replaced, DfE may issue a new URN; this page does not stitch different establishments together by a similar name.

Admissions history

The official school-level admissions releases contain up to 13 national-offer-day observations, from 2014/15 to 2026/27. The chart shows first choices per place; the table keeps the underlying counts.

Reception

2.50 2014/15: 2.03 first choices per place2015/16: 2.23 first choices per place2016/17: 2.00 first choices per place20142016
All 3 annual observations
Entry yearPlacesFirst choicesPer placeFirst choices offered
2014/15 30 61 2.03 48%
2015/16 30 67 2.23 45%
2016/17 30 60 2.00 50%

These are annual observations, not forecasts. They exclude waiting lists, appeals and in-year admissions. Each series follows this exact URN only, so academy conversions and missing releases remain visible as gaps rather than being joined by name.

Nearest primary schools

SchoolOfstedExpected standardDistanceCompare
Sladefield Infant SchoolCommunity school Good 2023 — 0.2 mi
St Cuthbert's RC Junior and Infant (NC) SchoolVoluntary aided school Good 2022 65% 0.5 mi
Ward End Primary SchoolCommunity school Good 2024 61% 0.5 mi
Alston Primary SchoolAcademy sponsor led No overall grade 58% 0.7 mi
Nansen Primary SchoolAcademy sponsor led Report card 2026 67% 0.7 mi
Shaw Hill Primary SchoolCommunity school Outstanding 2023 70% 0.8 mi
Colebourne Primary SchoolCommunity school No overall grade 54% 0.9 mi
Highfield Junior and Infant SchoolAcademy sponsor led Good 2024 58% 0.9 mi

Schools like this

The 12 state schools in England whose intake most closely matches this one — same phase and sector, and as near as the data allows on size, disadvantage, SEN, English as an additional language and the deprivation of the surrounding area. These are the schools it can fairly be judged against.

This school 64%
Median of its 12 closest peers 59%
Birmingham average 57.4%
England average 60.7%

Percentage meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and maths. This school is ahead of the schools that teach a comparable intake.

SchoolAreaOfstedExpected standardCompare
Cayley Primary SchoolCommunity school London Good 2022 82%
Zaytouna Primary SchoolFree schools Derby Good 2023 59%
Springfield Primary AcademyAcademy sponsor led Birmingham Good 2023 56%
St Mark's CofE Primary SchoolAcademy converter Stoke-on-Trent No overall grade 22%
Abingdon Primary SchoolAcademy converter Middlesbrough Good 2023 61%
Dale Community Primary SchoolCommunity school Derby Good 2023 33%
Shaw Hill Primary SchoolCommunity school Birmingham Outstanding 2023 70%
Ark Tindal Primary AcademyAcademy sponsor led Birmingham Good 2024 75%
Westminster Primary SchoolAcademy converter Birmingham No overall grade 49%
St Mary's CofE Junior and Infant SchoolVoluntary controlled school Manchester Outstanding 2024 76%
Birchfields Primary SchoolCommunity school Manchester No overall grade 54%
Chandos Primary SchoolAcademy sponsor led Birmingham Requires improvement 2024 39%

Matching uses only characteristics a school does not choose. It is not a ranking, and a close match on intake does not make two schools interchangeable — sixth form, faith character, admissions rules and simple geography all matter and are not in the calculation.

Evidence ledger

Reference dates and join methods are kept separate because the figures do not all describe the same year or geography.

EvidencePublisherReference dateHow it reaches this page
School identityGet Information About Schools23 August 2026Exact URN 103268; unified importer snapshot
Inspection evidenceOfsted management information31 July 2026Exact URN; inspection 24 May 2023
AttainmentDfE performance tables2024/25Exact URN; phase-specific definitions
Pupil intakeDfE school census2024/25Exact URN; suppressed values remain missing
Funding allocationDfE school funding statistics2025-26 financial yearNo row for this URN in the mainstream-school release; not represented as zero
Roads and transportDfT road casualties, traffic and NaPTANFive-year road window; access-node snapshotCoordinate join within the stated radius
NeighbourhoodONS Census2021LSOA/MSOA containing the school, not pupil homes
DeprivationEnglish Indices of Deprivation2019LSOA containing the school
Home pricesHM Land Registry Price Paid DataSales since January 2024School postcode sector, not a catchment

These sources are published for reuse under the Open Government Licence v3.0, including the Crown database-right notice that accompanies Price Paid Data. Definitions and source notes. If something here looks wrong, the school's own website is the authority on admissions and open days.

Questions this school record can answer

Which exact school is this?

Match the DfE URN, school name and address; names and structures can change while the URN remains the stable identifier.

What does the latest inspection evidence say?

Use the inspection date and framework shown. Do not compare a legacy overall grade directly with the newer report-card judgements.

How should I compare nearby schools?

Compare the same phase, cohort and academic year, then keep intake context and confidence intervals beside performance measures.

What must a parent verify?

Check current admissions rules, travel practicality, support for the child’s needs and the school’s latest official information before deciding.