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Schools similar to Thorncombe, St Mary's Church of England Primary Academy

Dorset · ages 2 to 11 · URN 151307

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Thorncombe, St Mary's Church of England Primary Academy · comparison saved 26 October 2026

Showing the closest 10 of 2,144 eligible schools.

Our intake matches, separate from DfE’s groups; not a school-quality ranking or an explanation of results. Method. Figures keep their own periods; small cohorts flagged where published counts are available.

KS2 is reading, writing and maths combined. Published cohort counts appear with results where available.

0 of 3 peers selected.

No peers selected. Add schools from the matches to include them on this sheet.

Selected school and shortlisted peers. Dates link to each figure’s source.
MeasureThorncombe, St Mary's Church of England Primary Academy
Pupils2025/26 · Academic year34SourceDfE: Schools, pupils and their characteristics · 2025/26 · Academic year · https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-pupils-and-their-characteristics
Free school meals2025/26 · Academic year20.6%SourceDfE: Schools, pupils and their characteristics · 2025/26 · Academic year · https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-pupils-and-their-characteristics
First language other than English2025/26 · Academic year0%SourceDfE: Schools, pupils and their characteristics · 2025/26 · Academic year · https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-pupils-and-their-characteristics
SEND (SEN support or EHC plan)2025/26 · Academic year20.59%SourceDfE: Special educational needs in England · 2025/26 · Academic year · https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/special-educational-needs-in-england+ sourceDfE: Schools, pupils and their characteristics · 2025/26 · Academic year · https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-pupils-and-their-characteristics
KS2 expected standardSuppressed2024/25 · Academic year · FinalDfE: Key stage 2 performance tables · 2024/25 · Academic year · Final · https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/key-stage-2-attainment
KS2 higher standardSuppressed2024/25 · Academic year · FinalDfE: Key stage 2 performance tables · 2024/25 · Academic year · Final · https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/key-stage-2-attainment
Overall absence2025/26 · Autumn and spring term6.85%SourceDfE: Pupil absence in schools in England · 2025/26 · Autumn and spring term · https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/pupil-absence-in-schools-in-england
Persistent absence2025/26 · Autumn and spring term7.41%SourceDfE: Pupil absence in schools in England · 2025/26 · Autumn and spring term · https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/pupil-absence-in-schools-in-england
KS2 cohort

Small KS2 cohort: 2 eligible pupils. 2024/25

Latest inspectionGraded inspection (previous framework)10 October 2023Ofsted · https://reports.ofsted.gov.uk/provider/25/151307
Graded inspection (previous framework)
Overall effectivenessRequires improvement
Quality of educationRequires improvement
Behaviour and attitudesGood
Personal developmentGood
Leadership and managementGood
Safeguarding is effectiveYes
Early yearsGood

Questions and notes

What would you ask about the school’s priorities, and which published evidence would inform your question?

Thorncombe, St Mary's Church of England Primary Academy

School website · Official school record

  • Published overall absence is 6.85% (2025/26, Autumn and spring term). Which attendance priorities would the school want its new leader to address?
  • Which pupil-outcome and cohort evidence would a new leader need before choosing priorities?
  • How has the school responded since its 10 October 2023 Graded inspection (previous framework)?

Saved comparison: https://headteacherchat.com/tools/similar-schools?urn=151307&edition=htc-full-primary-v1%3A2026-10-26&sheet=interview. Links can expire after 13 editions; keep this printed record.

Selected school evidence

All figures and Ofsted for Thorncombe, St Mary's Church of England Primary Academy

Thorncombe, St Mary's Church of England Primary Academy

Dorset · ages 2 to 11 · URN151307

Small KS2 cohort: 2 eligible pupils. One pupil represents 50 percentage points. HeadteacherChat caution. DfE KS2 · 2024/25 · Academic year · Final · source 2026-05-21

Thorncombe, St Mary's Church of England Primary Academy: published figures and their sources
MeasureThorncombe, St Mary's Church of England Primary Academy
Pupils342025/26
Free school meals20.6%2025/26
First language other than English0%2025/26
SEND (SEN support or EHC plan)20.59%2025/26+ source
KS2 expected standardSuppressed2024/25 · Academic year · Final
KS2 higher standardSuppressed2024/25 · Academic year · Final
Overall absence6.85%2025/26 · Autumn and spring term
Persistent absence7.41%2025/26 · Autumn and spring term
  • Graded inspection (previous framework) · inspected 10 October 2023 · published 10 December 2023 · recorded under URN 148404 · monthly file dated 30 September 2026
    Overall effectiveness
    Requires improvement
    Quality of education
    Requires improvement
    Behaviour and attitudes
    Good
    Personal development
    Good
    Leadership and management
    Good
    Safeguarding is effective
    Yes
    Early years
    Good
School websiteOfficial school record

How schools are matched

We compare open primary schools in England that teach through to age 11. We match current eligibility for free school meals first, then first language other than English, SEND and pupil numbers. The same age range is preferred. Region, faith and school type have a smaller influence.

Intake similarity alone cannot explain results; check reports and local circumstances.

View the matching calculation and data sources

SEND is calculated from pupils with SEN support or an EHC plan, divided by the school roll. We only calculate it when the source counts, year and coverage agree. It is rounded to two decimal places here.

Matching weights
MeasureWeight
Free school meals45%
First language other than English25%
SEND (SEN support or EHC plan)20%
Pupils10%

Lower scores mean closer pupil context; context bonuses can make scores negative. Matching scores are neither ratings nor percentages.

Open England GIAS Primary; statutory low age at most 5 (including nursery ages 2/3) and high age 11. All four inputs required in the same academic year. Prefer exact low/high ages when at least 10 candidates remain after the report-card filter; otherwise disclose relaxation. Outcomes never select or rank peers. Context bonuses require nonmissing exact region, religious character and establishment type code; missing context earns no bonus. Lower distance is closer, including negative totals after bonuses.

2144 schools were eligible; 10 are shown.

  • fsm: Absolute percentage-point difference / 100
  • eal: Absolute percentage-point difference / 100; First language other than English
  • send: Absolute percentage-point difference / 100
  • size: Absolute pupil-count difference / max(target pupils, candidate pupils)

SEND formula: 100 * (SEN_support + EHC_plan) / characteristics.pupils; same school, Academic year and year; SEN total_pupils must equal characteristics.pupils. Ties are resolved by URN ascending.

Schools can be excluded for more than one reason:

  • Not a primary school: 21888
  • Does not cover the full primary age range: 28649
  • Not open: 25401
  • England location unverified: 3043
  • FSM percentage missing: 192
  • First-language percentage missing: 192
  • Pupil number missing: 192
  • SEND: published SEN support, EHC plan or pupil total missing: 192
  • The selected school: 1
  • Different age range: 11952

Missing means no usable figure was provided. Suppressed means the publisher withheld it. Unavailable means no usable value can be shown; check the source and published code. Not applicable and low reliability retain the publisher’s stated limits.

Comparison reference: htc-full-primary-v1:2026-10-26.

Related guides

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.