Thurstable School
Secondary · Academy converter · Ages 11–16 · Colchester, Essex
Last distance offered · Year 7 2026
Every applicant was offered a place
From Essex County Council · offers on 2 March 2026
Unlock every school · £9.99 Open on the map →Thurstable School is a secondary school in Colchester, Essex for ages 11–16 (academy converter). Its latest Ofsted outcome is Not judged, from the inspection on 20 May 2025. Essex has published a last distance offered for this school for Year 7 2022 to 2026 entry.
Thurstable School catchment area: last distance offered
Parents often call this the catchment area: it's how far from the school the last child offered a place lived. It changes every year.
| Entry | Last distance offered |
|---|---|
| Year 7 2026 | Every applicant was offered a place |
| Year 7 2025 | Not published |
| Year 7 2023 | Not published |
| Year 7 2022 | Not published |
What the pass includes · How to read it: one past year, not a catchment
What the figures show
- Ofsted's latest outcome (20 May 2025) was Not judged; the previous graded outcome was Requires improvement (21 September 2022).
- Year 7 2026 drew 147 first-choice applications for 184 offers; every first-choice family was offered a place, and 37 offers went to families who ranked it second or lower.
- In 2024/25, 42% of pupils got grade 5 or above in GCSE English and maths (England 45%), with an Attainment 8 score of 41.9 (England 46).
- There are 19.2 pupils per teacher, against a middle figure of 17.7 across the 8 nearest secondary schools in Essex.
Worked out by Catchmently from the published figures on this page and those for other Essex schools. Distances are as published; how they were measured differs between admission authorities.
Key facts
- Address
- Maypole Road, Tiptree, Colchester, CO5 0EW
- Type
- Academy converter
- Phase
- Secondary
- Ages
- 11–16
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Council
- Essex
- Pupils on roll
- 932 January 2026 school census
- Free school meals
- 18.5% of pupils eligible
- Pupils per teacher
- 19.2
Official record: Get Information about Schools · as at 15 September 2026
Ofsted
Not judged Inspected 20 May 2025
Strengths
- “Pupils learn, and increasingly achieve well at Thurstable School.”
- “They benefit from a welltaught, ambitious curriculum.”
- “Consequently, pupils are effectively prepared for their next steps.”
To improve
- “Published outcomes at GCSE and, particularly, at A-level, do not reflect the current quality of provision.”
- “At times, pupils do not get enough opportunities to practice and to apply what they have learned.”
- “When this happens, they do not acquire the depth of knowledge and understanding that they should.”
Safeguarding: Effective
Quoted from the Ofsted report published 24 June 2025 (read the report). Crown copyright, Open Government Licence v3.0.
Exam results
| Measure | School | England |
|---|---|---|
| GCSE English and maths, grade 5 or above (2024/25) | 42% | 45% |
| Attainment 8 score (2024/25) | 41.9 | 46 |
Department for Education school performance data. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Applications and offers
- 2026 Year 7 entry: 147 first-preference applications, 184 offers in total, 147 offers to first-preference applicants.
Department for Education, school-level applications and offers, figures on national offer day. Earlier years are in the pass.
Nearby secondary schools
Straight-line distance, in Essex.
- Honywood School 4.7 mi Good Last distance published
- Lift New Rickstones 4.8 mi School remains Good Last distance published
- Lift Maltings 5.2 mi No Ofsted grade Last distance published
- The Stanway School 5.9 mi School remains Good Last distance published
- Paxman Academy 6.3 mi Good Last distance published
- Philip Morant School and College 6.8 mi Good Last distance published
- Plume School 6.9 mi Good Last distance published
- Colchester County High School for Girls 7.1 mi Outstanding