The Nelson Thomlinson School
Secondary · Voluntary controlled school · Mixed · Cumberland
High Street, Wigton, CA7 9PX
67
headline score
Ranking (England)
—
No ranked results
Ofsted
Good
Graded 17/10/2023
Application demand
100%
1st preference success · Not oversubscribed
Attendance
90.9%
23.4% persistently absent
At a glance
Pupils on roll
1,095
Capacity used
—
GCSE rank (England)
—
KS2 rank (England)
—
Application demand
Secondary entry · official council applications and offers
100%
1st preference success rate
146 of 146 families who put it first got an offer
152
Places offered
246
Total applications
1.6
Applications per place
| Preference (Sept 2025 entry) | Applications | Offers | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st preference | 146 | 146 | ● 100% |
| 2nd preference | 68 | 6 | ● 9% |
| 3rd preference | 32 | 0 | ● 0% |
| Total | 246 | 152 | 62% |
1st preference success by year
Cumberland lets families list 3 preferences. 2 applications came from outside the council area (2 offered). Source: Department for Education, school-level applications and offers. Offers are made on each school's admissions criteria (e.g. siblings, distance, faith), so check the school's policy.
Details
- Type
- Voluntary controlled school
- Phase
- Secondary
- Age range
- 11–18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sixth form
- Yes
- Nursery
- No Nursery Classes
- Boarding
- No boarders
- Headteacher
- Sam Northwood
- Address
- High Street, Wigton, CA7 9PX
- Phone
- 01697342160
- Local authority
- Cumberland
- Ward / constituency
- Wigton · Penrith and Solway
- Area
- Larger rural: Nearer to a major town or city
- URN
- 112397
Pupils
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free school meals | 14% | — | — |
| English as additional language | 3% | — | — |
| SEN support | 14% | — | — |
Local deprivation (IDACI quintile 2 of 5)
1 = least deprived area, 5 = most deprived. Context only.
1,095 pupils. Intake figures describe the school's community — they aren't good or bad.
Ofsted inspections
- 23
17 October 2023
Full graded inspection
Good overall effectivenessSixth form Good Personal development Good Quality of education Good Safeguarding effective Yes Behaviour and attitudes Good Leadership and management Good
Attendance
2024/2025 school year · 1,025 pupils
Attendance
90.9%
Share of sessions attended · England 91.1%
Overall absence
9.1%
Sessions missed, any reason · England 8.9%
Persistent absence
23.4%
Pupils missing 10%+ of school · England 26.7%
Severe absence
4.8%
Pupils missing 50%+ of school · England 2.3%
Unauthorised absence
3.1%
Absences the school didn't approve
Persistent absence by year
Source: Department for Education, pupil absence by school (pupils aged 5–15). Lower absence is better. England figures are approximate 2023/24 averages.
GCSE results
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 score | 47.0 | — | — |
| Progress 8 score | -0.10 | — | 0.00 |
| Grade 5+ in English & maths | 50% | — | — |
| Grade 4+ in English & maths | 71% | — | — |
| EBacc average point score | 4.18 | — | — |
Progress 8 band
A-level results
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average points per entry | 34.31 | — | — |
Average grade: C+ (England B-)
GCSE results over time
Attainment 8 by year (2020 and 2021 exams were cancelled)
| Result | School | England (approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 | 46.2 | 46 |
| Grade 5+ English & maths | 46.9% | 46% |
| Grade 4+ English & maths | 73.7% | 65% |
| Entering EBacc | 20.1% | 40% |
| EBacc average point score | 4.04 | 4.1 |
| Pupils in cohort | 194 | — |
How different pupils progress (GCSE, 2023/2024)
Progress 8 by group. 0 is the national average; above 0 means pupils do better than similar children elsewhere.
A-level results over time
Average points per entry by year (2020 and 2021 exams were cancelled)
| Result | School | England (approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| Average points per entry | 31.43 | 35 |
| Average grade | C | — |
| AAB or better (2 facilitating) | 10.8% | 17% |
| A-level students | 79 | — |
Results by subject
Official DfE exam results for summer 2025. Green, amber and red compare against typical results in England; subjects with fewer than 5 entries aren't rated.
GCSE
Grade 4 is a standard pass, 5 a strong pass, 7 equals the old A.
| Subject | Entries | Grade 7+ | Grade 5+ | Grade 4+ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mathematics | 193 | 16% | 58% | 81% | |
| English Language | 193 | 11% | 50% | 73% | |
| English Literature | 184 | 11% | 52% | 73% | |
| Combined Science | 166 | 10% | 45% | 73% | |
| Geography | 78 | 44% | 68% | 78% | |
| Physical Education | 65 | 6% | 46% | 69% | |
| History | 60 | 45% | 65% | 72% | |
| Business | 60 | 12% | 45% | 72% | |
| Religious Studies | 44 | 32% | 73% | 77% | |
| French | 37 | 27% | 68% | 73% | |
| Art and Design | 30 | 23% | 70% | 93% | |
| Computer Science | 27 | 30% | 56% | 74% |
A level
| Subject | Entries | A* | A*–A | A*–B | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Biology | 29 | 10% | 21% | 34% | |
| Psychology | 24 | 4% | 13% | 33% | |
| Sociology | 20 | 0% | 5% | 30% | |
| Business Studies | 20 | 10% | 20% | 50% | |
| History | 19 | 5% | 32% | 74% | |
| Mathematics | 18 | 11% | 33% | 50% | |
| Chemistry | 16 | 0% | 25% | 31% | |
| Geography | 14 | 0% | 14% | 57% | |
| Physical Education / Sports Studies | 13 | 0% | 0% | 31% | |
| Fine Art | 10 | 20% | 20% | 50% | |
| Computer Science | 8 | 0% | 13% | 13% | |
| English Language | 8 | 0% | 13% | 25% |
Oxbridge
Cambridge offers by year
Ranked #147 of 1,030 UK schools with Cambridge offers2
UCAS apply centre 10356: The Nelson Thomlinson School
| Cambridge admissions1 | 2024 |
|---|---|
| Applications | ≤5 |
| Offers | ≤5 |
| Success rate | — |
| Accepted offers | ≤5 |
1 Source: University of Cambridge, applications, offers and acceptances by UCAS apply centre. To protect privacy small counts are hidden: "<3" means 0–2 (up to 2023); "≤5" means 1–5 (from 2024). Success rate is only shown when exact numbers are published (England average is about 20%).
2 Schools ranked by number of offers; this doesn't account for school size. Oxford doesn't publish per-school figures, so they aren't shown.
Where students go next
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Higher education (university) | 59% | — | — |
| Apprenticeships | 14% | — | — |
| Any education or training | 59% | — | — |
Oxford/Cambridge application numbers aren't published per school in official data, so university progression is shown instead.
House prices near the school
Typical sold prices (Land Registry) within 1 km, last 12 months.
Loading prices…
Key application dates
National deadlines in England. Apply through Cumberland council, not the school.
| Entry | Deadline | Offer day |
|---|---|---|
| Year 7 (secondary) | 31 October | 1 March (or next working day) |
Admissions policy: Non-selective. Check the school's own admissions rules on its website.
Source: Get Information About Schools and the DfE school and college performance tables (2023-2024); Oxbridge figures from the University of Cambridge's admissions by UCAS apply centre (Oxford doesn't publish per-school figures). Read the method.