The Thomas Adams School
Secondary · Academy converter · Mixed · Shropshire
Lowe Hill, Shrewsbury, SY4 5UB
60
headline score
Ranking (England)
—
No ranked results
Ofsted
Good
Graded 13/09/2023
Application demand
85%
1st preference success · Oversubscribed
Attendance
92.6%
20.5% persistently absent
At a glance
Pupils on roll
1,214
Capacity used
Has space91%
1,336 places
GCSE rank (England)
—
KS2 rank (England)
—
Application demand
Secondary entry · official council applications and offers
85%
1st preference success rate
200 of 235 families who put it first got an offer
206
Places offered
410
Total applications
2.0
Applications per place
| Preference (Sept 2025 entry) | Applications | Offers | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st preference | 235 | 200 | ● 85% |
| 2nd preference | 121 | 6 | ● 5% |
| 3rd preference | 54 | 0 | ● 0% |
| Total | 410 | 206 | 50% |
1st preference success by year
Shropshire lets families list 3 preferences. 10 applications came from outside the council area (1 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
- Academy converter
- Phase
- Secondary
- Age range
- 11–18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sixth form
- Yes
- Nursery
- No Nursery Classes
- Boarding
- Boarding school
- Headteacher
- Mark Cooper
- Address
- Lowe Hill, Wem, Shrewsbury, SY4 5UB
- Phone
- 01939237000
- Local authority
- Shropshire
- Ward / constituency
- Wem · North Shropshire
- Area
- Larger rural: Nearer to a major town or city
- URN
- 147508
Pupils
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free school meals | 18% | — | — |
| English as additional language | 5% | — | — |
| SEN support | 14% | — | — |
Local deprivation (IDACI quintile 2 of 5)
1 = least deprived area, 5 = most deprived. Context only.
Academy trust: THE 3-18 EDUCATION TRUST
1,214 pupils · 1,336 places. Intake figures describe the school's community — they aren't good or bad.
Ofsted inspections
- 23
13 September 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 · 1,043 pupils
Attendance
92.6%
Share of sessions attended · England 91.1%
Overall absence
7.4%
Sessions missed, any reason · England 8.9%
Persistent absence
20.5%
Pupils missing 10%+ of school · England 26.7%
Severe absence
2.4%
Pupils missing 50%+ of school · England 2.3%
Unauthorised absence
2.0%
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 | 42.3 | — | — |
| Progress 8 score | -0.50 | — | 0.00 |
| Grade 5+ in English & maths | 27% | — | — |
| Grade 4+ in English & maths | 55% | — | — |
| EBacc average point score | 3.67 | — | — |
Progress 8 band
A-level results
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average points per entry | 29.74 | — | — |
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 | 43.4 | 46 |
| Grade 5+ English & maths | 36.4% | 46% |
| Grade 4+ English & maths | 61.7% | 65% |
| Entering EBacc | 51.7% | 40% |
| EBacc average point score | 3.74 | 4.1 |
| Pupils in cohort | 209 | — |
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 | 32.17 | 35 |
| Average grade | C+ | — |
| AAB or better (2 facilitating) | 13.7% | 17% |
| A-level students | 69 | — |
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 | 208 | 8% | 40% | 65% | |
| English Language | 208 | 14% | 56% | 76% | |
| English Literature | 206 | 10% | 44% | 68% | |
| Combined Science | 174 | 5% | 29% | 52% | |
| History | 152 | 10% | 35% | 49% | |
| French | 107 | 5% | 29% | 41% | |
| Art and Design | 77 | 31% | 83% | 94% | |
| Geography | 58 | 24% | 45% | 60% | |
| Food Preparation & Nutrition | 40 | 18% | 65% | 80% | |
| Biology | 32 | 22% | 66% | 78% | |
| Physics | 32 | 16% | 66% | 72% | |
| Design & Technology | 32 | 9% | 34% | 59% |
A level
| Subject | Entries | A* | A*–A | A*–B | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Psychology | 18 | 17% | 22% | 50% | |
| History | 17 | 12% | 18% | 41% | |
| Mathematics | 16 | 19% | 31% | 38% | |
| Law | 11 | 18% | 18% | 36% | |
| English Language and Literature | 11 | 0% | 9% | 36% | |
| Biology | 10 | 30% | 30% | 40% | |
| Chemistry | 9 | 33% | 33% | 56% | |
| Business Studies | 9 | 11% | 11% | 33% | |
| Physics | 8 | 0% | 25% | 38% | |
| Graphics | 8 | 13% | 38% | 88% | |
| Geography | 6 | 0% | 0% | 0% | |
| Sociology | 6 | 0% | 0% | 33% |
Oxbridge
Cambridge offers by year
No Cambridge offers this year
UCAS apply centre 12593: Thomas Adams School
| Cambridge admissions1 | 2024 |
|---|---|
| Applications | ≤5 |
| Offers | 0 |
| Success rate | — |
| Accepted offers | 0 |
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) | 52% | — | — |
| Apprenticeships | 6% | — | — |
| Any education or training | 58% | — | — |
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 Shropshire 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.