Thornycroft School, Oldham
Thornycroft School is a special school for pupils aged 5 to 19 in Oldham.
Data last updated 26 Oct 2026
Thornycroft School in detail
Compared with nearby schools
The nearest other special schools to Thornycroft School are Future Finders Employability College (0.6 miles, Good); The Springboard Project (0.7 miles, Good); Path 4 (1 mile); and Kingfisher Special School (1.1 miles, Outstanding).
Future Finders Employability CollegeThe Springboard ProjectPath 4Kingfisher Special School
Getting there
The nearest tram or metro stop is Freehold (Manchester Metrolink), about 900 metres away (roughly a 11-minute walk).
14 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is Regency Close (opposite), 160 metres away.
The area around the school
Measured by the 2025 English Indices of Deprivation, the neighbourhood Thornycroft School stands in is among the 10% most deprived neighbourhoods in England. This describes where the school is, not where its pupils live.
Sources: NaPTAN (Department for Transport); English Indices of Deprivation 2025 (MHCLG); data.police.uk street-level crime
Key Information
DfE GIASOfsted Rating
Ofsted · 6 months agoOverall
Ofsted Insights
From Ofsted's April 2026 inspection report.
What This School Does Well
Thornycroft School has thoughtfully designed its approach around your child's wellbeing, with each pupil having a key worker to support them from day one. The curriculum is broad and ambitious, preparing older pupils for GCSEs and beyond, with particular focus on reading support and career guidance including visits to local colleges. The school emphasises personal development through assemblies, community events and inter-school competitions, helping pupils understand the world beyond school.
Key Strengths
- Clear and ambitious broad curriculum with well-sequenced schemes of work across all subjects
- Comprehensive safeguarding policies and procedures with strong oversight systems and staff training programmes
- Excellent pastoral care model with key workers assigned to each pupil to identify and support needs quickly
- Strong personal development offer including spiritual, moral, social and cultural education with guest speakers and community engagement
- Adequate staffing levels and health and safety measures with detailed risk assessments
Areas for Improvement
- Schemes of work will need refinement once pupils enrol and their starting points are better understood
Safeguarding
Safeguarding arrangements are effective with clear policies meeting national guidance, comprehensive staff training, robust incident recording systems, and particular attention to additional risks for pupils with SEND.
Extracurricular Activities
Library visits, inter-school sporting competitions, community events, visits to local colleges, guest speakers from police and ambulance services
Thornycroft School is a proposed independent school that is likely to meet all independent school standards if registered. The school has clear leadership vision, well-planned curriculum, and comprehensive safeguarding arrangements in place.
At a Glance
No
Boarding
No
Nursery
No
Sixth Form
No
Special Measures
How Does This School Compare?
Ranked against 5 nearby schools
Keep up with Thornycroft School
Getting There
Bus Stops
Safety and surroundings
Road collisions within 500 m (2021 to 2025)
- Collisions
- 27
- Fatal
- 0
- Serious
- 10
- Children hurt
- 5
Within 500 m of the school's mapped location, police recorded 27 road collisions in which someone was injured in 2021 to 2025: none fatal, 10 serious and 17 slight.
5 children aged 0 to 15 were hurt: 5 on foot.
5 of the collisions happened on a weekday between 08:00 and 09:30 or 14:45 and 16:30, holidays included.
The typical figure for schools in Oldham is 14 (the median across 129 schools, same distance and years).
Serious and slight counts use the Department for Transport's severity adjustment, which allows for changes in how police forces record injuries; they are estimates, rounded to whole numbers. Distances are in a straight line. Source: Department for Transport, Road Safety Data (STATS19), Open Government Licence v3.0.
Commute and house prices
Capacity & Demand
Area Demand Pressure - Oldham
Based on MHCLG Live Table 122 (2024-25, last 5 years) for Oldham
Across Oldham council
Places available
4,034
Applications
3,190
Got 1st preference
75.2%
Got preferred school
95.4%
All secondary applications across Oldham council (2026/27), not just this school.
Inspection History
Special educational needs provision
Thornycroft School is not approved under Section 41 of the Children and Families Act 2014.
Source: Get Information about Schools (GIAS), Department for Education.
Feeder Primary Schools
Primary schools that likely feed into this school, based on proximity
Thornycroft School
Showing 10 of 15 linked schools
Questions parents ask about Thornycroft School
Does Thornycroft School have specialist SEN provision?
Thornycroft School is not approved under Section 41 of the Children and Families Act 2014.
How do I apply to Thornycroft School?
Thornycroft School is an independent school and runs its own admissions rather than going through the local authority. Contact the school directly for entry requirements, assessment dates, fees and any bursaries.
How many road collisions happen near Thornycroft School?
Within 500 m of the school's mapped location, police recorded 27 road collisions in which someone was injured in 2021 to 2025: none fatal, 10 serious and 17 slight. 5 children aged 0 to 15 were hurt: 5 on foot. 5 of the collisions happened on a weekday between 08:00 and 09:30 or 14:45 and 16:30, holidays included. The typical figure for schools in Oldham is 14 (the median across 129 schools, same distance and years).
Where is Thornycroft School?
Thornycroft School is at Newport Street, Oldham, Greater Manchester, OL8 1RE.
Source: Department for Transport, Road Safety Data (STATS19)