Updated November 2019

Entries on this page include the OFSTED Grade for each Primary School updated twice a year, also recording change from previous Inspection result, together with some other relevant information below. It is worth using the search engine on the Home Page to pick up other references to individual schools.

You will find advice on Primary school Admissions and Appeals here. 

You can read the full Report on each Primary School at OFSTED. Each school is awarded a main Grade: Outstanding, Good, Requires Improvement (previously Satisfactory), and Inadequate (two sub categories - A school that has serious weaknesses is inadequate overall and requires significant improvement but leadership and management are judged to be Grade 3 or better - A school that requires special measures is one where the school is failing to give its pupils an acceptable standard of education and the school’s leaders, managers or governors have not demonstrated that they have the capacity to secure the necessary improvement in the school). Each Report carries a brief description of the school before justifying its decision in more detail. If a school is in Special Measures or Serious Weaknesses, the results of further monitoring visits are noted.

A majority of the schools that have previously had a 'Good' or 'Outstanding' assessment are given a Short Inspection (known as Section 8). These are indicated by 'Good (S). These will be confirmed in their assessment grade. However for some of these schools, the Inspection Team may consider that there are concerns, or in the case of a Good school, grounds for raising the Grade and this can only be done by a full Section Five Grade. These are recorded for example as  'Outstanding (SC) or 'Good (SR). 

You will find an analysis of oversubscription and vacancies for  Canterbury Primary Places for September 2019 Admissions here, for 2018 here, for 2017 here, and for 2016 here.

You will find a good website to provide a host of factual data about individual Kent schools here.

Reports on Inspections between between September 2018 and July 2019  are in the first table, followed by other tables containing older ones.

(A) Indicates the school is an Academy 

  * Hersden is now called Water Meadow following academisation. Ofsted Good in spite of previous (SR)

** Second consecutive Requires Improvement

 You will find further information on Pilgrims Way here. 

 Excerpt from the Canterbury section of an article on oversubscription and vacancies in primary schools 2015: "The City’s eight schools are heavily polarised, with half well oversubscribed, St Peter’s Methodist being well ahead with 23 disappointed first choices". 

 Pilgrims Way Primary School and Nursery

The OFSTED Report states: "The head of school has been in post for approximately one year. She was appointed to work under an executive headteacher from an academy chain. This academy conversion did not take place and a replacement academy sponsor was sought. A new sponsor, The Village Academy, has been secured and the executive headteacher of this academy chain is, from September 2013, acting executive headteacher of this school". The previous Executive Headteacher was from St Stephen's Junior School In Canterbury, a stand alone academy. This relationship was reported to be in difficulties hence, presumably, the reason for St Stephen's pulling out. Certainly, OFSTED also reports: "The school has been through a period of considerable and unsettling turbulence. There is little doubt that this has had a significant impact on the school’s ability to move forward following the previous inspection.The head of school is tenacious and focused in driving school improvement. She has a good understanding of what needs to be achieved and, in the year since her appointment, has developed a solid base from which to build. She has improved the quality of teaching and made promising appointments to strengthen leadership. The new senior leadership team has hit the ground running. It has a secure understanding of what needs to happen next and has been quick to establish strategies to check that no group of pupils continue to fall through the net. Leadership is judged to require improvement because it is simply too early to judge the effectiveness of these credible actions". All this suggests that the previous arrangement was simply not working and there has been insufficient time to repair the damage. 

2012-13 OFSTED Reports 

Pre September 2012 Reports

Northbourne CofE Primary federated with another local primary school and, as OFSTED notes:  "There have been significant changes in the school since the previous inspection. After a period of considerable instability and turbulence, during which delegated powers were removed from the governing body, the school was federated with a local primary school in September 2011. The headteacher of the federated school was appointed as the executive headteacher of both schools at this time. Prior to this, from September 2010, she had been supporting Northbourne in her role as a Local Leader of Education".

Diocesan and Payne Primary and Kingsmead are combining to form a new school, St John's CofE Primary  on the Kingsmead site in Setptember 2012.