Medway Community Primary School

Medway Community Primary School is a large, diverse Leicester primary serving a deprived community, with many pupils joining mid-year and many at early stages of learning English. Inspectors found the school performing securely overall, with safeguarding met and all inspected areas meeting the expected standard. Pupils are happy, calm and polite, behave very well and feel safe; early years children get a strong start and are well prepared for Year 1. Reading and spoken language are prioritised, inclusion is a notable strength, and disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND are generally well supported to access the curriculum and wider school life.

Strengths

• Pupils behave very well and have positive attitudes to learning.
• Early years provision gives children a calm, caring and well-planned start.
• Reading and spoken language are prioritised across the curriculum.
• Inclusion is strong, including for pupils with SEND and those learning English.
• Pastoral and wellbeing support helps pupils feel safe and trusted.
• Leaders engage well with families and the local community.
• Governance provides effective support and challenge.
• Staff development and wellbeing are well supported.
• Disadvantaged pupils access the same opportunities as their peers.
• Attendance strategies are forensic and have improved attendance over time.

Areas for Improvement

• Attendance remains below national figures, particularly for pupils new to the school.
• Persistent absence is high compared with national figures.
• Curriculum knowledge and vocabulary are not consistently explicit in every subject.
• Teaching does not always address gaps in pupils' knowledge precisely, including in writing.
• Leaders' analysis of some improvement work is not precise enough to identify what works best.

Admissions: local authority offers data from the Department for Education. A school is oversubscribed when at least 5% of the families who put it first were not offered a place, and undersubscribed when everyone who put it first got in but 10% or more of its places were unfilled in the Department's school capacity survey (the latest survey is used for entry years it does not cover). Places: Department for Education, School capacity, from local authorities' annual survey as at 1 May. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024–25); the survey was not run in 2020. Places include sixth form places. Forecasts are the local authority's own for the school's planning area, an area it uses to plan places that is not the school's catchment area. The forecast starts from a head count in 2025; the dashed line is the Department's estimate of places in that area, including those the authority has firm plans for. Planned places are cumulative, and only those with firm plans are counted.

In 2024–25 pupils at Medway Community Primary School attended 91.8% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 30.8% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 13.0%).

Sessions missed

Pupils persistently absent

Source: Department for Education, Pupil absence in schools in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Persistent absence means missing 10% or more of sessions; severe absence means 50% or more. No figures were published for 2019/20.

In 2024–25, 0.0% of pupils at Medway Community Primary School were suspended at least once (nationally 1.1%). No pupils were permanently excluded.

Pupils suspended at least once

Source: Department for Education, Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). A pupil can be suspended more than once, so suspensions per 100 pupils can be higher than the share of pupils suspended. Very small numbers are hidden by the DfE. Exclusion figures dropped in 2020 and 2021 because of school closures.

In 2025–26 Medway Community Primary School had 27.7 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 11.1% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 15.7%).

Pupils per teacher

Teachers who left the school within a year

Source: Department for Education, School workforce in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Pupils per teacher counts full-time-equivalent pupils and teachers. Turnover is the share of a year's teachers (full-time equivalent) who were not at the school the following year, whether they moved to another school or left state-funded teaching. Turnover and sickness figures run one year behind the ratios. Sick leave is the share of teachers who took at least one day in the year, so it swings widely at small schools, where a few teachers can make it 0% or 100%. The national figures are for all state schools of the same type.

In 2025–26, 11.4% of pupils at Medway Community Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 2.6% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 4.1%).

Pupils by main type of need

Source: Department for Education, Special educational needs in England (the 2025–26 school census). SEN support is extra help in school without an EHC plan. National figures are for all state-funded primary schools. Counts are as published, with small numbers not hidden.

In 2025–26 Medway Community Primary School received £6,971 and spent £6,563 for each of its 449 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £561,000 (£1,250 per pupil).

Income per pupil

Spending per pupil

Source: Department for Education, Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool. Each year is the one the financial year ends in (2024 is 2023–24).

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Leicester · Leicester local authority: places and applications

What is Medway Community Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Medway Community Primary School is Expected standard, from an inspection in October 2026.

When was Medway Community Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Medway Community Primary School was last inspected in October 2026.

How many pupils does Medway Community Primary School have?

Medway Community Primary School has 466 pupils on roll.

What age range does Medway Community Primary School cover?

Medway Community Primary School for pupils aged 3 to 11.

What are Medway Community Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 64% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Medway Community Primary School?

Medway Community Primary School is at St Stephens Road, Highfields, Leicester, Leicestershire, LE2 1GH.