The Thomas Aveling School

The Thomas Aveling School continues to perform well, maintaining its status as a good institution. Pupils express happiness and safety within the school environment, crediting staff for their support and care. The school fosters an ambitious curriculum, successfully preparing students for their future with a strong focus on personal development, reading, and diverse extracurricular opportunities. Positive relationships among pupils and the strong emphasis on behaviour contribute to a respectful and orderly atmosphere.

Strengths

• Pupils feel happy and safe at school.
• Strong support for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).
• Ambitious and well-structured curriculum.
• Effective careers programme that prepares pupils for future pathways.
• High expectations for pupil behaviour with effective management of bullying.
• Strong personal, social, and health education (PSHE) programme.
• Well-managed professional development for staff.

Areas for Improvement

• Reading is not fully embedded across all subjects.
• PSHE programme lacks coherence and developmental depth.

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 The Thomas Aveling School attended 90.6% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 26.5% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 23.4%).

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, 11.5% of pupils at The Thomas Aveling School were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). One pupil was 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 The Thomas Aveling School had 15.6 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 6.5% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 14.1%).

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, 20.1% of pupils at The Thomas Aveling School were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 4.8% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 3.5%).

The school has resourced provision with 14 pupils.

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 secondary schools. Counts are as published, with small numbers not hidden.

In 2024–25 The Thomas Aveling School received £8,182 and spent £8,195 for each of its 1,213 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £482,000 (£398 per pupil).

Across all 10 schools of Beyond Schools Trust, income was £7,811 and spending £7,751 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). Academy figures include a share of the trust's central services, shared out by pupil numbers, and are rounded to the nearest £1,000. Premises costs were defined differently from 2024, so compare them across that gap with care.

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Rochester · Medway local authority: places and applications

The Thomas Aveling School is part of Beyond Schools Trust, which runs 10 schools. The nearest others:

• Warren Wood Primary School Rochester
• Balfour Junior School Chatham
• Fort Pitt Grammar School Chatham
• Walderslade School Chatham
• Phoenix Primary School Chatham
• Greenacre School Chatham
• The Robert Napier School Gillingham
• Hilltop Primary School Rochester
• Chantry Community Primary School Gravesend

What is The Thomas Aveling School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for The Thomas Aveling School is Good, from an inspection in October 2022.

When was The Thomas Aveling School last inspected by Ofsted?

The Thomas Aveling School was last inspected in October 2022.

How many pupils does The Thomas Aveling School have?

The Thomas Aveling School has 1,201 pupils on roll.

What age range does The Thomas Aveling School cover?

The Thomas Aveling School for pupils aged 11 to 18.

What are The Thomas Aveling School's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 38.8, and 23% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is The Thomas Aveling School?

The Thomas Aveling School is at Arethusa Road, Arethusa Road, Rochester, Kent, ME1 2UW.