Drapers Mills Primary Academy

Drapers Mills Primary Academy is a welcoming, inclusive school serving a diverse and disadvantaged community, with a high proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals and above-average SEND support. Safeguarding standards are met. The school performs at the expected standard in early years, inclusion, and personal development and wellbeing. Children get off to a strong start in Reception, phonics is taught well, and pupils benefit from highly effective pastoral care, strong wellbeing support, and a broad personal development programme. Behaviour is generally calm and respectful, and pupils say bullying is rare. However, core areas require improvement. Achievement in national examinations remains too low, especially for disadvantaged pupils, and gaps in learning persist. Curriculum implementation and teaching are not consistently effective, with tasks sometimes not adapted to pupils' prior knowledge and needs, particularly for older pupils. Attendance is below the national average, and persistent absence is much higher than average, although leaders are taking determined action and some pupils are beginning to attend more regularly. Leadership has recently been through a period of change, but the trust has provided stability and the new 'Team Draper' culture has identified the right priorities. Leaders know more work is needed to improve attendance, tailor the curriculum to the school's context, ensure consistent teaching approaches, and address gaps in pupils' knowledge so they are ready for the next stage. The school is not complacent and has the capacity to improve.

Strengths

• Safeguarding standards are met, with an open culture where safeguarding is everyone's responsibility.
• Early years provision is strong: children settle quickly and are generally well prepared for Year 1.
• Phonics is taught well, and children use developing language in their play.
• Leaders identify children's needs early and provide effective support to reduce barriers to learning.
• Inclusion is well led, with tailored plans, effective pre-teaching and catch-up support.
• Wellbeing support is highly effective, including the 'nest' and 'hive' provisions for pupils with significant needs.
• The pupil premium strategy is well considered and supports pupils' wider development.
• Personal development is woven through the curriculum, including relationships, safety and life in modern Britain.
• Pupils develop mature understanding of equality, respect and difference.
• Pastoral support for pupils and families is a highly successful central feature of the school.
• Extra-curricular activities and leadership roles are broad and inclusive.
• Renewed behaviour expectations have created a calm, orderly school culture with respectful relationships.
• Pupils say bullying is rare and trust adults to deal with unkind behaviour fairly and promptly.
• Leaders take determined action to improve attendance, and some pupils are beginning to attend more regularly.
• The trust provides stability and timely support, and trustees fulfil statutory duties.
• Professional learning is matched to school priorities, and staff feel well supported and proud to work at the school.
• Parents are generally positive and feel included in the school community.

Areas for Improvement

• Pupils' achievement in national examinations, while improving, remains too low overall.
• Gaps in learning remain and too many pupils, including disadvantaged pupils, are not ready for the next stage.
• Curriculum implementation is inconsistent, and tasks are not consistently adapted to pupils' prior knowledge and needs.
• Teaching is not consistently effective across subjects, with variability affecting older pupils in particular.
• Gaps in reading for older pupils are not closing quickly.
• Some pupils lack fluency with number facts in mathematics.
• Some pupils do not develop secure transcription and sentence construction in writing.
• Classroom adaptations for pupils with SEND are not consistently embedded.
• Attendance is below the national average and has been for some time.
• Persistent absence is much higher than average, and too many pupils miss too much school.
• Some pupils are not fully engaged in learning when adaptations do not meet their starting points.
• Recent leadership change has contributed to some priorities not being addressed quickly enough.

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 Drapers Mills Primary Academy attended 87.3% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 48.5% 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, 15.5% of pupils at Drapers Mills Primary Academy 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 Drapers Mills Primary Academy had 27.3 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 46.1% 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, 23.2% of pupils at Drapers Mills Primary Academy were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 3.7% 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 2024–25 Drapers Mills Primary Academy received £8,414 and spent £8,854 for each of its 277 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £124,000 (£449 per pupil).

Across all 45 schools of The Kemnal Academies Trust, income was £8,501 and spending £8,452 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 Margate · Kent local authority: places and applications

Drapers Mills Primary Academy is part of The Kemnal Academies Trust, which runs 45 schools. The nearest others:

• Salmestone Primary School Margate
• Northdown Primary School Margate
• Dame Janet Primary Academy Ramsgate
• Newlands Primary School Ramsgate
• Pluckley Church of England Primary School Ashford
• Smarden Primary School Ashford
• Rainham School for Girls Gillingham
• Napier Community Primary and Nursery Academy Gillingham
• Maldon Primary School Maldon
• Heybridge Primary School Maldon

What is Drapers Mills Primary Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Drapers Mills Primary Academy is Needs attention, from an inspection in September 2026.

When was Drapers Mills Primary Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

Drapers Mills Primary Academy was last inspected in September 2026.

How many pupils does Drapers Mills Primary Academy have?

Drapers Mills Primary Academy has 246 pupils on roll.

What age range does Drapers Mills Primary Academy cover?

Drapers Mills Primary Academy for pupils aged 2 to 11.

What are Drapers Mills Primary Academy's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 51% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Drapers Mills Primary Academy?

Drapers Mills Primary Academy is at St Peter's Footpath, Margate, Kent, CT9 2SP.