Furley Park Primary Academy

Furley Park Primary Academy is a calm, caring and purposeful school where pupils work hard and achieve well. Inspectors found strong attitudes to learning, positive relationships and consistent behaviour, with pupils feeling happy and safe. The school has improved since its previous inspection, when it was judged to require improvement, and leaders have responded to significant change by designing an ambitious curriculum and strengthening reading, writing and support for pupils with SEND. Safeguarding is effective. The school's main strengths are in its curriculum and teaching: phonics and reading are taught consistently well, teachers have secure subject knowledge, and pupils with SEND are generally well supported to learn the same content as their peers. Early years provision is strong, pupils take leadership roles seriously, and there is a wide offer of clubs, sport and cultural experiences. Attendance is improving overall, but persistent absence among disadvantaged pupils remains too high, meaning some vulnerable pupils miss too much education. Assessment is also not consistently precise enough to identify gaps and adapt teaching quickly. This was a graded inspection, so no overall effectiveness grade was given; the school was judged good in each key judgement. The trust has a growing understanding of the school and has taken decisive action to empower staff, which has helped drive improvement. The clear priorities are to make assessment more consistently useful and to reduce persistent absence, especially for the most vulnerable pupils.

Strengths

• Pupils have excellent attitudes to learning and achieve well.
• The school is calm, caring and orderly, with positive relationships.
• Pupils behave well and feel happy and safe.
• Phonics and reading are taught consistently well from early years.
• The curriculum is ambitious and clearly sets out knowledge, skills and vocabulary.
• Teachers have secure subject knowledge and use high-quality resources.
• Pupils with SEND are accurately identified and effectively supported.
• The writing approach helps pupils write accurately at length.
• Early years routines and the learning environment are strong.
• Pupils take on leadership roles and the school values their opinions.
• Pupils access a wide range of clubs, sports and cultural experiences.
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective.

Areas for Improvement

• Assessment is not consistently precise enough to identify gaps in learning.
• Some pupils do not fill gaps in learning swiftly enough.
• Persistent absence is too high for too many pupils, particularly disadvantaged pupils.
• The most vulnerable pupils miss too much of their education.

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 Furley Park Primary Academy attended 94.8% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 15.3% 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, 0.4% of pupils at Furley Park 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 Furley Park Primary Academy had 23.9 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 14.9% 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, 10.7% of pupils at Furley Park Primary Academy were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 1.8% 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 Furley Park Primary Academy received £5,843 and spent £5,956 for each of its 535 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £337,000 (£630 per pupil).

Across all 2 schools of Ace Learning, income was £6,066 and spending £6,184 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 Ashford · Kent local authority: places and applications

Furley Park Primary Academy is part of Ace Learning, which runs 2 schools. The nearest others:

• Hamstreet Primary Academy Ashford

What is Furley Park Primary Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Furley Park Primary Academy is Good, from an inspection in January 2025.

When was Furley Park Primary Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

Furley Park Primary Academy was last inspected in January 2025.

How many pupils does Furley Park Primary Academy have?

Furley Park Primary Academy has 504 pupils on roll.

What age range does Furley Park Primary Academy cover?

Furley Park Primary Academy for pupils aged 4 to 11.

What are Furley Park Primary Academy's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 67% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Furley Park Primary Academy?

Furley Park Primary Academy is at Reed Crescent, Park Farm, Kingsnorth, Ashford, Kent, TN23 3PA.