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Balfour Junior School

Primary Ages 7-11 480 pupils Chatham
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Balfour Junior School is an academy converter in Chatham for pupils aged 7 to 11. It has 480 pupils on roll. In 2025, 71% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

KS2 results: 2025.

Type Primary / Academy converter
Age Range 7-11
Religion Does not apply
Address Balfour Road
Chatham
Kent
ME4 6QX
Phone 01634843833
Reference Number 143880

General Makeup

Number of pupils 480
Boy/Girl ratio Boys: 49.17%
Girls: 50.83%
Percentage of students eligible for free school meals 30.6%
Percentage of students where English is not their first language 36.5%

Class Sizes

Average size of one teacher classes 29.9
Average size of Key Stage 2 classes taught by one teacher 29.9

Year Groups

Year Boys Girls Total
3 68 51 119
4 56 62 118
5 59 61 120
6 53 70 123

Ethnicities

Ethnicity Percentage
White, British 50.2%
African 9.8%
Indian 8.3%
White, Other 7.9%
Asian, Other 2.9%
Mixed, Other 2.5%
White & Asian 2.1%
White & Black (Caribbean) 1.9%
Pakistani 1.5%
White & Black (African) 0.8%
Chinese 0.6%
Caribbean 0.4%
Unclassified 0.2%
Irish 0.2%

Overall Ofsted Rating
Last Report Date 22 May 2024 – no overall grade published for this inspection
Date Report
22 May 2024 School inspection
05 Dec 2018 Short inspection
06 Jan 2017 Academy conversion letter
14 Oct 2015 Full inspection:
Previously as Balfour Junior School
24 Sep 2013 Full inspection:
22 Sep 2010 Full inspection:
01 May 2008 Full inspection:
27 Sep 2004 Full inspection

How many students meet the standards

Reading, Writing & Maths School Score Percentile (local) Percentile (nationwide)
Pupils meeting the expected standard 71%
Pupils meeting a higher standard 14%

Average Scaled Score

Results are converted into scaled scores to allow accurate comparisons of performance over time even if the difficulty of the test varies over time. Scaled scores range from 80 to 120.

Subject School Percentile (local) Percentile (nationwide)
Reading 106
Maths 108

Progress Scores

A progress score is a way to measure how well a student progressed in comparison to other students of a similar starting ability. A score of zero means would mean that a student made the same progress as others that had a similar starting a ability. A positive score would mean that the student made more progress than other students of similar starting ability. The scores below are for the whole school so is the average progress score across all students.

Metric School Score Percentile (local) Percentile (nationwide)
Reading -1.2
Writing -1.5
Maths -1.4

How many students meet the standards

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Average Scaled Score

Results are converted into scaled scores to allow accurate comparisons of performance over time even if the difficulty of the test varies over time. Scaled scores range from 80 to 120.

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Progress Scores

A progress score is a way to measure how well a student progressed in comparison to other students of a similar starting ability. A score of zero means would mean that a student made the same progress as others that had a similar starting a ability. A positive score would mean that the student made more progress than other students of similar starting ability. The scores below are for the whole school so is the average progress score across all students.

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Places and pupil numbers

In 2024–25 Balfour Junior School had 481 pupils for 480 places. That is 1 more pupils than the school has room for.

Pupils and places

Reception intake in the “Chatham Primary” planning area

Medway counted 499 Reception pupils in this area in 2024–25 and forecasts 497 in 2029–30, down 0%.

20172018201920212022202320242025
Places 480480480480480480480480
Pupils 474476470470478481474481
Unfilled 1.2%0.8%2.1%2.1%0.4%0.0%1.2%0.0%

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 Balfour Junior School attended 94.5% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 14.8% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 13.0%).

Sessions missed

Pupils persistently absent

2018201920212022202320242025
Authorised absence 4.0%3.9%2.8%5.9%5.0%4.3%4.0%
Unauthorised absence 0.9%1.1%1.3%1.7%1.6%1.6%1.5%
Severely absent pupils 0.4%0.0%0.6%0.6%0.6%1.2%0.6%

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, 0.6% of pupils at Balfour Junior School were suspended at least once (nationally 1.1%). No pupils were permanently excluded.

Pupils suspended at least once

20182019202020212022202320242025
Suspensions per 100 pupils 0.00.00.22.21.10.80.61.0
Permanent exclusions 00000000

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 Balfour Junior School had 24.8 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 0.0% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 15.7%).

Pupils per teacher

Teachers who left the school within a year

201820192020202120222023202420252026
Pupils per adult 14.314.113.413.713.814.613.814.713.6
Teachers who left state teaching 11.0%9.0%6.2%0.0%9.0%5.0%0.0%0.0%–
Teachers who took any sick leave 25.9%46.4%–36.0%72.0%30.4%45.5%36.4%–
Sick days per teacher 1.02.6–4.35.63.72.21.4–

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, 18.1% of pupils at Balfour Junior School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 0.8% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 4.1%).

Pupils by main type of need

SEN support EHC plan
Speech, language and communication needs 41 1
No specialist assessment of need 14 0
Social, emotional and mental health 11 0
Autistic spectrum disorder 5 1
Moderate learning difficulty 5 1
Other difficulty or disability 4 0
Physical disability 3 1
Specific learning difficulty 3 0
Multi-sensory impairment 1 0

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 Balfour Junior School received £5,778 and spent £6,068 for each of its 480 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £189,000 (£394 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

2019202020212022202320242025
Revenue reserve £329,000£368,000£414,000£427,000£416,000£415,000£189,000
per pupil £695£781£893£911£867£875£394
In-year balance £315,000£84,000£35,000£174,000-£95,000-£18,000-£140,000
per pupil £664£177£76£371-£197-£38-£291

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.

Name Distance
Balfour Infant School
Pattens Lane, Rochester, Kent, ME1 2QT
0.22 miles
St John's Church of England Infant School
4 New Street, 4 New Street, Chatham, Kent, ME4 6RH
0.41 miles
Crest Infant School
Fleet Road, Rochester, Kent, ME1 2QA
0.41 miles
St Michael Catholic Primary and Nursery School
Hills Terrace, Chatham, Kent, ME4 6PX
0.43 miles
Delce Academy
The Tideway, Rochester, Kent, ME1 2NJ
0.47 miles
St Peter's Infant School
Holcombe Road, Rochester, Kent, ME1 2HU
0.53 miles
Phoenix Primary School
Glencoe Road, Chatham, Kent, ME4 5QD
0.57 miles
Greenvale Primary School
Symons Avenue, Chatham, Kent, ME4 5UP
0.63 miles
New Horizons Children's Academy
Park Crescent, Chatham, Kent, ME4 6NR
0.65 miles
St William of Perth Roman Catholic Primary School
Canon Close, Maidstone Road, Rochester, Kent, ME1 3EN
0.74 miles
New Road Primary School
Bryant Street, Chatham, Kent, ME4 5QN
0.77 miles
Warren Wood Primary School
Arethusa Road, Rochester, Kent, ME1 2UR
0.77 miles
All Saints Church of England Primary School
Magpie Hall Road, Chatham, Kent, ME4 5JY
0.86 miles
St Margaret's at Troy Town CofE Voluntary Controlled Primary School
King Street, Rochester, Kent, ME1 1YF
0.88 miles
St Andrew's School (Rochester)
24 - 26 Watts Avenue, Rochester, Kent, ME1 1SA
1.02 miles
Wayfield Primary School
Wayfield Road, Chatham, Kent, ME5 0HH
1.07 miles
Brompton-Westbrook Primary School
Kings Bastion, Brompton, Gillingham, Kent, ME7 5DQ
1.15 miles
Luton Primary School
Luton Road, Chatham, Kent, ME4 5AW
1.21 miles
Rochester Riverside Church of England Primary School
Gas House Road, Rochester, Kent, ME1 1US
1.35 miles
Byron Primary School
Byron Road, Gillingham, Kent, ME7 5XX
1.47 miles
Name Distance
Blue Skies School
126 Maidstone Road, Chatham, Kent, ME4 6DQ
0.25 miles
St John Fisher Catholic Comprehensive School
City Way, Rochester, Kent, ME1 2FA
0.32 miles
Fort Pitt Grammar School
Fort Pitt Hill, Chatham, Kent, ME4 6TJ
0.5 miles
Holcombe Grammar School
Holcombe, Maidstone Road, Chatham, Kent, ME4 6JB
0.52 miles
The Rochester Grammar School
Maidstone Road, Rochester, Kent, ME1 3BY
0.64 miles
Ripplevale School Rochester
9-13 New Road, Rochester, Kent, Rochester, Kent, ME1 1BG
0.73 miles
Sir Joseph Williamson's Mathematical School
Maidstone Road, Rochester, Kent, ME1 3EL
0.75 miles
The Victory Academy
Magpie Hall Road, Chatham, Kent, ME4 5JB
0.79 miles
Rochester Independent College
254 St Margaret's Banks, Rochester, Kent, ME1 1HY
0.8 miles
The Thomas Aveling School
Arethusa Road, Arethusa Road, Rochester, Kent, ME1 2UW
0.83 miles
Medway Secure Training Centre
Sir Evelyn Road, Rochester, ME1 3YB
1.16 miles
Oasis Restore
1 Kennington Road, London, SE1 7QP
1.16 miles
Hospital and Medical Tuition Service
The School Room, Dolphin Ward, Gillingham, ME7 5NY
1.21 miles
Brompton Academy
Marlborough Road, Gillingham, Kent, ME7 5HT
1.23 miles
King's School, Rochester
Satis House, Rochester, ME1 1TE
1.25 miles
Chatham Grammar
Rainham Road, Chatham, Kent, ME5 7EH
1.42 miles
Bradfields Academy
Churchill Avenue, Chatham, Kent, ME5 0LB
1.5 miles
INSPIRE Free Special School
Churchill Avenue, Silverbank, Chatham, Kent, ME5 0LB
1.5 miles
Walderslade School
Bradfields Avenue, Walderslade, Chatham, Kent, ME5 0LE
1.58 miles
Alchemy School
105 Nelson Road, Gillingham, ME7 4LT
1.58 miles

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

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

How many pupils does Balfour Junior School have?

Balfour Junior School has 480 pupils on roll.

What age range does Balfour Junior School cover?

Balfour Junior School for pupils aged 7 to 11.

What are Balfour Junior School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 71% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Balfour Junior School?

Balfour Junior School is at Balfour Road, Chatham, Kent, ME4 6QX.

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