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Walderslade School

Secondary Ages 11-18 697 pupils Chatham
Ofsted: Inadequate
All schools in Chatham

Walderslade School is an academy converter in Chatham for pupils aged 11 to 18. It has 697 pupils on roll. The latest Ofsted rating for Walderslade School is Inadequate, from an inspection in February 2023 of its predecessor, Walderslade Girls' School. In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 29.2, and 12% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE. Suspensions are common here, with 21.8 in every 100 pupils suspended at least once in 2024/25 (nationally, 7.3). It has more teachers for its size than most secondary schools: 13.2 pupils for each teacher in 2025/26, against 16.7 nationally.

GCSE results: 2026. A-level results: 2025.

Type Secondary / Academy converter
Age Range 11-18
Religion Unknown
Address Bradfields Avenue
Walderslade
Chatham
Kent
ME5 0LE
Phone 01634861593
Reference Number 150869

General Makeup

Number of pupils 697
Percentage of students eligible for free school meals 40.2%
Percentage of students where English is not their first language 12.1%

Class Sizes

Average size of one teacher classes 17.4

Year Groups

Year Boys Girls Total
7 Unknown 100 100
8 Unknown 123 123
9 Unknown 118 118
10 Unknown 163 163
11 Unknown 137 137
12 Unknown 35 35
13 Unknown 21 21

Ethnicities

Ethnicity Percentage
White, British 71%
African 10.9%
White, Other 5.3%
White & Black (Caribbean) 1.4%
Mixed, Other 1.4%
White & Asian 1.1%
Asian, Other 1.1%
White & Black (African) 1%
Caribbean 0.7%
Unclassified 0.4%
Indian 0.3%

This school has not been graded since it changed URN, usually on converting to an academy. The rating shown is from its predecessor, Walderslade Girls' School, inspected in February 2023.

Overall Ofsted Rating Inadequate
Last Report Date This school has not had an inspection yet.
Date Report

Attainment 8 Score

Attaimenment 8 is a measure of a pupil's average grade across a set of 8 subjects. The 8 subjects which make up Attainment 8 are:

  • English
  • Maths
  • 3 subjects from qualifications that count towards the English Baccalaureate (EBacc), like sciences, language and history
  • 3 more GCSE qualifications (including EBacc subjects) or technical awards from a list approved by the Department for Education

Each grade a pupil gets is assigned a point score from 9 (the highest) to 1 (the lowest). These scores are added up, with English and maths counted twice.

School Score Percentile (local) Percentile (nationwide)
29.2

GCSE Results

Metric School Score Percentile (local) Percentile (nationwide)
Grade 5 or above in English and maths 12%
5 or more GCSEs at grade 9-4 (or A-C) 26.3%

Attainment 8 Score

Attaimenment 8 is a measure of a pupil's average grade across a set of 8 subjects. The 8 subjects which make up Attainment 8 are:

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GCSE Results

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Points

Points Percentile (local) Percentile (nationwide)
Average Points 26.55

Grades

School Local Nationwide
Average Grade C- C- C+
Average Grade (best 3) SUPP C C+
Percentage Percentile (local) Percentile (nationwide)
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Year 7 admissions, 2026 entry

Number of Applications Number of Offers
First Preference
Second Preference 26 10
Third Preference 26 6
From another Local Authority 6 5

Previous years

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Places and pupil numbers

In 2024–25 Walderslade School had 794 pupils for 949 places. 155 places (16.3%) were unfilled. It also plans 20 temporary "bulge" places for a large year group.

Pupils and places

Year 7 intake in the “Secondary Non- Selective” planning area

Medway counted 2,739 Year 7 pupils in this area in 2024–25 and forecasts 3,018 in 2031–32, up 10%.

20242025
Places 949949
Pupils 851794
Unfilled 10.3%16.3%

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 Walderslade School attended 87.4% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 40.5% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 23.4%).

Sessions missed

Pupils persistently absent

20242025
Authorised absence 6.5%7.2%
Unauthorised absence 6.2%5.4%
Severely absent pupils 3.8%6.4%

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, 21.8% of pupils at Walderslade School were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). 4 pupils were permanently excluded.

Pupils suspended at least once

2025
Suspensions per 100 pupils 88.0
Permanent exclusions 4

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 Walderslade School had 13.2 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 29.2% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 14.1%).

Pupils per teacher

Teachers who left the school within a year

20252026
Pupils per adult 10.98.3
Teachers who left state teaching 18.3%–
Teachers who took any sick leave 61.5%–
Sick days per teacher 7.4–

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, 14.6% of pupils at Walderslade School were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 1.6% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 3.5%).

Pupils by main type of need

SEN support EHC plan
No specialist assessment of need 55 0
Specific learning difficulty 15 1
Autistic spectrum disorder 9 4
Social, emotional and mental health 12 1
Speech, language and communication needs 5 2
Other difficulty or disability 1 2
Moderate learning difficulty 2 0
Hearing impairment 1 0
Multi-sensory impairment 1 0
Physical disability 0 1
Vision 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 secondary schools. Counts are as published, with small numbers not hidden.

In 2024–25 Walderslade School received £7,880 and spent £7,532 for each of its 810 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £339,000 (£418 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

2025
Revenue reserve £339,000
per pupil £418
In-year balance £282,000
per pupil £349

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
St Thomas More Roman Catholic Primary School
Bleakwood Road, Chatham, Kent, ME5 0NF
0.24 miles
Oaklands School
Weedswood Road, Walderslade, Chatham, Kent, ME5 0QS
0.3 miles
Maundene School
Swallow Rise, Walderslade, Chatham, Kent, ME5 7QB
0.42 miles
Horsted Junior School
Barberry Avenue, Chatham, Kent, ME5 9TF
0.56 miles
Horsted Infant School
Barberry Avenue, Chatham, Kent, ME5 9TF
0.6 miles
Walderslade Primary School
Dargets Road, Walderslade, Chatham, Kent, ME5 8BJ
0.6 miles
Wayfield Primary School
Wayfield Road, Chatham, Kent, ME5 0HH
0.68 miles
Lordswood School
Lordswood Lane, Chatham, Kent, ME5 8NN
0.91 miles
Kingfisher Community Primary School
Kingfisher Drive, Princes Park, Walderslade, Chatham, Kent, ME5 7NX
0.92 miles
New Horizons Children's Academy
Park Crescent, Chatham, Kent, ME4 6NR
0.94 miles
Warren Wood Primary School
Arethusa Road, Rochester, Kent, ME1 2UR
1.18 miles
Tunbury Primary School
Tunbury Avenue, Walderslade, Chatham, Kent, ME5 9HY
1.21 miles
St Benedict's Catholic Primary School
Lambourn Way, Lordswood, Chatham, Kent, ME5 8PU
1.28 miles
Balfour Infant School
Pattens Lane, Rochester, Kent, ME1 2QT
1.39 miles
Greenvale Primary School
Symons Avenue, Chatham, Kent, ME4 5UP
1.45 miles
Swingate Primary School
Sultan Road, Lordswood, Chatham, Kent, ME5 8TJ
1.55 miles
Crest Infant School
Fleet Road, Rochester, Kent, ME1 2QA
1.57 miles
Balfour Junior School
Balfour Road, Chatham, Kent, ME4 6QX
1.58 miles
Phoenix Primary School
Glencoe Road, Chatham, Kent, ME4 5QD
1.58 miles
Delce Academy
The Tideway, Rochester, Kent, ME1 2NJ
1.61 miles
Name Distance
Greenacre School
157 Walderslade Road, Walderslade, Chatham, Kent, ME5 0LP
0.09 miles
Bradfields Academy
Churchill Avenue, Chatham, Kent, ME5 0LB
0.17 miles
INSPIRE Free Special School
Churchill Avenue, Silverbank, Chatham, Kent, ME5 0LB
0.17 miles
Holcombe Grammar School
Holcombe, Maidstone Road, Chatham, Kent, ME4 6JB
1.07 miles
The Victory Academy
Magpie Hall Road, Chatham, Kent, ME4 5JB
1.29 miles
The Thomas Aveling School
Arethusa Road, Arethusa Road, Rochester, Kent, ME1 2UW
1.3 miles
Medway Secure Training Centre
Sir Evelyn Road, Rochester, ME1 3YB
1.45 miles
Oasis Restore
1 Kennington Road, London, SE1 7QP
1.45 miles
Blue Skies School
126 Maidstone Road, Chatham, Kent, ME4 6DQ
1.59 miles
Sir Joseph Williamson's Mathematical School
Maidstone Road, Rochester, Kent, ME1 3EL
1.73 miles
The Rochester Grammar School
Maidstone Road, Rochester, Kent, ME1 3BY
1.73 miles
St John Fisher Catholic Comprehensive School
City Way, Rochester, Kent, ME1 2FA
1.86 miles
Chatham Grammar
Rainham Road, Chatham, Kent, ME5 7EH
1.87 miles
Hospital and Medical Tuition Service
The School Room, Dolphin Ward, Gillingham, ME7 5NY
2.02 miles
Fort Pitt Grammar School
Fort Pitt Hill, Chatham, Kent, ME4 6TJ
2.07 miles
Alchemy School
105 Nelson Road, Gillingham, ME7 4LT
2.25 miles
Brompton Academy
Marlborough Road, Gillingham, Kent, ME7 5HT
2.27 miles
Ripplevale School Rochester
9-13 New Road, Rochester, Kent, Rochester, Kent, ME1 1BG
2.3 miles
Rochester Independent College
254 St Margaret's Banks, Rochester, Kent, ME1 1HY
2.37 miles
The Robert Napier School
Third Avenue, Gillingham, Kent, ME7 2LX
2.42 miles

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

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

What is Walderslade School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Walderslade School is Inadequate, from an inspection in February 2023 of its predecessor, Walderslade Girls' School.

How many pupils does Walderslade School have?

Walderslade School has 697 pupils on roll.

What age range does Walderslade School cover?

Walderslade School for pupils aged 11 to 18.

What are Walderslade School's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 29.2, and 12% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Walderslade School?

Walderslade School is at Bradfields Avenue, Walderslade, Chatham, Kent, ME5 0LE.

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