Hempstead Junior School
Birch Grove, Hempstead, Gillingham, ME7 3HJ
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Community school
- Ages
- 7 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Head Teacher
- Mr Paul Cross
- Constituency
- Gillingham and Rainham
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 360
- Pupils on roll
- 371
- URN
- 118423
- Local authority
- Medway
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01634336963
About this school
Hempstead Junior School is a community primary school in Gillingham. It teaches children aged 7 to 11 and has 371 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Hempstead Junior School, and its latest judgement is set out below. Where the Department for Education has published them, its results and pupil characteristics appear below. Numbers and a report only go so far, so visit in person before you apply.
Ofsted judgement
Confirmed by a short inspection, not a full one
Ofsted's most recent visit was a short inspection on 7 March 2024, where inspectors confirmed the school remains Good. The school's last full inspection took place before September 2019, so its area grades are not part of Ofsted's current published data. Older reports are on the school's Ofsted page.
Exam results
Key stage 2 (end of primary school)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 2 | 90 | 88 | 94 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 56% | 56% | 72% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 8% | 5% | 3% |
| Expected standard in reading | 72% | 66% | 85% |
| Expected standard in maths | 66% | 70% | 82% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 61% | 59% | 77% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 105.0 | 105.0 | 107.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 103.0 | 103.0 | 105.0 |
| Reading progress | +0.60 | - | - |
| Writing progress | 0.00 | - | - |
| Maths progress | -0.30 | - | - |
Progress measures ended nationally after the 2022/23 school year, when the key stage 1 assessments they were based on were stopped. Blank progress figures in later years are not missing school data.
Trends over time
How Hempstead Junior School has moved over recent years against the local and national picture. Every figure is shown in the table beneath its chart.
| Year | This school | Medway average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 56% | 56.2% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 56% | 60.6% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 72% | 59.8% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 6.4% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 5.5% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 5.5% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 353 |
| 2023/24 | 356 |
| 2024/25 | 373 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Hempstead Junior School compares
Hempstead Junior School ranked 14th of 57 primary schools in Medway for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 71% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 47% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 72% | 5.5% | 9.9% | 371 | — |
| Hempstead Infant School | — | 5.1% | 8.3% | 251 | 0.1 miles |
| Fairview Community Primary School | 73% | 3.9% | 6.4% | 670 | 0.7 miles |
| Deanwood Primary School | 28% | 5.7% | 29.5% | 238 | 0.9 miles |
| St Augustine of Canterbury Catholic Primary School | 70% | 4.9% | 15.7% | 189 | 1.1 miles |
| Bredhurst Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School | 90% | 3.4% | 7.1% | 140 | 1.1 miles |
Results reflect each school's cohort as much as its teaching, and free school meals share is context, not a judgement. Small gaps between neighbouring schools are rarely meaningful on their own.
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 9.92%
- English as an additional language
- 2.4%
- Overall absence
- 5.52%
- Persistent absence
- 11.9%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Hempstead Infant School0.1 miles
Primary · Gillingham
-
Fairview Community Primary School0.7 miles
Primary · Gillingham
-
Deanwood Primary School0.9 miles
Primary · Gillingham
-
St Augustine of Canterbury Catholic Primary School1.1 miles
Primary · Gillingham
-
Bredhurst Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School1.1 miles
Primary · Gillingham
Other schools in Gillingham
Hempstead Junior School ranks 4th of the 18 ranked primary schools in Gillingham.
- Barnsole Primary School Primary
- Brompton-Westbrook Primary School Primary
- Burnt Oak Primary School Primary
- Byron Primary School Primary
- Deanwood Primary School Primary
- Fairview Community Primary School Primary
- Featherby Infant and Nursery School Primary
- Featherby Junior School Primary
- Hempstead Infant School Primary
- Napier Community Primary and Nursery Academy Primary
- Oasis Academy Skinner Street Primary
- Parkwood Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What ages does Hempstead Junior School teach?
- Hempstead Junior School teaches children aged 7 to 11. It is a primary school in Gillingham.
- Who is the head teacher of Hempstead Junior School?
- The head teacher of Hempstead Junior School is Mr Paul Cross, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Hempstead Junior School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Hempstead Junior School, and its latest judgement is set out in the inspection section on this page, with the framework and the date it was made.
- How many pupils are at Hempstead Junior School?
- Hempstead Junior School has 371 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 7 to 11.
- Is Hempstead Junior School full?
- Hempstead Junior School has capacity for 360 pupils and 371 on roll (103%), so it is at or above its published capacity. Places are allocated through the local authority's admissions process, so capacity alone does not tell you whether a place is available.
- Is Hempstead Junior School a faith school?
- No. Hempstead Junior School has no designated religious character.
- Does Hempstead Junior School have a nursery?
- No. The schools register records Hempstead Junior School as having no nursery classes.
- How have Hempstead Junior School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 56% in 2022/23 and 72% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Hempstead Junior School compare with other schools in Medway?
- Hempstead Junior School ranked 14th of 57 primary schools in Medway for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 71% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 47% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Hempstead Junior School's absence rate?
- Hempstead Junior School's overall absence rate is 5.5% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Hempstead Junior School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Hempstead Junior School's key stage results are shown in the results section on this page, with the last three years so you can see the trend rather than a single year.
School details come from the Department for Education's Get Information About Schools register. Inspection outcomes come from Ofsted, and exam results from the Department for Education's school performance service. This page was last updated on 30 June 2026.