Horsted Junior School
Barberry Avenue, Chatham, ME5 9TF
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Community school
- Ages
- 7 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Executive Headteacher
- Mrs Sarah Steer
- Constituency
- Chatham and Aylesford
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 248
- Pupils on roll
- 250
- URN
- 118477
- Local authority
- Medway
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01634335400
About this school
Horsted Junior School is a community primary school in Chatham. It teaches children aged 7 to 11 and has 250 pupils on roll.
You can read Ofsted's latest judgement for the school below. Where the Department for Education has published them, its results and pupil characteristics appear below. Seeing a school for yourself shows what no page can, so arrange a visit before you apply.
Ofsted judgement
Confirmed by a short inspection, not a full one
Ofsted's most recent visit was a short inspection on 13 September 2023, 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 | 62 | 64 | 61 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 71% | 80% | 74% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 13% | 14% | 8% |
| Expected standard in reading | 77% | 91% | 87% |
| Expected standard in maths | 85% | 89% | 85% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 82% | 77% | 84% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 106.0 | 108.0 | 106.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 106.0 | 108.0 | 107.0 |
| Reading progress | -0.40 | - | - |
| Writing progress | +0.70 | - | - |
| Maths progress | +0.50 | - | - |
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 Horsted 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 | 71% | 56.2% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 80% | 60.6% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 74% | 59.8% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 4.2% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 4.5% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 4% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 249 |
| 2023/24 | 251 |
| 2024/25 | 250 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Horsted Junior School compares
Horsted Junior School ranked 11th of 57 primary schools in Medway for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 76% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 85% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 74% | 4% | 20% | 250 | — |
| Horsted Infant School | — | 4.1% | 11.4% | 187 | 0.1 miles |
| Oaklands School | 70% | 6.3% | 42.6% | 444 | 0.5 miles |
| St Thomas More Roman Catholic Primary School | — | — | — | 397 | 0.7 miles |
| Walderslade Primary School | 77% | 5% | 14.9% | 235 | 0.9 miles |
| Maundene School | 56% | 4.4% | 27.2% | 385 | 1.0 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)
- 20%
- English as an additional language
- 12%
- Overall absence
- 3.99%
- Persistent absence
- 6.69%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Horsted Infant School0.1 miles
Primary · Chatham
-
Oaklands School0.5 miles
Primary · Chatham
-
St Thomas More Roman Catholic Primary School0.7 miles
Primary · Chatham
-
Walderslade Primary School0.9 miles
Primary · Chatham
-
Maundene School1.0 miles
Primary · Chatham
Other schools in Chatham
Horsted Junior School ranks 5th of the 17 ranked primary schools in Chatham.
- All Saints Church of England Primary School Primary
- Balfour Junior School Primary
- Greenvale Primary School Primary
- Horsted Infant School Primary
- Kingfisher Community Primary School Primary
- Lordswood School Primary
- Luton Primary School Primary
- Maundene School Primary
- New Horizons Children's Academy Primary
- New Road Primary School Primary
- Oaklands School Primary
- Phoenix Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Horsted Junior School teach?
- Horsted Junior School teaches children aged 7 to 11. It is a primary school in Chatham.
- Who is the executive headteacher of Horsted Junior School?
- The executive headteacher of Horsted Junior School is Mrs Sarah Steer, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Horsted Junior School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Horsted 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 big is Horsted Junior School?
- Horsted Junior School has 250 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 7 to 11.
- Is Horsted Junior School full?
- Horsted Junior School has capacity for 248 pupils and 250 on roll (101%), 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 Horsted Junior School a faith school?
- No. Horsted Junior School has no designated religious character.
- Does Horsted Junior School have a nursery?
- No. The schools register records Horsted Junior School as having no nursery classes.
- How have Horsted Junior School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 71% in 2022/23 and 74% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Horsted Junior School rank locally?
- Horsted Junior School ranked 11th of 57 primary schools in Medway for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 76% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 85% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Horsted Junior School's absence rate?
- Horsted Junior School's overall absence rate is 4% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Horsted Junior School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Horsted 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.