Cheriton Primary School
Church Road, Folkestone, CT20 3EP
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Foundation school
- Ages
- 4 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Headteacher
- Ms Sophia Dover
- Constituency
- Folkestone and Hythe
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 420
- Pupils on roll
- 391
- URN
- 118480
- Local authority
- Kent
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01303276112
About this school
Cheriton Primary School is a foundation primary school in Folkestone. It teaches children aged 4 to 11 and has 391 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. Numbers and a report only go so far, so visit in person before you apply.
Ofsted judgement
Ofsted did not give an overall grade. Between September 2024 and September 2025 inspections graded each area of a school's work without a single overall judgement, ahead of the move to report cards. How Ofsted report cards work
- Quality of education
- Good
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Good
- Personal development
- Good
- Leadership and management
- Good
- Early years
- Good
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 2 (end of primary school)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 2 | 59 | 60 | 60 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 68% | 60% | 68% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 7% | 10% | 12% |
| Expected standard in reading | 81% | 75% | 90% |
| Expected standard in maths | 80% | 70% | 83% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 81% | 72% | 82% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 107.0 | 106.0 | 108.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 105.0 | 104.0 | 107.0 |
| Reading progress | +1.70 | - | - |
| Writing progress | +1.10 | - | - |
| Maths progress | +0.70 | - | - |
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 Cheriton Primary 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 | Kent average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 68% | 58.3% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 60% | 60.2% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 68% | 60.8% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 4.9% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 6.3% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 5.1% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 389 |
| 2023/24 | 403 |
| 2024/25 | 404 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Cheriton Primary School compares
Cheriton Primary School ranked 173rd of 427 primary schools in Kent for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 61% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 59% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 68% | 5.1% | 28.2% | 391 | — |
| Folkestone, St Martin's Church of England Primary School | 73% | 5.5% | 19.4% | 196 | 0.3 miles |
| All Soul's Church of England Primary School | 61% | 6.8% | 38.2% | 256 | 0.5 miles |
| Harcourt Primary School | 54% | 4.9% | 31.7% | 179 | 0.6 miles |
| Morehall Primary School and Nursery | 75% | 4.3% | 28.6% | 249 | 0.8 miles |
| Sandgate Primary School | 75% | 3.3% | 12.9% | 419 | 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.
Inspection history
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 28.22%
- English as an additional language
- 32.9%
- Overall absence
- 5.09%
- Persistent absence
- 13.44%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Folkestone, St Martin's Church of England Primary School0.3 miles
Primary · Folkestone
-
All Soul's Church of England Primary School0.5 miles
Primary · Folkestone
-
Harcourt Primary School0.6 miles
Primary · Folkestone
-
Morehall Primary School and Nursery0.8 miles
Primary · Folkestone
-
Sandgate Primary School1.0 miles
Primary · Folkestone
Other schools in Folkestone
Cheriton Primary School ranks 6th of the 19 ranked primary schools in Folkestone.
- All Soul's Church of England Primary School Primary
- Capel-le-Ferne Primary School Primary
- Castle Hill Community Primary School Primary
- Christ Church Cep Academy, Folkestone Primary
- Folkestone Primary Primary
- Folkestone St. Mary's Church of England Primary Academy Primary
- Folkestone, St Martin's Church of England Primary School Primary
- Folkestone, St Peter's Church of England Primary School Primary
- Harcourt Primary School Primary
- Hawkinge Primary School Primary
- Lyminge Church of England Primary School Primary
- Martello Primary Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Cheriton Primary School teach?
- Cheriton Primary School teaches children aged 4 to 11. It is a primary school in Folkestone.
- Who is the headteacher of Cheriton Primary School?
- The headteacher of Cheriton Primary School is Ms Sophia Dover, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Cheriton Primary School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Cheriton Primary 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 Cheriton Primary School?
- Cheriton Primary School has 391 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 4 to 11.
- Is Cheriton Primary School full?
- Cheriton Primary School has capacity for 420 pupils and 391 on roll (93%), so it has space against 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 Cheriton Primary School a faith school?
- No. Cheriton Primary School has no designated religious character.
- Does Cheriton Primary School have a nursery?
- No. The schools register records Cheriton Primary School as having no nursery classes.
- How have Cheriton Primary School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 68% in 2022/23 and 68% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Cheriton Primary School rank locally?
- Cheriton Primary School ranked 173rd of 427 primary schools in Kent for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 61% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 59% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Cheriton Primary School's absence rate?
- Cheriton Primary School's overall absence rate is 5.1% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Cheriton Primary School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Cheriton Primary 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.