Swingate Primary School
Sultan Road, Lordswood, Chatham, ME5 8TJ
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Community school
- Ages
- 3 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Headteacher
- Mrs Mary Clarke
- Nursery provision
- Has Nursery Classes
- Constituency
- Chatham and Aylesford
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 630
- Pupils on roll
- 662
- URN
- 118509
- Local authority
- Medway
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01634863778
About this school
Swingate Primary School is a community primary school in Chatham. It teaches children aged 3 to 11 and has 662 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Swingate Primary School, and its latest judgement is set out 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 2 May 2024, where inspectors confirmed the school remains Good and saw signs of improvement; a full inspection will follow. 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 | 88 | 89 | 89 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 83% | 87% | 81% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 9% | 9% | 8% |
| Expected standard in reading | 90% | 93% | 93% |
| Expected standard in maths | 97% | 96% | 93% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 88% | 87% | 83% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 108.0 | 111.0 | 110.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 111.0 | 112.0 | 110.0 |
| Reading progress | +4.20 | - | - |
| Writing progress | +2.30 | - | - |
| Maths progress | +7.70 | - | - |
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 Swingate 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 | Medway average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 83% | 56.2% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 87% | 60.6% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 81% | 59.8% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 5.3% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 4.6% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 3.9% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 659 |
| 2023/24 | 659 |
| 2024/25 | 654 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Swingate Primary School compares
Swingate Primary School ranked 4th of 57 primary schools in Medway for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 89% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 87% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 81% | 3.9% | 12.1% | 662 | — |
| St Benedict's Catholic Primary School | 77% | 4% | 6.7% | 205 | 0.3 miles |
| Lordswood School | 76% | 5.5% | 23.5% | 409 | 0.6 miles |
| Walderslade Primary School | 77% | 5% | 14.9% | 235 | 1.0 miles |
| Tunbury Primary School | 57% | 4.6% | 13.1% | 501 | 1.0 miles |
| St Thomas More Roman Catholic Primary School | — | — | — | 397 | 1.3 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)
- 12.14%
- English as an additional language
- 5.5%
- Overall absence
- 3.86%
- Persistent absence
- 6.1%
Location
Nearby schools
-
St Benedict's Catholic Primary School0.3 miles
Primary · Chatham
-
Lordswood School0.6 miles
Primary · Chatham
-
Walderslade Primary School1.0 miles
Primary · Chatham
-
Tunbury Primary School1.0 miles
Primary · Chatham
-
St Thomas More Roman Catholic Primary School1.3 miles
Primary · Chatham
Other schools in Chatham
Swingate Primary School ranks 1st 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
- Horsted Junior 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
Common questions
- What ages does Swingate Primary School teach?
- Swingate Primary School teaches children aged 3 to 11. It is a primary school in Chatham.
- Who is the headteacher of Swingate Primary School?
- The headteacher of Swingate Primary School is Mrs Mary Clarke, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Swingate Primary School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Swingate 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 many pupils are at Swingate Primary School?
- Swingate Primary School has 662 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 3 to 11.
- Is Swingate Primary School full?
- Swingate Primary School has capacity for 630 pupils and 662 on roll (105%), 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 Swingate Primary School a faith school?
- No. Swingate Primary School has no designated religious character.
- Does Swingate Primary School have a nursery?
- Yes. The schools register records Swingate Primary School as having nursery classes.
- How have Swingate Primary School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 83% in 2022/23 and 81% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Swingate Primary School compare with other schools in Medway?
- Swingate Primary School ranked 4th of 57 primary schools in Medway for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 89% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 87% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Swingate Primary School's absence rate?
- Swingate Primary School's overall absence rate is 3.9% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Swingate Primary School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Swingate 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.