White Cliffs Primary and Nursery School
St Radigund's Road, Dover, CT17 0LB
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 2 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- SAMPHIRE STAR EDUCATION TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mrs Helen Castle
- Nursery provision
- Has Nursery Classes
- Constituency
- Dover and Deal
- Setting
- Urban: Further from a major town or city
- Capacity
- 360
- Pupils on roll
- 277
- URN
- 138168
- Local authority
- Kent
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01304206174
About this school
White Cliffs Primary and Nursery School is a primary academy in Dover. It teaches children aged 2 to 11 and has 277 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
Overall judgement at the last full inspection
This inspection took place under the previous framework, which gave a single overall grade. Ofsted now publishes report cards instead, so newer inspections of other schools will look different. How Ofsted report cards work
- Quality of education
- Good
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Good
- Personal development
- Good
- Leadership and management
- Good
- Early years
- Outstanding
- 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 | 56 | 35 | 42 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 46% | 71% | 57% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 0% | 3% | 0% |
| Expected standard in reading | 55% | 83% | 67% |
| Expected standard in maths | 70% | 80% | 67% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 54% | 71% | 52% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 100.0 | 109.0 | 104.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 102.0 | 106.0 | 105.0 |
| Reading progress | -4.10 | - | - |
| Writing progress | -1.40 | - | - |
| Maths progress | -1.70 | - | - |
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 White Cliffs Primary and Nursery 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 | 46% | 58.3% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 71% | 60.2% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 57% | 60.8% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 9.1% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 7% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 8.1% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 315 |
| 2023/24 | 281 |
| 2024/25 | 288 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How White Cliffs Primary and Nursery School compares
White Cliffs Primary and Nursery School ranked 299th of 427 primary schools in Kent for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 34% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 16% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 57% | 8.1% | 71.6% | 277 | — |
| Priory Fields School | 53% | 8.3% | 65.7% | 319 | 0.5 miles |
| Shatterlocks Infant and Nursery School | — | 6.8% | 47.2% | 138 | 0.5 miles |
| St Martin's School | 70% | 3.9% | 23.1% | 183 | 0.6 miles |
| Vale View Community School | 60% | 6.7% | 67.4% | 222 | 0.6 miles |
| Barton Junior School | 66% | 6.5% | 51.9% | 202 | 0.7 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)
- 71.6%
- English as an additional language
- 10.1%
- Overall absence
- 8.13%
- Persistent absence
- 23.79%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Priory Fields School0.5 miles
Primary · Dover
-
Shatterlocks Infant and Nursery School0.5 miles
Primary · Dover
-
St Martin's School0.6 miles
Primary · Dover
-
Vale View Community School0.6 miles
Primary · Dover
-
Barton Junior School0.7 miles
Primary · Dover
Other schools in Dover
White Cliffs Primary and Nursery School ranks 11th of the 20 ranked primary schools in Dover.
- Aycliffe Community Primary School Primary
- Barton Junior School Primary
- Charlton Church of England Primary School Primary
- Dover, St Mary's Church of England Primary School Primary
- Eythorne Elvington Community Primary School Primary
- Green Park Community Primary School Primary
- Guston Church of England Primary School Primary
- Langdon Primary School Primary
- Lydden Primary School Primary
- Nonington Church of England Primary School Primary
- Priory Fields School Primary
- River Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does White Cliffs Primary and Nursery School teach?
- White Cliffs Primary and Nursery School teaches children aged 2 to 11. It is a primary school in Dover.
- Who is the headteacher of White Cliffs Primary and Nursery School?
- The headteacher of White Cliffs Primary and Nursery School is Mrs Helen Castle, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was White Cliffs Primary and Nursery School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected White Cliffs Primary and Nursery 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 White Cliffs Primary and Nursery School?
- White Cliffs Primary and Nursery School has 277 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 2 to 11.
- Is White Cliffs Primary and Nursery School full?
- White Cliffs Primary and Nursery School has capacity for 360 pupils and 277 on roll (77%), 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 White Cliffs Primary and Nursery School a faith school?
- No. White Cliffs Primary and Nursery School has no designated religious character.
- Does White Cliffs Primary and Nursery School have a nursery?
- Yes. The schools register records White Cliffs Primary and Nursery School as having nursery classes.
- Who runs White Cliffs Primary and Nursery School?
- White Cliffs Primary and Nursery School is part of SAMPHIRE STAR EDUCATION TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have White Cliffs Primary and Nursery School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 46% in 2022/23 and 57% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does White Cliffs Primary and Nursery School rank locally?
- White Cliffs Primary and Nursery School ranked 299th of 427 primary schools in Kent for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 34% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 16% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is White Cliffs Primary and Nursery School's absence rate?
- White Cliffs Primary and Nursery School's overall absence rate is 8.1% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are White Cliffs Primary and Nursery School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, White Cliffs Primary and Nursery 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 1 July 2026.