The Gateway Primary Free School
Marshfoot Road, Grays, RM16 4LU
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Free schools
- Ages
- 3 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- GATEWAY LEARNING COMMUNITY
- Acting Head of School
- Ms Emma Pattison
- Nursery provision
- Has Nursery Classes
- Sponsor
- The Gateway Learning Community
- Constituency
- Thurrock
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 480
- Pupils on roll
- 459
- URN
- 138334
- Local authority
- Thurrock
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01375489094
About this school
The Gateway Primary Free School is a primary academy in Grays. It teaches children aged 3 to 11 and has 459 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected The Gateway Primary Free 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
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
- Outstanding
- Personal development
- Outstanding
- 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 | 58 | 58 | 56 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 64% | 69% | 73% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 7% | 9% | 16% |
| Expected standard in reading | 76% | 76% | 80% |
| Expected standard in maths | 72% | 86% | 88% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 67% | 74% | 84% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 104.0 | 103.0 | 106.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 104.0 | 105.0 | 106.0 |
| Reading progress | -1.10 | - | - |
| Writing progress | +2.20 | - | - |
| Maths progress | +0.40 | - | - |
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 The Gateway Primary Free 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 | Thurrock average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 64% | 61.1% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 69% | 63.4% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 73% | 67% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 8.3% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 7.3% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 7.2% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 435 |
| 2023/24 | 439 |
| 2024/25 | 439 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How The Gateway Primary Free School compares
The Gateway Primary Free School ranked 14th of 39 primary schools in Thurrock for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 73% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 23% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 73% | 7.2% | 46.8% | 459 | — |
| Chadwell St Mary Primary School | 86% | 6.6% | 47% | 202 | 0.5 miles |
| Tilbury Pioneer Academy | 68% | 6% | 44.9% | 456 | 0.7 miles |
| Herringham Primary Academy | 68% | 7.2% | 46.1% | 425 | 0.8 miles |
| Woodside Academy | 73% | 4.5% | 21.7% | 662 | 0.9 miles |
| Lansdowne Primary Academy | 74% | 5.2% | 52.3% | 667 | 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)
- 46.79%
- English as an additional language
- 23%
- Overall absence
- 7.24%
- Persistent absence
- 19.06%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Chadwell St Mary Primary School0.5 miles
Primary · Grays
-
Tilbury Pioneer Academy0.7 miles
Primary · Tilbury
-
Herringham Primary Academy0.8 miles
Primary · Grays
-
Woodside Academy0.9 miles
Primary · Grays
-
Lansdowne Primary Academy1.0 miles
Primary · Tilbury
Other schools in Grays
The Gateway Primary Free School ranks 5th of the 16 ranked primary schools in Grays.
- Belmont Castle Academy Primary
- Chadwell St Mary Primary School Primary
- Deneholm Primary School Primary
- Harris Primary Academy Chafford Hundred Primary
- Herringham Primary Academy Primary
- Little Thurrock Primary School Primary
- Orsett Church of England Primary School Primary
- Quarry Hill Academy Primary
- St Thomas of Canterbury Catholic Primary School Primary
- Stifford Clays Primary School Primary
- Thameside Primary School Primary
- Tudor Court Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What ages does The Gateway Primary Free School teach?
- The Gateway Primary Free School teaches children aged 3 to 11. It is a primary school in Grays.
- Who is the acting head of school of The Gateway Primary Free School?
- The acting head of school of The Gateway Primary Free School is Ms Emma Pattison, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has The Gateway Primary Free School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected The Gateway Primary Free 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 The Gateway Primary Free School?
- The Gateway Primary Free School has 459 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 3 to 11.
- Is The Gateway Primary Free School full?
- The Gateway Primary Free School has capacity for 480 pupils and 459 on roll (96%), so it is close to full. Places are allocated through the local authority's admissions process, so capacity alone does not tell you whether a place is available.
- Is The Gateway Primary Free School a faith school?
- No. The Gateway Primary Free School has no designated religious character.
- Does The Gateway Primary Free School have a nursery?
- Yes. The schools register records The Gateway Primary Free School as having nursery classes.
- Is The Gateway Primary Free School part of an academy trust?
- The Gateway Primary Free School is part of GATEWAY LEARNING COMMUNITY. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have The Gateway Primary Free School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 64% in 2022/23 and 73% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does The Gateway Primary Free School compare with other schools in Thurrock?
- The Gateway Primary Free School ranked 14th of 39 primary schools in Thurrock for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 73% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 23% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is The Gateway Primary Free School's absence rate?
- The Gateway Primary Free School's overall absence rate is 7.2% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are The Gateway Primary Free School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, The Gateway Primary Free 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.