Pelham Primary School
Pelham Road, Bexleyheath, DA7 4HL
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 3 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- ILLUMINATE MINDS TRUST
- Head of School
- Ms Cara Took
- Nursery provision
- Has Nursery Classes
- Sponsor
- Illuminate Minds
- SEN provision
- HI - Hearing Impairment
- Constituency
- Bexleyheath and Crayford
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 446
- Pupils on roll
- 394
- URN
- 139494
- Local authority
- Bexley
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 02083036556
About this school
Pelham Primary School is a primary academy in Bexleyheath. It teaches children aged 3 to 11 and has 394 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Pelham 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
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
- 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 | 60 | 60 | 59 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 63% | 60% | 66% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 10% | 3% | 10% |
| Expected standard in reading | 78% | 87% | 76% |
| Expected standard in maths | 77% | 82% | 76% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 58% | 88% | 61% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 105.0 | 107.0 | 106.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 104.0 | 108.0 | 106.0 |
| Reading progress | -0.30 | - | - |
| Writing progress | -1.00 | - | - |
| Maths progress | +0.10 | - | - |
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 Pelham 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 | Bexley average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 63% | 63% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 60% | 63.6% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 66% | 64% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 6.2% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 5.5% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 5.3% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 432 |
| 2023/24 | 427 |
| 2024/25 | 414 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Pelham Primary School compares
Pelham Primary School ranked 33rd of 56 primary schools in Bexley for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 55% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 52% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 66% | 5.3% | 15.8% | 394 | — |
| Gravel Hill Primary School | 56% | 4.9% | 21% | 434 | 0.4 miles |
| Upland Primary School | 62% | 4% | 6% | 444 | 0.5 miles |
| Bursted Wood Primary School | 73% | 4.6% | 3.2% | 621 | 0.6 miles |
| St Thomas More Catholic Primary School | 84% | 3.9% | 10.4% | 421 | 0.7 miles |
| Mayplace Primary School | 66% | 5.7% | 17.9% | 623 | 0.8 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)
- 15.84%
- English as an additional language
- 44.7%
- Overall absence
- 5.31%
- Persistent absence
- 16.26%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Gravel Hill Primary School0.4 miles
Primary · Bexleyheath
-
Upland Primary School0.5 miles
Primary · Bexleyheath
-
Bursted Wood Primary School0.6 miles
Primary · Bexleyheath
-
St Thomas More Catholic Primary School0.7 miles
Primary · Bexleyheath
-
Mayplace Primary School0.8 miles
Primary · Barnehurst
Other schools in Bexleyheath
Pelham Primary School ranks 5th of the 9 ranked primary schools in Bexleyheath.
- Barrington Primary School Primary
- Brampton Primary Academy Primary
- Bursted Wood Primary School Primary
- Crook Log Primary School Primary
- Fairford Academy Barnehurst Primary
- Gravel Hill Primary School Primary
- St Thomas More Catholic Primary School Primary
- Upland Primary School Primary
- Lift Bexleyheath Secondary
- St Catherine's Catholic School Secondary
- St Columba's Catholic Boys' School Secondary
- Townley Grammar School Secondary
Common questions
- What ages does Pelham Primary School teach?
- Pelham Primary School teaches children aged 3 to 11. It is a primary school in Bexleyheath.
- Who is the head of school of Pelham Primary School?
- The head of school of Pelham Primary School is Ms Cara Took, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Pelham Primary School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Pelham 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 Pelham Primary School?
- Pelham Primary School has 394 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 3 to 11.
- Is Pelham Primary School full?
- Pelham Primary School has capacity for 446 pupils and 394 on roll (88%), 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 Pelham Primary School a faith school?
- No. Pelham Primary School has no designated religious character.
- Does Pelham Primary School have a nursery?
- Yes. The schools register records Pelham Primary School as having nursery classes.
- Is Pelham Primary School part of an academy trust?
- Pelham Primary School is part of ILLUMINATE MINDS TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- What SEN provision does Pelham Primary School have?
- The schools register lists Pelham Primary School's special educational needs provision as: HI - Hearing Impairment. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have Pelham Primary School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 63% in 2022/23 and 66% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Pelham Primary School compare with other schools in Bexley?
- Pelham Primary School ranked 33rd of 56 primary schools in Bexley for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 55% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 52% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Pelham Primary School's absence rate?
- Pelham Primary School's overall absence rate is 5.3% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Pelham Primary School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Pelham 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 1 July 2026.