Balfour Junior School
Balfour Road, Chatham, ME4 6QX
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 7 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- BEYOND SCHOOLS TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mrs Zoe Mayston
- Sponsor
- FPTA Academies (Fort Pitt Grammar School and The Thomas Aveling School)
- Constituency
- Chatham and Aylesford
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 480
- Pupils on roll
- 480
- URN
- 143880
- Local authority
- Medway
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01634843833
About this school
Balfour Junior School is a primary academy in Chatham. It teaches children aged 7 to 11 and has 480 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Balfour Junior School, and its latest judgement is set out 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
Confirmed by a short inspection, not a full one
Ofsted's most recent visit was a short inspection on 23 May 2024, where inspectors confirmed the school remains Good. 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 | 121 | 120 | 119 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 50% | 65% | 71% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 7% | 11% | 14% |
| Expected standard in reading | 68% | 73% | 79% |
| Expected standard in maths | 65% | 80% | 84% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 62% | 73% | 76% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 104.0 | 105.0 | 106.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 103.0 | 107.0 | 108.0 |
| Reading progress | -1.20 | - | - |
| Writing progress | -1.50 | - | - |
| Maths progress | -1.40 | - | - |
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 Balfour Junior 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 | 50% | 56.2% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 65% | 60.6% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 71% | 59.8% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 6.5% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 5.9% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 5.5% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 480 |
| 2023/24 | 474 |
| 2024/25 | 480 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Balfour Junior School compares
Balfour Junior School ranked 15th of 57 primary schools in Medway for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 68% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 47% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 71% | 5.5% | 31.7% | 480 | — |
| Balfour Infant School | — | 4.9% | 23.1% | 244 | 0.2 miles |
| St John's Church of England Infant School | — | 9% | 45% | 77 | 0.4 miles |
| Crest Infant School | — | 9.1% | 37.7% | 121 | 0.4 miles |
| St Michael Catholic Primary and Nursery School | — | — | — | 446 | 0.4 miles |
| Delce Academy | 60% | 8.7% | 53.2% | 287 | 0.5 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)
- 31.67%
- English as an additional language
- 36.3%
- Overall absence
- 5.53%
- Persistent absence
- 14.78%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Balfour Infant School0.2 miles
Primary · Rochester
-
St John's Church of England Infant School0.4 miles
Primary · Chatham
-
Crest Infant School0.4 miles
Primary · Rochester
-
St Michael Catholic Primary and Nursery School0.4 miles
Primary · Chatham
-
Delce Academy0.5 miles
Primary · Rochester
Other schools in Chatham
Balfour Junior School ranks 6th of the 17 ranked primary schools in Chatham.
- All Saints Church of England Primary 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
- Phoenix Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What ages does Balfour Junior School teach?
- Balfour Junior School teaches children aged 7 to 11. It is a primary school in Chatham.
- Who is the headteacher of Balfour Junior School?
- The headteacher of Balfour Junior School is Mrs Zoe Mayston, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Balfour Junior School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Balfour Junior 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 Balfour Junior School?
- Balfour Junior School has 480 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 7 to 11.
- Is Balfour Junior School full?
- Balfour Junior School has capacity for 480 pupils and 480 on roll (100%), 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 Balfour Junior School a faith school?
- No. Balfour Junior School has no designated religious character.
- Does Balfour Junior School have a nursery?
- No. The schools register records Balfour Junior School as having no nursery classes.
- Is Balfour Junior School part of an academy trust?
- Balfour Junior School is part of BEYOND SCHOOLS TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Balfour Junior School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 50% in 2022/23 and 71% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Balfour Junior School compare with other schools in Medway?
- Balfour Junior School ranked 15th of 57 primary schools in Medway for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 68% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 47% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Balfour Junior School's absence rate?
- Balfour Junior School's overall absence rate is 5.5% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Balfour Junior School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Balfour Junior 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 10 July 2026.