Aspire School
Vellum Drive, Sittingbourne, ME10 5DA
- Phase
- Free Schools
- School type
- Free schools special
- Ages
- 4 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- BOURNE ALLIANCE MULTI ACADEMY TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mr Neil Dipple
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- TIMU Academy Trust
- SEN provision
- SLCN - Speech, language and Communication, ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder
- Constituency
- Sittingbourne and Sheppey
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 172
- Pupils on roll
- 194
- URN
- 147833
- Local authority
- Kent
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01795899788
About this school
Aspire School is a special academy in Sittingbourne. It teaches children aged 4 to 11 and has 194 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
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 | 8 | 25 | 29 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Expected standard in reading | 13% | 4% | 0% |
| Expected standard in maths | 13% | 4% | 0% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 102.0 | 91.0 | 96.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 99.0 | 90.0 | 91.0 |
| Reading progress | -11.70 | - | - |
| Writing progress | -4.70 | - | - |
| Maths progress | - | - | - |
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 Aspire 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 | 0% | 58.3% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 0% | 60.2% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 0% | 60.8% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 11% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 10.1% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 8.2% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 152 |
| 2023/24 | 176 |
| 2024/25 | 188 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 39.89%
- English as an additional language
- 1.6%
- Overall absence
- 8.19%
- Persistent absence
- 22.78%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Craftworks1.4 miles
Other types · Iwade
-
ALP Sittingbourne1.4 miles
Special schools · Sittingbourne
-
KITE College1.5 miles
Other types · Sittingbourne
-
VTC Independent School1.5 miles
Independent schools · Sittingbourne
-
Meadowfield School2.1 miles
Special schools · Sittingbourne
Other schools in Sittingbourne
- ALP Sittingbourne Special schools
- KITE College Other types
- Meadowfield School Special schools
- Yew Tree Farm School Special schools
- Bapchild and Tonge Church of England Primary School and Nursery Primary
- Bobbing Village School Primary
- Borden Church of England Primary School Primary
- Bredgar Church of England Primary School Primary
- Canterbury Road Primary School Primary
- Grove Park Primary School Primary
- Hartlip Endowed Church of England Primary School Primary
- Holywell Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Aspire School teach?
- Aspire School teaches children aged 4 to 11. It is a special school in Sittingbourne.
- Who is the headteacher of Aspire School?
- The headteacher of Aspire School is Mr Neil Dipple, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Aspire School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Aspire 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 Aspire School?
- Aspire School has 194 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 4 to 11.
- Is Aspire School full?
- Aspire School has capacity for 172 pupils and 194 on roll (113%), 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 Aspire School a faith school?
- No. Aspire School has no designated religious character.
- Is Aspire School a selective school?
- No. Aspire School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs Aspire School?
- Aspire School is part of BOURNE ALLIANCE MULTI ACADEMY TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- What SEN provision does Aspire School have?
- The schools register lists Aspire School's special educational needs provision as: SLCN - Speech, language and Communication; ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have Aspire School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 0% in 2022/23 and 0% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- What is Aspire School's absence rate?
- Aspire School's overall absence rate is 8.2% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Aspire School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Aspire 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.