Palm Bay Primary School
Palm Bay Avenue, Cliftonville, Margate, CT9 3PP
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 5 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- EKC SCHOOLS TRUST LIMITED
- Headteacher
- Miss Gemma Silk
- Constituency
- East Thanet
- Setting
- Urban: Further from a major town or city
- Capacity
- 428
- Pupils on roll
- 407
- URN
- 148992
- Local authority
- Kent
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01843290050
About this school
Palm Bay Primary School is a primary academy in Margate. It teaches children aged 5 to 11 and has 407 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
- Outstanding
- Leadership and management
- Good
- Early years
- Good
- 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 | 61 | 62 | 59 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 48% | 68% | 59% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 5% | 10% | 3% |
| Expected standard in reading | 69% | 82% | 81% |
| Expected standard in maths | 54% | 74% | 78% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 61% | 79% | 76% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 105.0 | 107.0 | 107.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 99.0 | 105.0 | 105.0 |
| Reading progress | -0.70 | - | - |
| Writing progress | +0.40 | - | - |
| Maths progress | -4.20 | - | - |
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 Palm Bay 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 | Kent average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 48% | 58.3% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 68% | 60.2% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 59% | 60.8% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 6.9% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 6.1% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 5.8% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 424 |
| 2023/24 | 421 |
| 2024/25 | 414 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Palm Bay Primary School compares
Palm Bay Primary School ranked 282nd of 427 primary schools in Kent for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 38% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 41% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 59% | 5.8% | 30.2% | 407 | — |
| Cliftonville Primary School | 44% | 6.6% | 51.7% | 845 | 0.6 miles |
| Northdown Primary School | 52% | 10.8% | 77.7% | 302 | 0.8 miles |
| Drapers Mills Primary Academy | 51% | 12.7% | 70.8% | 246 | 1.3 miles |
| Callis Grange Nursery and Infant School | — | 6% | 23.7% | 291 | 1.3 miles |
| St Peter-in-Thanet CofE Junior School | 60% | 5.3% | 34.2% | 360 | 1.4 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)
- 30.19%
- English as an additional language
- 8%
- Overall absence
- 5.84%
- Persistent absence
- 13.64%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Cliftonville Primary School0.6 miles
Primary · Margate
-
Northdown Primary School0.8 miles
Primary · Margate
-
Drapers Mills Primary Academy1.3 miles
Primary · Margate
-
Callis Grange Nursery and Infant School1.3 miles
Primary · Broadstairs
-
St Peter-in-Thanet CofE Junior School1.4 miles
Primary · Broadstairs
Other schools in Margate
Palm Bay Primary School ranks 3rd of the 8 ranked primary schools in Margate.
- Cliftonville Primary School Primary
- Drapers Mills Primary Academy Primary
- Garlinge Primary School and Nursery Primary
- Margate, Holy Trinity and St John's Church of England Primary School Primary
- Northdown Primary School Primary
- Salmestone Primary School Primary
- St Gregory's Catholic Primary School, Margate Primary
- Hartsdown Academy Secondary
- Enterprise Learning Alliance Local authority maintained schools
- Liberty College Other types
- Life Skills Enterprise Special schools
- St Anthony's School Special schools
Common questions
- What year groups does Palm Bay Primary School teach?
- Palm Bay Primary School teaches children aged 5 to 11. It is a primary school in Margate.
- Who is the headteacher of Palm Bay Primary School?
- The headteacher of Palm Bay Primary School is Miss Gemma Silk, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Palm Bay Primary School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Palm Bay 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 big is Palm Bay Primary School?
- Palm Bay Primary School has 407 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 5 to 11.
- Is Palm Bay Primary School full?
- Palm Bay Primary School has capacity for 428 pupils and 407 on roll (95%), 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 Palm Bay Primary School a faith school?
- No. Palm Bay Primary School has no designated religious character.
- Does Palm Bay Primary School have a nursery?
- No. The schools register records Palm Bay Primary School as having no nursery classes.
- Who runs Palm Bay Primary School?
- Palm Bay Primary School is part of EKC SCHOOLS TRUST LIMITED. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Palm Bay Primary School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 48% in 2022/23 and 59% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Palm Bay Primary School rank locally?
- Palm Bay Primary School ranked 282nd of 427 primary schools in Kent for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 38% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 41% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Palm Bay Primary School's absence rate?
- Palm Bay Primary School's overall absence rate is 5.8% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Palm Bay Primary School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Palm Bay 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 10 July 2026.