Walderslade School
Bradfields Avenue, Walderslade, Chatham, ME5 0LE
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Girls
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- BEYOND SCHOOLS TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mrs Louise Campbell
- 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
- 949
- Pupils on roll
- 697
- URN
- 150869
- Local authority
- Medway
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01634861593
About this school
Walderslade School is a girls' secondary academy in Chatham. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 697 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Walderslade 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
Overall judgement at the last full inspection
This inspection took place under the previous framework, which gave a single overall grade. Ofsted now publishes report cards instead, so newer inspections of other schools will look different. How Ofsted report cards work
- Quality of education
- Inadequate
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Inadequate
- Personal development
- Requires improvement
- Leadership and management
- Inadequate
- Sixth form
- Requires improvement
- Safeguarding
- Not effective
Ofsted placed the school in a category of concern: special measures.
This inspection took place when the school was registered as Walderslade School (URN 137630).
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2024/25 |
|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 140 |
| Attainment 8 score | 29.9 |
| Progress 8 score | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 11.4% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 24.3% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 22.1% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 2.5 |
Progress 8 is paused nationally for the 2024/25 and 2025/26 school years. Those pupils sat no key stage 2 tests during the Covid pandemic, so there is no starting point to measure progress from. A blank figure here is not missing school data.
Trends over time
How Walderslade 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 | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | — | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 12.8% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 12.6% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
How Walderslade School compares
Walderslade School ranked 17th of 18 secondary schools in Medway for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 22% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 3% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 29.9 | 12.6% | 39.9% | 697 | — |
| Greenacre School | 29.8 | 12.8% | 32.9% | 747 | 0.1 miles |
| Holcombe Grammar School | 62.4 | 5.4% | 13.3% | 1,060 | 1.1 miles |
| The Victory Academy | 35.5 | 9.8% | 45.1% | 1,213 | 1.3 miles |
| The Thomas Aveling School | 41.3 | 9.4% | 33.4% | 1,201 | 1.3 miles |
| Sir Joseph Williamson's Mathematical School | 69.5 | 3.7% | 10.8% | 1,555 | 1.7 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)
- 39.89%
- English as an additional language
- 13.6%
- Overall absence
- 12.59%
- Persistent absence
- 40.47%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Greenacre School0.1 miles
Secondary · Chatham
-
Holcombe Grammar School1.1 miles
Secondary · Chatham
-
The Victory Academy1.3 miles
Secondary · Chatham
-
The Thomas Aveling School1.3 miles
Secondary · Rochester
-
Sir Joseph Williamson's Mathematical School1.7 miles
Secondary · Rochester
Other schools in Chatham
Walderslade School ranks 6th of the 7 ranked secondary schools in Chatham.
- Chatham Grammar Secondary
- Fort Pitt Grammar School Secondary
- Greenacre School Secondary
- Holcombe Grammar School Secondary
- The Victory Academy Secondary
- Waterfront UTC Secondary
- All Saints Church of England Primary School Primary
- Balfour Junior School Primary
- Greenvale Primary School Primary
- Horsted Infant School Primary
- Horsted Junior School Primary
- Kingfisher Community Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What ages does Walderslade School teach?
- Walderslade School teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Chatham.
- Who is the headteacher of Walderslade School?
- The headteacher of Walderslade School is Mrs Louise Campbell, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Walderslade School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Walderslade 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 Walderslade School?
- Walderslade School has 697 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is Walderslade School full?
- Walderslade School has capacity for 949 pupils and 697 on roll (73%), 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 Walderslade School a faith school?
- No. Walderslade School has no designated religious character.
- Is Walderslade School part of an academy trust?
- Walderslade 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 does Walderslade School compare with other schools in Medway?
- Walderslade School ranked 17th of 18 secondary schools in Medway for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 22% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 3% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Walderslade School's absence rate?
- Walderslade School's overall absence rate is 12.6% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Walderslade School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Walderslade 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.