The Wells Free School
Primary · Tunbridge Wells · TN4 8FA
Data updated
Ungraded inspection: no current grade
Ofsted's most recent visit was an ungraded inspection; its outcome was “Standards maintained”. Since September 2024 these outcomes no longer confirm a named grade. No graded inspection appears in Ofsted's records for this school since 2015 either, so SchoolFacts shows no grade rather than guessing. Any earlier grade is on the school's Ofsted report page.
Inspected 5 February 2025
Read the Ofsted report ↗At a glance
213 pupils · 101% of 210 capacity (over capacity) (January 2026 census)
- School type
- Free schools
- Age range
- 4–11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Free school meals
- 17.8% of pupils (January 2026)
- English as additional language
- 49.5% of pupils (2024/2025)
- SEN support
- 13.7% of pupils (2024/2025)
- EHC plan
- 2.8% of pupils (2024/2025)
- URN
- 139696
In figures
For September 2026 entry, 28 families named it first for 30 Reception places, 0.93 first choices per place. Its last Reception place offered on distance for 2026 entry went to 0.446 miles; distance decided places in 4 of the 4 years of Reception rounds we hold, 2023 to 2026. In the 2025/26 autumn and spring terms its pupils missed 4.7% of sessions, against 6.6% across England.
Admissions demand: Reception entry, September 2026
0.93 first-choice applications per place30 places offered · 28 first-choice applications · roughly balanced
First-choice applications per place, by entry year
Source: DfE applications and offers on national offer day · how demand is measured
Catchment area
Catchment area: not named in the council's figures. Places by distance, last offered at 0.446 miles for 2026 entry.
Admissions cutoff distance: Reception
Last child offered a place under the distance criterion (2026 entry) lived within 0.446 miles
measured in a straight line.
Premium shows the exact distance behind every year back to 2023.
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Source: the admissions authority's published figures · how cutoffs work
Compare admissions across the area: Tunbridge Wells school admissions · Kent school admissions
Key stage 2 results (2024/2025)
31 pupils at the end of key stage 2 in 2024/2025
Source: DfE performance tables 2024/2025 · what “suppressed” means
Schools with a similar intake
Meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and maths, 2024/2025
On meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and maths, this school is in line with the schools that teach a comparable intake.
They are matched on intake, not location, so most are not local: see nearby schools for those you could apply to.
It is not a ranking. Source: DfE performance tables 2024/2025 · how the matching works
Pupils by ethnicity (January 2026)
White British 41% (Kent 70%, England 60%) · Any other White background 19% (Kent 7%, England 7%) · Asian Indian 14% (Kent 3%, England 4%) · Any other Mixed background 6% (Kent 3%, England 3%) · Any other ethnic group 4% (Kent 1%, England 3%) · Any other Asian background 4% (Kent 2%, England 2%) · Mixed White and Asian 3% (Kent 2%, England 2%) · Black African 2% (Kent 5%, England 5%) · Asian Pakistani 2% (Kent 1%, England 5%) · Asian Bangladeshi 1% (Kent 1%, England 2%) · Asian Chinese 1% (Kent 1%, England 1%) · other groups together 2%
Source: DfE schools, pupils and their characteristics, January 2026 census · how to read these figures
Attendance (2025/26 autumn and spring terms)
Suspensions and permanent exclusions (2024/25)
1.42 suspensions per 100 pupils and 0 permanent exclusions · England, primary schools: 2.47 suspensions and 0.03 permanent exclusions per 100 pupils · Kent: 3.00 suspensions and 0.01 permanent exclusions per 100 pupils
Suspensions and exclusions, last three years Premium
Premium shows the same figures for each of the last three years.
Unlock with SchoolFacts Premium →Source: DfE pupil absence data, autumn and spring terms, and DfE suspensions and permanent exclusions, school-level file · how absence is measured · how to read exclusions
Staffing
Full-time-equivalent, 2025/26.
Teacher retention (2024/25)
90% of teachers stayed at the school the following year · 10% left the state-funded sector
Vacancies (November 2025)
0% of teaching posts vacant, 0% filled temporarily · England, primary academies: 0.3% vacant, 0.32% temporary
Teacher sickness absence (reported in the November 2024 census)
40% of teachers took sickness absence, 1.8 days each on average · England, all state-funded schools: 61.8%, 8.1 days
Teacher pay (November 2025)
Mean salary of full-time qualified teachers £51,114; 30.8% on the leadership pay range · England, primary schools: £50,856, 17.3%
Vacancies, sickness and pay, last three years Premium
Premium shows the same figures for each of the last three years.
Unlock with SchoolFacts Premium →Source: DfE School Workforce Census · how these figures are counted
Spending per pupil (2024-25)
Where the money went (2024-25)
Share of spending, with the median for primary schools in brackets: Staff 78% (77%) · premises 4% (5%) · occupation (energy, rates, cleaning) 7% (8%) · supplies and services 11% (9%) · educational supplies 8% (4%) · bought-in professional services 2% (2%) · catering 4% (5%)
Reserves (2024-25)
Revenue reserve £73,000; in-year balance +£25,000
Spending and reserves, last three years Premium
Premium shows the same figures for each of the last three years.
Unlock with SchoolFacts Premium →Higher spending is not a measure of quality. Source: academy finance return, 2024-25, DfE · how spending is compared
Inspection history since 2015
- 4 February 2025: Standards maintained
- 18 June 2019: School remains Good
Source: Ofsted management information · ungraded visits and the two inspection systems
The area around the school
- Child poverty (IDACI)
- 6/10around the middle for England
- Overall deprivation (IMD)
- 6/10around the middle for England
| Census 2021 | This area | England |
|---|---|---|
| Adults with a degree or higher | 47.2% | 33.9% |
| Adults with no qualifications | 11.4% | 18.1% |
| In managerial or professional work | 44.6% | 33.2% |
| Households deprived in two or more ways | 18.9% | 18.1% |
| Residents in very good health | 53.2% | 48.5% |
| Homes owned by the occupier | 36.3% | 62.3% |
| Social housing | 12% | 17.1% |
| Privately rented | 51.5% | 20.5% |
| Detached houses | 2% | 22.9% |
| Flats | 83.3% | 22.2% |
| Homes with four or more bedrooms | 8.1% | 21.1% |
| Households with no car or van | 34.3% | 23.5% |
These figures describe the area, not the pupils. Source: Census 2021 (ONS) and English Indices of Deprivation 2025 (MHCLG) for small area E01035012 · how to read area figures
What homes cost nearby
- Median sale price
- £380,000850 sales within 1 km, January 2024 to September 2026
- Typical range
- £246,500–£672,500the middle half of sales
- England median
- £300,000all sales over the same period
Homes around this school are dearer than most school neighbourhoods in England, comparing the median within 1 km across every state school.
Inside the Reception cutoff distance (0.72 km, 2026 entry): 519 sales, median £343,000. The homes that would have got a child in that year, at the straight-line distance the school last filled to.
Source: HM Land Registry sales within 1 km since January 2024 · how sales are counted. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. This data is licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Postcodes located with OS Code-Point Open: contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026; contains Royal Mail data © Royal Mail copyright and database right 2026; contains National Statistics data © Crown copyright and database right 2026.
Roads around the school
- Child pedestrian casualties
- 4an urban school averages 2.0
- Collisions at school-run times
- 6an urban school averages 5.7
- All reported collisions
- 59an urban school averages 30.5
- Of those, serious or fatal
- 11an urban school averages 6.1
A high count usually reflects traffic, not an unsafe school. Source: DfT road casualty statistics (STATS19), collisions within 500 m, 2021–2025 · what is counted