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Fordcombe Church of England Primary School

Primary · Tunbridge Wells · TN3 0RY

Data updated

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Good

Earlier grade, confirmed by a later ungraded inspection

Ofsted's most recent (ungraded) visit confirmed the school remains Good. Ungraded inspections do not award a new grade.

Inspected 18 October 2022

Read the Ofsted report ↗

At a glance

57 pupils · 54% of 105 capacity (January 2026 census)

School type
Academy converter
Age range
4–11
Gender
Mixed
Religious character
Church of England
Free school meals
29.8% of pupils (January 2026)
English as additional language
14.5% of pupils (2024/2025)
SEN support
14.5% of pupils (2024/2025)
EHC plan
3.2% of pupils (2024/2025)
Website
http://www.fordcombe.kent.sch.uk
URN
146400

In figures

For September 2026 entry, 4 families named it first for 4 Reception places, 1.00 first choices per place. We hold 2 Reception admissions rounds for it, 2023 to 2024; none was decided by a published distance. An ungraded Ofsted inspection on 18 October 2022 confirmed its earlier grade, Good. In the 2025/26 autumn and spring terms its pupils missed 6% of sessions, against 6.6% across England.

Catchment area

Catchment area: not named in the council's figures. Every applicant was offered a place for 2024 entry, so distance was not needed to decide places.

Admissions cutoff distance: Reception

Every applicant was offered a place for 2024 entry, so distance was not needed to decide places.

How safe is a place here? Check your postcode

One free check a month, no account needed. No cutoff distance applied in 2024, so there is no boundary for your address to be inside of. The check shows how far you live from the school and how many rounds running it has placed every applicant. Premium adds unlimited checks, the nearby schools that do ration places by distance and whether you are inside them, and the address check across every school at once.

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Source: the admissions authority's published figures · how cutoffs work

Key stage 2 results (2024/2025)

13 pupils at the end of key stage 2 in 2024/2025

Reaching the expected standard in reading, writing & maths
62%
England 62%
Reaching the higher standard
23%
England 8%
Average scaled score (reading)
107
England 106
Average scaled score (maths)
106
England 105

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

This school62%
Median of its 12 closest peers45%
Kent average63.6%
England62%

On meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and maths, this school is ahead of 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.

SchoolOfstedResult
St Benet's RC Primary School and NurseryBeccles · 108 miles awayNeeds attention38%
Stoke St Michael Primary SchoolRadstock · 116 miles awayRequires improvement33%
Weston-under-Penyard CofE Primary SchoolRoss-on-Wye · 128 miles awayNeeds attention71%
Tansley Primary SchoolMatlock · 155 miles awayNeeds attention23%
Wilmcote C of E Primary SchoolStratford-upon-Avon · 112 miles awayRequires improvement74%
Swanton Abbott Community Primary SchoolNorwich · 124 miles awayGood46%
St Luke's CofE Primary SchoolCambridge · 74 miles awayRequires improvement79%
Filleigh Community Primary SchoolBarnstaple · 177 miles awayGood20%
Great Witchingham Church of England Primary AcademyNorwich · 116 miles awayNo current grade50%
Buckland Brewer Primary SchoolBideford · 193 miles awayRequires improvement33%
North Frodingham Primary SchoolDriffield · 196 miles awayNeeds attention56%
Foulsham Primary School AcademyDereham · 119 miles awayGood44%

It is not a ranking. Source: DfE performance tables 2024/2025 · how the matching works

Pupils by ethnicity (January 2026)

White British 79% (Kent 70%, England 60%) · Any other White background 14% (Kent 7%, England 7%) · Mixed White and Asian 5% (Kent 2%, England 2%) · Any other Asian background 2% (Kent 2%, England 2%)

Source: DfE schools, pupils and their characteristics, January 2026 census · how to read these figures

Attendance (2025/26 autumn and spring terms)

Sessions missed (overall absence)
6%
England 6.6%
Pupils missing 10%+ of sessions (persistent absence)
20.8%
England 17.5%

Suspensions and permanent exclusions (2024/25)

0.00 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

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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

Pupils per qualified teacher
18.4
England 18.5

Full-time-equivalent, 2025/26.

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)

60% of teachers took sickness absence, 5.3 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 £46,607; 0% on the leadership pay range · England, primary schools: £50,856, 17.3%

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Source: DfE School Workforce Census · how these figures are counted

Spending per pupil (2024-25)

This school£9,629
Typical primary school£7,202

Where the money went (2024-25)

Share of spending, with the median for primary schools in brackets: Staff 78% (77%) · premises 5% (5%) · occupation (energy, rates, cleaning) 6% (8%) · supplies and services 11% (9%) · educational supplies 4% (4%) · bought-in professional services 2% (2%) · catering 3% (5%)

Reserves (2024-25)

Revenue reserve £0; in-year balance -£22,000

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Higher spending is not a measure of quality. Source: academy finance return, 2024-25, DfE · how spending is compared

Inspection history since 2015

Source: Ofsted management information · ungraded visits and the two inspection systems

The area around the school

Child poverty (IDACI)
7/10less deprived than most of England
Overall deprivation (IMD)
5/10around the middle for England
Census 2021This areaEngland
Adults with a degree or higher43.2%33.9%
Adults with no qualifications13.9%18.1%
In managerial or professional work43.9%33.2%
Households deprived in two or more ways12.7%18.1%
Residents in very good health54.2%48.5%
Homes owned by the occupier80.3%62.3%
Social housing10.5%17.1%
Privately rented9%20.5%
Detached houses47.9%22.9%
Flats3.1%22.2%
Homes with four or more bedrooms40.9%21.1%
Households with no car or van6.6%23.5%

These figures describe the area, not the pupils. Source: Census 2021 (ONS) and English Indices of Deprivation 2025 (MHCLG) for small area E01024456 · how to read area figures

What homes cost nearby

Median sale price
£644,00016 sales within 1 km, January 2024 to September 2026
Typical range
£460,500–£922,500the middle half of sales
England median
£300,000all sales over the same period
Detached (8)£845,000

Homes around this school are among the dearest tenth of school neighbourhoods in England, comparing the median within 1 km across every state school.

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

No collision was reported to the police within 500 m of the school in 2021–2025.

Child pedestrian casualties
0a rural school averages 0.3
Collisions at school-run times
0a rural school averages 0.7
All reported collisions
0a rural school averages 3.4
Of those, serious or fatal
0a rural school averages 0.9

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

Nearby schools