Ofsted: Outstanding trending_up Popular emoji_events #20 in Medway public Top 8% UK

The Pilgrim School (A Church of England Primary With Nursery)

verifiedData: DfE 2024/25–2025/26 · Ofsted

personMrs Alison Mepsted

corporate_fareTHE PILGRIM MULTI ACADEMY TRUST

location_onRochester, ME1 3LF

language Visit Website phone 16343975555

verified

Ofsted

Outstanding

Inspected 2025

groups

Students

229

school

Expected Standard

83%

local_fire_department

Demand Ratio

1.3x

summarize

The Pilgrim School (A Church of England Primary With Nursery) is a Academy converter primary school in Rochester, serving ages 3-11. Rated Outstanding by Ofsted — the highest possible grade. Demand is above capacity (1.3×) — apply through your local authority on time. Ranks in the top 8% of primary schools nationally.

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School Summary

The Pilgrim School (A Church of England Primary With Nursery) is an academy converter in Rochester, Medway, admitting pupils aged 3-11. It is part of THE PILGRIM MULTI ACADEMY TRUST. The school has approximately 219 pupils on roll, of whom 21% are eligible for free school meals.

In 2025, 83% of pupils met the expected standard in Reading, Writing and Maths combined, with 10% achieving the higher standard. The school ranks #20 of 56 primaries in Medway and #4,079 of 14,143 nationally.

Ofsted last inspected the school in 2025. The school's current overall rating is Outstanding. Inspectors assessed quality of education as Outstanding, behaviour and attitudes Outstanding, personal development Outstanding, and leadership and management Outstanding.

The school is oversubscribed — in the most recent cycle, there were 1.3× as many applications as places, making a successful application competitive.

The pupil-to-qualified-teacher ratio is 19.2:1. There are no current teaching vacancies.

In the 2024/25 academic year, there were no permanent exclusions. The average suspension rate was 1.4 per 1,000 pupils per term.

verified Source: DfE 2024/25–2025/26 · Ofsted

Academic Performance

verified Data: UK Gov 2024/25

school

Primary Performance Trends (KS2)

2025

R/W/M Expected Standard

83%

LA 59%

Reading87% LA 71%

Writing90% LA 71%

Maths97% LA 69%

Read SS

111

Maths SS

110

GPS SS

110

Progress (0 = national avg)

Read

Write

Maths

2024

R/W/M Expected Standard

87%

LA 61%England 61%

Reading90% LA 72% · Eng 74%

Writing90% LA 72% · Eng 72%

Maths93% LA 71% · Eng 73%

Read SS

111

Maths SS

110

GPS SS

112

Progress (0 = national avg)

Read

Write

Maths

2023

R/W/M Expected Standard

83%

LA 56%England 60%

Reading90% LA 68% · Eng 73%

Writing83% LA 71% · Eng 71%

Maths93% LA 66% · Eng 73%

Read SS

109

Maths SS

105

GPS SS

107

Progress (0 = national avg)

3.9

Read

LA -1.3

1.6 to 6.1

-0.5

Write

LA -0.6

-2.7 to 1.7

1.0

Maths

LA -1.5

-1.2 to 3.1

2019

R/W/M Expected Standard

90%

LA 63%England 65%

Reading90% LA 69% · Eng 73%

Writing93% LA 76% · Eng 78%

Maths93% LA 76% · Eng 79%

Read SS

108

Maths SS

108

GPS SS

110

Progress (0 = national avg)

2.8

Read

LA -0.5

0.5 to 5.0

2.2

Write

LA -0.1

0.1 to 4.2

1.7

Maths

LA -0.3

-0.2 to 3.7

2018

R/W/M Expected Standard

90%

LA 63%

Reading90% LA 72%

Writing93% LA 79%

Maths93% LA 73%

Read SS

108

Maths SS

106

GPS SS

111

Progress (0 = national avg)

3.1

Read

LA -0.8

1 to 5.2

2.3

Write

LA 0.1

0.2 to 4.4

2.3

Maths

LA -0.5

0.4 to 4.2

Ofsted History

Publication Timeline

Report Archive

07 January 2025

Inspection Report

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06 December 2016

Inspection Report

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Inspection Report

Inspection History

3 Evaluations

2025-01-07

S5 Inspection EIF

Not Judged

info

Why no overall grade?

From autumn 2024, Ofsted stopped issuing a single headline grade (Outstanding / Good / RI / Inadequate). Instead, each inspection area is graded individually. This follows a major review after the death of headteacher Ruth Perry in 2023. The overall effectiveness field is left as "Not judged" in the published data.

Education

Outstanding

Behaviour

Outstanding

Development

Outstanding

Leadership

Outstanding

2015-03-17

S5 Inspection EIF

Outstanding

Education

No Judgement

Behaviour

No Judgement

Development

No Judgement

Leadership

Outstanding

2009-10-07

None EIF

Good

Education

No Judgement

Behaviour

No Judgement

Development

No Judgement

Leadership

Good

Wellbeing, SEN & Pastoral Care

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Behaviour & Discipline (Suspensions & Exclusions)

Official Department for Education (DfE) data. Suspensions measure temporary removals due to behavior, while exclusions represent permanent removals.

Suspension Rate

1.4%per term

warning Above Average

National average: 0.8% for this term (primary).

Pupils Suspended 1+ Times

0.9%(2 pupils)

Spring term 2025

Represents the proportion of unique students suspended at least once in this term.

Permanent Exclusions

0pupils

verified Excellent (Zero)

National average: 1.225% of pupils excluded per term.

Pastoral Context: In the Spring term of 2025, this school served a headcount of 219 pupils. During this period, there were 3 temporary suspensions. The school's suspension rate was 1.4%, which is above the termly national average of 0.8%.

View Historical Disciplinary Records (2017–2025)keyboard_arrow_down

Year / Term	Headcount	Suspensions	Susp. Rate	Nat. Avg
2024/25 (Spring term)	219	3	1.4%	0.8%
2024/25 (Autumn term)	221	3	1.4%	0.9%
2023/24 (Summer term)	231	2	0.9%	0.8%
2023/24 (Spring term)	227	2	0.9%	0.7%
2023/24 (Autumn term)	220	1	0.5%	0.8%
2022/23 (Summer term)	231	0	0.0%	0.7%
2022/23 (Spring term)	229	0	0.0%	0.6%
2022/23 (Autumn term)	223	0	0.0%	0.6%
2021/22 (Summer term)	233	0	0.0%	0.5%
2021/22 (Spring term)	224	0	0.0%	0.5%
2021/22 (Autumn term)	223	0	0.0%	0.5%
2020/21 (Summer term)	235	0	0.0%	0.4%
2020/21 (Spring term)	231	0	0.0%	0.1%
2020/21 (Autumn term)	226	0	0.0%	0.4%
2019/20 (Summer term)	228	0	0.0%	0.0%
2019/20 (Spring term)	228	0	0.0%	0.4%
2019/20 (Autumn term)	224	0	0.0%	0.6%
2018/19 (Summer term)	230	0	0.0%	0.4%
2018/19 (Spring term)	224	0	0.0%	0.5%
2018/19 (Autumn term)	221	0	0.0%	0.5%
2017/18 (Summer term)	229	0	0.0%	0.5%
2017/18 (Spring term)	221	0	0.0%	0.4%
2017/18 (Autumn term)	219	0	0.0%	0.5%
2016/17 (Summer term)	234	0	0.0%	0.4%
2016/17 (Spring term)	233	0	0.0%	0.4%
2016/17 (Autumn term)	230	0	0.0%	0.5%

Source: DfE Suspensions and Permanent Exclusions in England. Data represents termly statistics as published by the Department for Education.

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Supported Special Educational Needs (SEN)

Primary areas of need currently supported by the school. A high number often indicates specialized internal units or high staff experience in these areas.

Speech, Language & Communication 22 pupils

Multi-Sensory Impairment 9 pupils

Social, Emotional & Mental Health 7 pupils

Autistic Spectrum Disorder 3 pupils

Specific Learning Difficulty 3 pupils

Severe Learning Difficulty 2 pupils

Moderate Learning Difficulty 1 pupils

Hearing Impairment 1 pupils

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The Pilgrim School (A Church of England Primary With Nursery)

School Summary

Academic Performance

Primary Performance Trends (KS2)

Ofsted History

Publication Timeline

Inspection History

Admissions Insight

How Places Are Allocated

Faith Priority (Church of England)

Distance to School

School Capacity

Primary Admission Trends

Students & School Environment

School Size

Language Diversity

Inclusive Support

Attendance

Ethnicity Breakdown

Wellbeing, SEN & Pastoral Care

Behaviour & Discipline (Suspensions & Exclusions)

Supported Special Educational Needs (SEN)

Funding & Staffing

School Funding Allocation

Funding Breakdown

Staffing

Teacher Turnover

Top Primary Schools in Medway

Napier Community Primary and Nursery Academy

St Margaret's at Troy Town CofE Voluntary Controlled Primary School

Thames View Primary School

Horsted Junior School

Walderslade Primary School

Oaklands School