Palace Wood Primary School
Primary · Community school · Mixed · Kent
Ash Grove, Maidstone, ME16 0AB
56
headline score
Ranking (England)
—
No ranked results
Ofsted
School remains Good
No graded inspection
Application demand
98%
1st preference success · Not oversubscribed
Attendance
95.2%
11.6% persistently absent
At a glance
Pupils on roll
417
Capacity used
Nearly full99%
420 places
GCSE rank (England)
—
KS2 rank (England)
—
Application demand
Primary entry · official council applications and offers
98%
1st preference success rate
47 of 48 families who put it first got an offer
60
Places offered
134
Total applications
2.2
Applications per place
| Preference (Sept 2025 entry) | Applications | Offers | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st preference | 48 | 47 | ● 98% |
| 2nd preference | 68 | 12 | ● 18% |
| 3rd preference | 18 | 1 | ● 6% |
| Total | 134 | 60 | 45% |
1st preference success by year
Kent lets families list 3 preferences. 1 applications came from outside the council area (0 offered). Source: Department for Education, school-level applications and offers. Offers are made on each school's admissions criteria (e.g. siblings, distance, faith), so check the school's policy.
Details
- Type
- Community school
- Phase
- Primary
- Age range
- 4–11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Sixth form
- No
- Nursery
- No Nursery Classes
- Boarding
- No boarders
- Headteacher
- Clare Cairns
- Address
- Ash Grove, Allington, Maidstone, ME16 0AB
- Phone
- 01622750084
- Local authority
- Kent
- Ward / constituency
- Palace Wood · Maidstone and Malling
- Area
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- URN
- 135106
Pupils
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free school meals | 16% | — | — |
| English as additional language | 11% | — | — |
| SEN support | 10% | — | — |
Local deprivation (IDACI quintile 2 of 5)
1 = least deprived area, 5 = most deprived. Context only.
417 pupils · 420 places. Intake figures describe the school's community — they aren't good or bad.
Ofsted inspections
- 22
15 September 2022
Ungraded inspection
School remains Good
Attendance
2024/2025 school year · 380 pupils
Attendance
95.2%
Share of sessions attended · England 94.5%
Overall absence
4.8%
Sessions missed, any reason · England 5.5%
Persistent absence
11.6%
Pupils missing 10%+ of school · England 14.6%
Severe absence
0.5%
Pupils missing 50%+ of school · England 2.3%
Unauthorised absence
1.0%
Absences the school didn't approve
Persistent absence by year
Source: Department for Education, pupil absence by school (pupils aged 5–15). Lower absence is better. England figures are approximate 2023/24 averages.
Primary results (Key Stage 2)
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Expected standard in reading, writing & maths | 56% | — | — |
| Higher standard | 11% | — | — |
| Reading progress | — | — | 0.0 |
| Writing progress | — | — | 0.0 |
| Maths progress | — | — | 0.0 |
Primary results by subject (SATs)
Year 6 pupils meeting each standard, against England
Reading, writing & maths combined
Reading
Writing
Maths
Grammar, punctuation & spelling
Science
England average · Scaled scores run 80–120 (100 = expected standard).
Primary results over time
Expected standard (RWM) by year (2020 and 2021 exams were cancelled)
| Result | School | England (approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| Expected standard (RWM) | 69% | 61% |
| Higher standard | 8% | 8% |
House prices near the school
Typical sold prices (Land Registry) within 1 km, last 12 months.
Loading prices…
Key application dates
National deadlines in England. Apply through Kent council, not the school.
| Entry | Deadline | Offer day |
|---|---|---|
| Reception (primary) | 15 January | 16 April (or next working day) |
Source: Get Information About Schools and the DfE school and college performance tables (2023-2024); Oxbridge figures from the University of Cambridge's admissions by UCAS apply centre (Oxford doesn't publish per-school figures). Read the method.