The Academy of Woodlands

About The Academy of Woodlands

The Academy of Woodlands is a large primary school in Medway that is significantly oversubscribed, with 159 applications for 79 places in the 2025/26 admissions round and 76 first-preference offers made. The school currently has 792 pupils on roll, well above its stated capacity of 630, which suggests strong local demand. The proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals stands at 35.7%, which is notably higher than the national average and indicates a catchment with above-average levels of disadvantage. The school is non-denominational and serves children from age 2 through to 11, with nursery provision available on site. Headteacher Chloe Brown leads a mixed-gender state primary that draws families from across the Medway area, and the oversubscription ratio of just over two applicants per place confirms that it is a popular choice locally, despite being ranked 44th out of 76 primary schools in the local authority on the KS2 expected standard measure.

In its most recent Ofsted inspection in March 2025, the school was rated Good across all graded areas, including quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, early years provision, and leadership and management. The previous inspection in 2011 also rated the school Good overall. At Key Stage 2 in the 2023/24 academic year, 49% of pupils reached the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined, compared to the Medway local authority average of 62%. The school’s average scores were 101 in maths and 102 in reading, both slightly below the national average. The proportion achieving the higher standard in all three subjects was 7%, with 21% reaching higher in maths, 19% in reading and 10% in writing. These outcomes place the school in the bottom 50 nationally on the combined expected standard metric, and 43rd out of 55 Medway primaries. Parent View responses from 135 families between September 2024 and September 2025 show that 62% would recommend the school, while 38% would not.

The school offers a wide range of facilities including a library, sports hall, playing fields, forest school area, sensory room, art studios, music rooms and a chapel. Sports provision includes swimming, football, athletics, gymnastics, cross country, cricket and netball, and there are clubs such as eco club, choir, art club, film club, science club and book club. The school has a broad SEND offer, with provisions for autistic spectrum disorder, speech and language needs, social and emotional mental health, hearing impairment, multi-sensory impairment, physical disability and specific learning difficulties such as dyslexia. However, parent views on SEND support are mixed: 35% disagreed that the school gives SEND children the support they need, compared to 19% who agreed and 16% who strongly agreed. The school is oversubscribed and serves a community with high levels of disadvantage, so families considering it should weigh the strong demand and broad facilities against the below-average KS2 outcomes and the mixed parent feedback on SEND provision.

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