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

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

The Pilgrim School, a Church of England primary with nursery in Medway, received an Outstanding rating across all graded areas in its most recent Ofsted inspection in January 2025. Inspectors judged the quality of education, early years provision, personal development, behaviour and attitudes, and leadership and management all as Outstanding. This places the school among just four Outstanding primaries in the Medway local authority, which contains 76 primary schools in total. On the most telling academic metric, 87% of pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined at Key Stage 2 in the 2023/24 academic year. That figure towers above the Medway local authority average of 62%, and it ranks the school first in the LA, second out of 55 primaries, and in the top 5% nationally. The school also sits in the top 4% of primaries across the South East region.

Digging deeper into the Key Stage 2 results, the school’s performance is strong across individual subjects. In reading, 90% of pupils reached the expected standard and 63% achieved a higher score, with an average scaled score of 111. In maths, 93% met the expected standard and 60% reached the higher threshold, with an average score of 110. Writing saw 90% at expected and 23% at the higher level. These outcomes are particularly impressive given that 19.1% of the 219 pupils are eligible for free school meals, a figure slightly above the national average for primary schools. The school’s Progress 8 scores are not available, but the raw attainment data paints a clear picture of a school where the vast majority of children are leaving Year 6 well prepared for secondary school. Parental confidence mirrors this: 97% of the 60 respondents to the Parent View survey would recommend the school, and 88% strongly agreed that their child is happy there.

The school is heavily oversubscribed, with 116 applications for 30 places in the 2025/26 intake, a ratio of nearly 4:1, and 43 first-preference applications for those 30 spots. Facilities include a library, playing fields, an outdoor playground, a sensory room, art studios, a gymnasium and a chapel. The school offers a range of sports including football, cross country, cricket, netball and tennis, plus clubs such as book club, coding and film club. Its SEND provisions are broad, covering specific learning difficulties like dyslexia, moderate and severe learning difficulties, social, emotional and mental health needs, speech, language and communication needs, hearing impairment, multi-sensory impairment and autistic spectrum disorder. The nearest other Outstanding primary is St Thomas More Roman Catholic Primary School, 4.2 km away. This is a school for families who prioritise strong academic foundations within a church school setting and who are prepared to compete for a place in a very popular local option.

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