Bligh Primary School (Infants)
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Bligh Primary School (Infants) is a converter academy in Rochester for boys and girls aged 2 to 7. It has 303 pupils, 33 more than it has places for. About 26 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, about the same as most schools in England. We give it 90 out of 100. That puts it well above schools like it, ahead of 93% of the 50 schools most like it. Ofsted's last grade was inspected 2025, no overall grade.
Bligh Way, Strood, Rochester, ME2 2XJ01634 336220blighprimaryschool.co.ukMr Christian Markham headteacherAll details
What Ofsted found
Ofsted's last full inspection was on 4 March 2025, back when it gave schools one overall grade. Read the report on Ofsted's website.
Not judged Between September 2024 and November 2025, Ofsted graded each area but stopped giving one overall word.
Results
No published results yet for this school.
Getting a place
Admissions policy not published.
About 21 places were empty, so most families who apply get in, though a popular year group can still fill up. Pupil numbers have stayed about the same since 2021/22.
Each council publishes its own figures on how many families applied and how far away the last child to get a place lived. We are adding councils one at a time. If you have a link to Medway council's admissions booklet, send it to us.
Who goes here
Who a school teaches matters. That is why our score compares it with schools that take in a similar mix of children, not with every school in the country.
The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: language and communications needs (30), emotional and mental health (11), Autistic spectrum disorder (7), Physical disability (2), Multi-sensory impairment (1), SEN support but no specialist assessment of type of need (1).
How the mix of pupils has changed
| Census | 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils on roll | 303 | 309 | 319 | 325 | 312 | 314 |
| Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals | 28% | 25% | 22% | 27% | 25% | 26% |
| Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language | 25% | 18% | 20% | 18% | 16% | 12% |
| Pupils getting extra supportSEN support | – | 13% | 12% | 9% | 13% | 7% |
| Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans | – | 2% | 1% | 1% | 1% | 1% |
Attendance and behaviour
In 2024/25 pupils were in school 93.8% of the time. Across similar schools in England it was 94.8%.
Attendance year by year
| Measure | 2024/25 | 2023/24 | 2022/23 | 2021/22 | 2020/21 | 2018/19 | England |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sessions missedOverall absence | 6.2% | 5.0% | 8.5% | 9.2% | 7.6% | 5.0% | 5.2% |
| Missed with permissionAuthorised absence | 4.7% | 4.0% | 7.1% | 6.7% | 6.1% | 3.8% | – |
| Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence | 1.5% | 1.0% | 1.5% | 2.5% | 1.5% | 1.2% | – |
| Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence | 14.7% | 12.4% | 31.2% | 29.4% | 27.6% | 11.0% | 12.8% |
| SuspensionsSuspension rate | 0.7 | 0.0 | 1.2 | 3.2 | 0.0 | – | – |
| Permanent exclusionsPermanent exclusions | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – |
Staff
From the government's count of school staff in November 2025.
The area around the school
Crime figures come from police.uk. The police record each crime at the nearest of a fixed set of map points rather than the exact spot, so “within 500 m” is only rough. House prices are from HM Land Registry sales nearby over the last two years.
Nearby schools
The closest primary schools, nearest first. Hover over a row to see it on the map.
| School | Type | Distance | Pupils | Ofsted | Score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bligh Primary School (Juniors) | Academy | 0 m | 343 | Good 2023 | 25 | Compare |
| Elaine Primary School | Academy | 0.6 miles | 270 | Good 2022 | 45 | Compare |
| Cedar Children's Academy | Academy | 0.7 miles | 627 | Not inspected | 29 | Compare |
| Gordons Children's Academy, Junior | Academy | 1.1 miles | 263 | Good 2022 | 45 | Compare |
| Gordons Children's Academy, Infant | Academy | 1.1 miles | 135 | Good 2022 | 32 | Compare |
| St Nicholas CEVC Primary School | Church of England | 1.2 miles | 156 | No overall grade 2025 | 11 | Compare |
| All Faiths Children's Academy | Academy | 1.4 miles | 225 | Good 2020 | 26 | Compare |
| Cuxton Community Infant School | Academy | 1.5 miles | 257 | Report card 2026 | 56 | Compare |
Compared with schools like it
Our score compares Bligh Primary School (Infants) with the 45 schools in England whose pupils are most like its own. We match on family income, how many children are learning English, special needs, the neighbourhood, the size of the school and how it admits pupils. Those 45 schools are dotted all over the country, so we don't list them. What matters is where this school sits among them.
No school with a similar mix of pupils within 25 km scores clearly higher.
How the score was worked out
The score is out of 100. A 90 means that once everything below is added up, this school comes out ahead of 90% of primary schools in England. Results bounce around from year to year, especially in small schools, so we also show a likely range: 76 to 96. That range is wide enough that the school could sit in the next band, so take the band as a rough guide rather than a verdict. Every part is judged against schools with a similar mix of pupils. For small schools we pull each part towards the group average, so one unusual year can't swing the score too far.
| What we looked at | How much it counts | Against schools like it | Effect on the score | Based on |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Results over three years | 0% | no data | – | |
| Ofsted inspection | 20% | above | +0.29 | Ofsted grade, 1.5 years old |
| Progress pupils make | 0% | no data | – | |
| Direction of travel over five years | 10% | well above | +0.47 | results and attendance rising year on year |
| Attendance and behaviour | 10% | below | -0.10 | 2024/25; 170 pupils |
| Results, allowing for the mix of pupils | 0% | no data | – | |
| What parents say | 0% | no data | – |
Worked out on 13 September 2026 (method v1). Read how the score works, including every weight and the checks we run. Think a number is wrong? Tell us.
Questions parents ask
Is Bligh Primary School (Infants) a good school?
Yes, going by the figures. Bligh Primary School (Infants) scores 90 out of 100. That is well above schools that take in a similar mix of pupils, and ahead of 93% of the 50 schools most like it in England. The score could fairly be anywhere from 76 to 96, so a few points either way between schools doesn't mean much. Its results have been getting better over the last five years.
What is Bligh Primary School (Infants)'s Ofsted rating?
Ofsted rated Bligh Primary School (Infants) not judged at its last full inspection on 4 March 2025.
How many pupils does Bligh Primary School (Infants) have?
303 pupils aged 2 to 7 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 270 places, so it is 112% full.
Is Bligh Primary School (Infants) oversubscribed?
Probably not. 21 places were empty in 2024/25 (8% of the total), so most families who apply get a place.
What is attendance like at Bligh Primary School (Infants)?
Pupils were in school 93.8% of the time in 2024/25. Similar schools in England managed 94.8%. 15% of pupils missed at least a tenth of the year.
How big are the classes at Bligh Primary School (Infants)?
The average class had 26.1 pupils in January 2026. Across England it was 25.4. No class had more than 30 pupils.
These answers come straight from the figures on this page and update when new data comes out.
Contact and details
- Address
- Bligh Way, Strood, Rochester, ME2 2XJ
- Telephone
- 01634 336220
- Website
- www.blighprimaryschool.co.uk
- Headteacher
- Mr Christian Markham
- Type of school
- Converter academy (Academy converter, academies)
- Phase
- Primary school, ages 2-7, with nursery
- Gender
- Mixed
- Multi-academy trust
- Maritime Academy Trust (13 schools)
- Local authority
- Medway
- Ward
- Strood West
- Constituency
- Rochester and Strood
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Opened
- 1 October 2017 (academy converter)
- URN
- 144915 · LAESTAB 8872537 · UKPRN 10065035
- Formerly
- Bligh Infant School
Where these figures come from
- School details: Department for Education, Get Information About Schools, refreshed daily (this page rebuilt 13 September 2026).
- Inspections: Ofsted management information, monthly; latest publication in our data 27 August 2026.
- Attendance: DfE pupil absence in schools in England, 2024/25 full year.
- Pupil characteristics: DfE school census, January 2026.
- Staff: DfE school workforce census, November 2025.
- Class sizes: DfE schools, pupils and their characteristics, January 2026.
- Pupil premium: DfE allocations and conditions of grant, 2026 to 2027.
- Neighbourhood: police.uk street-level crime, HM Land Registry price paid data, NaPTAN bus stops, English Indices of Deprivation 2025.
- All under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Full list and update calendar.