Hempstead Infant School
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Hempstead Infant School is a council school in Gillingham for boys and girls aged 4 to 7. It has 251 pupils and room for 270. About 7 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, far fewer than at most schools in England. We give it 58 out of 100. That puts it in line with schools like it, ahead of 17% of the 50 schools most like it. Ofsted's last grade was good, back in 2024.
Hempstead Road, Hempstead, Gillingham, ME7 3QG01634 336963hempsteadschoolsfederation.org.ukMr Paul Cross headteacherAll details
What Ofsted found
A shorter visit on 13 March 2024 found nothing to change the school's grade. Read the report on Ofsted's website.
Good overall. A shorter follow-up visit found nothing to change that. The last full inspection was before September 2019, which is as far back as Ofsted's public records go, so we can't show its date or the grades for each area.
Results
No published results yet for this school.
Getting a place
Admissions policy not published.
Fewer than one place in twenty is empty, so in most years more families apply than there are places. Living close by, or already having a child here, makes a real difference. Pupil numbers have fallen by 4% since 2021/22, so places are getting easier to find.
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 (23), Autistic spectrum disorder (3), emotional and mental health (3), Multi-sensory impairment (2).
How the mix of pupils has changed
| Census | 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils on roll | 251 | 254 | 262 | 270 | 267 | 270 |
| Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals | 7% | 8% | 7% | 5% | 5% | 4% |
| Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language | 6% | 9% | 6% | 4% | 3% | 3% |
| Pupils getting extra supportSEN support | – | 13% | 17% | 12% | 14% | 8% |
| Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans | – | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
Attendance and behaviour
In 2024/25 pupils were in school 95.0% 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 | 5.1% | 5.4% | 6.7% | 6.8% | 3.5% | 4.4% | 5.2% |
| Missed with permissionAuthorised absence | 3.8% | 3.9% | 5.1% | 5.3% | 2.9% | 2.9% | – |
| Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence | 1.3% | 1.5% | 1.6% | 1.5% | 0.7% | 1.5% | – |
| Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence | 9.2% | 13.4% | 19.1% | 21.9% | 7.7% | 9.2% | 12.8% |
| SuspensionsSuspension rate | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hempstead Junior School | Council | 150 m | 371 | Good 2024 | 53 | Compare |
| Fairview Community Primary School | Council | 0.7 miles | 670 | Not inspected | 81 | Compare |
| Deanwood Primary School | Academy | 1.0 miles | 238 | Good 2024 | 10 | Compare |
| St Augustine of Canterbury Catholic Primary School | Roman Catholic | 1.2 miles | 189 | Good 2024 | 62 | Compare |
| Parkwood Primary School | Academy | 1.2 miles | 476 | Requires improvement 2023 | 1 | Compare |
| Bredhurst Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School | Church of England | 1.2 miles | 140 | Good 2024 | 95 | Compare |
| St Benedict's Catholic Primary School | Academy | 1.4 miles | 205 | Not inspected | 94 | Compare |
| Kingfisher Community Primary School | Academy | 1.5 miles | 208 | Good 2019 | 42 | Compare |
Compared with schools like it
Our score compares Hempstead Infant School with the 48 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 48 schools are dotted all over the country, so we don't list them. What matters is where this school sits among them.
How the score was worked out
The score is out of 100. A 58 means that once everything below is added up, this school comes out ahead of 58% of primary schools in England. Results bounce around from year to year, especially in small schools, so we also show a likely range: 30 to 81. 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% | in line | +0.03 | Ofsted grade, 2.5 years old |
| Progress pupils make | 0% | no data | – | |
| Direction of travel over five years | 10% | in line | -0.04 | results and attendance falling year on year |
| Attendance and behaviour | 10% | above | +0.10 | 2024/25; 185 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 Hempstead Infant School a good school?
It is about average. Hempstead Infant School scores 58 out of 100. That is in line with schools that take in a similar mix of pupils, and ahead of 17% of the 50 schools most like it in England. The score could fairly be anywhere from 30 to 81, so a few points either way between schools doesn't mean much.
What is Hempstead Infant School's Ofsted rating?
Ofsted rated Hempstead Infant School good at its last full inspection on 13 March 2024.
How many pupils does Hempstead Infant School have?
251 pupils aged 4 to 7 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 270 places, so it is 93% full.
Is Hempstead Infant School oversubscribed?
Often. Fewer than one place in twenty was empty in 2024/25, so popular year groups fill up.
What is attendance like at Hempstead Infant School?
Pupils were in school 95.0% of the time in 2024/25. Similar schools in England managed 94.8%. 9% of pupils missed at least a tenth of the year.
How big are the classes at Hempstead Infant School?
The average class had 28.8 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
- Hempstead Road, Hempstead, Gillingham, ME7 3QG
- Telephone
- 01634 336963
- Website
- www.hempsteadschoolsfederation.org.uk
- Headteacher
- Mr Paul Cross
- Type of school
- Council school (Community school, local authority maintained schools)
- Phase
- Primary school, ages 4-7
- Gender
- Mixed
- Local authority
- Medway
- Ward
- Hempstead & Wigmore
- Constituency
- Gillingham and Rainham
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- URN
- 118555 · LAESTAB 8872638 · UKPRN 10074059
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.