School Chooser

Kings Hill School Primary and Nursery

Primary · ages 2-11MixedCouncil472 pupilsNurseryWest MallingKent
School Chooser Score
91
Well above
similar schools
Likely range 84 to 95
Out of 100. Better than 85% of the 50 schools most like it. Slipping year on year.
OfstedOutstandingLast Ofsted inspection, February 2024
Reached the expected level at 1163%England 63%
Attendance95.8%England 94.8%
Pupils from low-income families10%Far fewer than most schools
PlacesFull472 pupils, 420 places
Pupils per teacher24.5School workforce census

Kings Hill School Primary and Nursery is a council school in West Malling for boys and girls aged 2 to 11. It has 472 pupils, 52 more than it has places for. About 10 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, far fewer than at most schools in England. We give it 91 out of 100. That puts it well above schools like it, ahead of 85% of the 50 schools most like it. Ofsted's last grade was outstanding, back in 2024.

Crispin Way, Kings Hill, West Malling, ME19 4LS01732 842739kingshillschool.org.ukMrs Beth McKenzie headteacherAll details

What Ofsted found

Ofsted's last full inspection was on 20 February 2024, back when it gave schools one overall grade. Read the report on Ofsted's website.

Outstanding overall.

TeachingOfsted calls this “quality of education”
Outstanding
BehaviourOfsted calls this “behaviour and attitudes”
Outstanding
WellbeingOfsted calls this “personal development”
Outstanding
LeadershipOfsted calls this “leadership and management”
Outstanding
Early years
Outstanding
Safeguarding
Effective
Yes
Earlier inspections (1)
DateTypeOutcome
8 December 2022UngradedSchool remains Good (Improving) - S5 Next

Results

Year 6 results (SATs), summer 2025

60 children took the tests. Here is how they did against every state primary in England.

Reached the expected level at 1163%
England 63%
Official name: Expected standard in reading, writing and maths
Working above the expected level23%
England 8%
Official name: Higher standard in reading, writing and maths
Reading score107.0
England 105.6
Official name: Reading average scaled score
Maths score107.0
England 104.6
Official name: Maths average scaled score
Trend
Reached the expected level at 11
2017 to 2025
2017: 71%71%20172018: 70%70%20182019: 80%80%20192023: 69%69%20232024: 70%70%20242025: 63%63%2025
Since 2017: -8%Declining overall
All Year 6 measures, year by year
Measure202520242023201920182017KentEngland
Pupils tested606061616059
Reached the expected level at 11Expected standard in reading, writing and maths63%70%69%80%70%71%64%63%
Working above the expected levelHigher standard in reading, writing and maths23%22%28%31%18%19%10%8%
Reading scoreReading average scaled score107.0107.0107.0106.0106.0108.0105.8105.6
Maths scoreMaths average scaled score107.0106.0106.0108.0106.0105.0104.2104.6
Grammar and spelling scoreGPS average scaled score108.0109.0109.0108.0105.0107.0104.3105.2
Expected level: readingReading expected standard80%82%82%85%83%80%
Expected level: mathsMaths expected standard78%78%80%90%83%85%
Expected level: writingWriting expected standard (teacher assessed)77%78%93%89%83%81%
Reading progressReading progress score-0.5+1.1+1.2+2.2
Maths progressMaths progress score-0.1+2.7+2.0-0.4
Expected level: low-income pupilsExpected standard, disadvantaged30%29%43%78%
Expected level: other pupilsExpected standard, non-disadvantaged70%75%74%70%

There are no progress figures for 2025. That year group missed their Year 2 tests during Covid, so there was no starting point to measure from. Progress figures come back with the December 2026 results. Tests were cancelled altogether in 2020 and 2021.

Does every child do well here?

A good school does well by every child, not just on average. Each row compares two groups of pupils here. The grey marks show the same two groups across England. None of the gaps is smaller than the gap across England. When a group has fewer than about ten pupils, its figures jump around a lot from year to year.

At the end of primary school, 2025

Reached the expected level at 11Low-income pupils vs other pupils
30%70%
Gap 40 ptsEngland 21 pts
Reached the expected level at 11Boys vs girls
57%69%
Gap 12 ptsEngland 5 pts
Reached the expected level at 11Pupils learning English vs all pupils
83%63%
Gap 20 ptsEngland 4 pts
Reached the higher level at 11Low-income pupils vs all pupils
10%23%
Gap 13 ptsEngland 5 pts
First groupSecond groupEngland, each group

Low-income means the child has had free school meals at some point in the last six years. A group's figure isn't published when it has fewer than six pupils.

Getting a place

Admissions policy not published.

Nearly full419 pupils for 420 places, 2024/25
100% full

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 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 Kent 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.

Pupils on roll472Census January 2026
Places420112% full
Pupils from low-income families10%10% have had free school meals at some point in the last six years
Pupils learning English6%First language is not English
Pupils getting extra support9%42 pupils with SEN support
Pupils with an EHC plan2%11 pupils with a plan
Average class size31.515 classes, January 2026; England 25.4
Classes with more than 30 pupils13%Infant classes are capped at 30 by law; England 10%
Pupils with extra funding (pupil premium)11%£69,750 extra funding in 2026/27; England 24%
Boys and girls231 / 241
White British pupils77%

Infant classes (Reception to Year 2) average 29.7 pupils (England 25.5); junior classes (Years 3 to 6) average 29.9 (England 27.3).

The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: language and communications needs (18), emotional and mental health (14), Specific learning difficulty (11), Autistic spectrum disorder (3), Moderate learning difficulty (3), SEN support but no specialist assessment of type of need (2).

How the mix of pupils has changed
Census202620252024202320222021
Pupils on roll472476477485484514
Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals10%10%9%7%8%6%
Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language6%7%6%9%8%8%
Pupils getting extra supportSEN support11%12%10%10%8%
Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans2%3%2%2%2%

Attendance and behaviour

In 2024/25 pupils were in school 95.8% of the time. Across similar schools in England it was 94.8%.

Attendance95.8%
England 94.8%
Official name: 100 minus overall absence
Pupils missing a lot of school7.7%
England 12.8%
Official name: Persistent absence
Suspensions per 100 pupils1.12024/25, no permanent exclusions
Missed without permission1.2%of school time, 2024/25
Attendance year by year
Measure2024/252023/242022/232021/222020/212018/19England
Sessions missedOverall absence4.2%4.5%5.1%5.4%2.2%3.0%5.2%
Missed with permissionAuthorised absence3.1%3.4%4.2%4.7%2.0%2.6%
Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence1.2%1.1%0.9%0.8%0.3%0.5%
Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence7.7%7.4%10.1%12.2%3.0%3.2%12.8%
SuspensionsSuspension rate1.10.60.60.01.4
Permanent exclusionsPermanent exclusions00000

Staff and money

From the government's count of school staff in November 2025 and the school's published accounts.

Teachers19.3full-time equivalent, 22 people
Pupils per teacher24.5Pupils for every full-time teacher
Fully qualified teachers100%hold qualified teacher status
Teaching assistants22.4full-time equivalent
Average teacher pay£48,077
Teachers who left in the year28%2024/25, for any reason including retirement
Vacancies0
Sick days per teacher4.82024/25

Money

From the council school accounts, year to March 2025. The per-pupil figures are compared with other primary schools in England that report their accounts the same way.

Spend per pupil£6,045England £7,738. Total £2.9m
Income per pupil£6,141England £7,697. Total £2.9m
Spent on teachers per pupil£2,753England £3,480
Money in reserve3%Very little put by: £86k, £180 per pupil. England 6%
Money in against money out+£46kit took in more than it spent this year
Where the money goes£6,045spent per pupil

Reserves are the money left over at the end of the year, kept back for emergencies and big projects. Being in the red year after year is a warning sign. Very large reserves can mean money sitting in the bank instead of being spent on today's pupils. Academy figures are rounded to the nearest £1,000 and include a share of any money the trust holds centrally.

The area around the school

Crimes within 500 m14312 months to June 2026, mostly anti-social behaviour
Local crime rate41 per 1,000 people55% lower than the England average
Typical house price£415,000Tonbridge and Malling
Nearest bus stop230 mForest Way, 6 stops within 500 m

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.

Well aboveAboveIn lineBelowWell belowNot scored
SchoolTypeDistancePupilsOfstedScore
Valley Invicta Primary School At Kings HillAcademy360 m226No overall grade 202597Compare
The Discovery SchoolCouncil0.8 miles634Outstanding 202393Compare
Mereworth Community Primary SchoolCouncil1.6 miles209Good 202290Compare
West Malling Church of England Primary School and McGinty Speech and Language SrpAcademy1.7 miles191Good 202337Compare
Wateringbury Church of England Primary SchoolChurch of England1.8 miles134No overall grade 202542Compare
Offham Primary SchoolCouncil1.8 miles201No overall grade 202546Compare
More Park Catholic Primary SchoolAcademy1.8 miles183Good 202379Compare
Lift St James the GreatAcademy2.1 miles176Good 202376Compare

Compared with schools like it

Our score compares Kings Hill School Primary and Nursery 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.

Beats85%of schools with a similar mix of pupils
In the top quarter of its group. Its score of 91 is 16 points above the typical school in the group.
0Lowest of the group 17 · middle 75 · highest 99100

How the score was worked out

The score is out of 100. A 91 means that once everything below is added up, this school comes out ahead of 91% of primary schools in England. Results bounce around from year to year, especially in small schools, so we also show a likely range: 84 to 95. 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 atHow much it countsAgainst schools like itEffect on the scoreBased on
Results over three years25%above
+0.18
2025, 2024 and 2023 results; 60 pupils
Ofsted inspection20%well above
+0.43
Ofsted grade, 2.6 years old
Progress pupils make20%in line
+0.04
DfE progress measure; 60 pupils
Direction of travel over five years10%below
-0.05
results and attendance falling year on year
Attendance and behaviour10%above
+0.07
2024/25; 365 pupils
Results, allowing for the mix of pupils10%above
+0.05
Attainment relative to schools with a similar intake; 60 pupils
What parents say0%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 Kings Hill School Primary and Nursery a good school?

Yes, going by the figures. Kings Hill School Primary and Nursery scores 91 out of 100. That is well above schools that take in a similar mix of pupils, and ahead of 85% of the 50 schools most like it in England. The score could fairly be anywhere from 84 to 95, so a few points either way between schools doesn't mean much. Its results have been slipping over the last five years.

What is Kings Hill School Primary and Nursery's Ofsted rating?

Ofsted rated Kings Hill School Primary and Nursery outstanding at its last full inspection on 20 February 2024.

How good are Kings Hill School Primary and Nursery's SATs results?

In summer 2025, 63% of Year 6 children reached the expected level in reading, writing and maths. Across England it was 63%. 23% went further and reached the higher level.

How many pupils does Kings Hill School Primary and Nursery have?

472 pupils aged 2 to 11 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 420 places, so it is 112% full.

Is Kings Hill School Primary and Nursery oversubscribed?

Often. Fewer than one place in twenty was empty in 2024/25, so popular year groups fill up.

What is attendance like at Kings Hill School Primary and Nursery?

Pupils were in school 95.8% of the time in 2024/25. Similar schools in England managed 94.8%. 8% of pupils missed at least a tenth of the year.

How big are the classes at Kings Hill School Primary and Nursery?

The average class had 31.5 pupils in January 2026. Across England it was 25.4. 13% of classes 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
Crispin Way, Kings Hill, West Malling, ME19 4LS
Telephone
01732 842739
Website
www.kingshillschool.org.uk
Headteacher
Mrs Beth McKenzie
Type of school
Council school (Community school, local authority maintained schools)
Phase
Primary school, ages 2-11, with nursery
Gender
Mixed
Local authority
Kent
Ward
Kings Hill
Constituency
Maidstone and Malling
Setting
Larger rural: Nearer to a major town or city
Opened
1 September 1997
URN
130952 · LAESTAB 8862680 · UKPRN 10075570

Where these figures come from