St James' Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School
Primary · Voluntary aided school · Ages 4–11 · Tunbridge Wells, Kent
Last distance offered · Reception 2026
0.55 miles
Published by Kent County Council · offers on 16 April 2026
2023–2025 trend 🔒
Nearby schools' earlier years 🔒
St James' Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School is a primary school in Tunbridge Wells, Kent for ages 4–11 (voluntary aided school). Its latest Ofsted outcome is Good, from the inspection on 5 March 2024. Kent has published a last distance offered for this school for Reception 2023 to 2026 entry.
St James' Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School catchment area: last distance offered
Parents often call this the catchment area: it's how far from the school the last child offered a place lived. It changes every year.
| Entry | Last distance offered |
|---|---|
| Reception 2026 | 0.55 mi |
| Reception 2025 | 🔒 With a pass |
| Reception 2024 | 🔒 With a pass |
| Reception 2023 | 🔒 With a pass |
What the pass includes · How to read it: one past year, not a catchment
What the figures show
- Reception 2026 had 95 first-choice applications for 88 offers; 82 offers went to first-choice families, and 13 first-choice families (14%) were not offered a place.
- In 2024/25, 72% met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (England 62%), the 2nd highest of 9 schools: this one and the 8 nearest primary schools in Kent.
- The last child offered a Reception place in 2026 lived 0.55 miles away, the 50th shortest of 434 Kent primary schools with a published Reception 2026 last distance.
- 10.5% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, against a middle figure of 21.6% across the 8 nearest primary schools in Kent.
Worked out by Catchmently from the published figures on this page and those for other Kent schools. Distances are as published; how they were measured differs between admission authorities.
Key facts
- Address
- Sandrock Road, Tunbridge Wells, TN2 3PR
- Type
- Voluntary aided school
- Phase
- Primary
- Ages
- 4–11
- Religious character
- Church of England
- Council
- Kent
- Pupils on roll
- 629 January 2026 school census
- Free school meals
- 10.5% of pupils eligible
- Pupils per teacher
- 21.6
Official record: Get Information about Schools · as at 15 September 2026
Ofsted
Good Inspected 5 March 2024
Strengths
- “Everyone is welcome at this highly inclusive school.”
- “Pupils thrive here because they have positive and successful learning experiences, learning across a broad curriculum.”
- “Pupils value being celebrated for their achievements.”
To improve
- “However, in some subjects, these processes do not always clearly check what pupils, including pupils with SEND, have learned through the curriculum or inform future planning.”
- “Previously, leaders recognised the need to strengthen the provision for pupils who find it more difficult to read.”
- “Processes are now in place and need to be continued to ensure that these pupils catch up quickly and develop into fluent readers.”
Safeguarding: Effective
Quoted from the Ofsted report published 25 April 2024 (read the report). Crown copyright, Open Government Licence v3.0.
Exam results
| Measure | School | England |
|---|---|---|
| Key stage 2 · reading, writing and maths, expected standard (2024/25) | 72% | 62% |
Department for Education school performance data. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Applications and offers
- 2026 Reception entry: 95 first-preference applications, 88 offers in total, 82 offers to first-preference applicants.
Department for Education, school-level applications and offers, figures on national offer day. Earlier years are in the pass.
Nearby primary schools
Straight-line distance, in Kent.
- St Peter's Church of England Primary School 0.3 mi Not judged Last distance published
- St Barnabas CofE VA Primary School 0.4 mi School remains Good Last distance published
- Claremont Primary School 0.6 mi Good Last distance published
- The Wells Free School 0.6 mi Standards maintained Last distance published
- Skinners' Temple Grove 0.8 mi Some aspects not as strong Last distance published
- St John's Church of England Primary School 1.0 mi School remains Good Last distance published
- St Augustine's Catholic Primary School 1.1 mi No Ofsted grade Last distance published
- St Matthew's High Brooms Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School 1.3 mi Requires improvement Last distance published