Joy Lane Primary Foundation School
Primary · Foundation school · Ages 1–11 · Whitstable, Kent
Last distance offered · Reception 2026
3.661 miles
Published by Kent County Council · offers on 16 April 2026
2023–2025 trend 🔒
Nearby schools' earlier years 🔒
Joy Lane Primary Foundation School is a primary school in Whitstable, Kent for ages 1–11 (foundation school). Its latest Ofsted outcome is School remains Good, from the inspection on 24 April 2024. Kent has published a last distance offered for this school for Reception 2023 to 2026 entry.
Joy Lane Primary Foundation 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 | 3.661 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
- In 2026, the last child offered a Reception place lived 3.661 miles away, the 133rd longest of 434 Kent primary schools with a published last distance.
- The 2026 Reception last distance was the shortest of the 3 years with a published distance, and it stayed close to the year before in every year.
- Reception 2026 drew 85 first-choice applications for 89 offers; 83 offers went to first-choice families, so 2 first-choice families were not offered a place.
- In 2024/25, 58% of pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (England 62%), and 8% reached the higher standard (England 8%).
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
- Joy Lane, Whitstable, CT5 4LT
- Type
- Foundation school
- Phase
- Primary
- Ages
- 1–11
- Council
- Kent
- Pupils on roll
- 621 January 2026 school census
- Free school meals
- 22.7% of pupils eligible
- Pupils per teacher
- 19.4
Official record: Get Information about Schools · as at 15 September 2026
Ofsted
School remains Good Inspected 24 April 2024
Strengths
- “Pupils in this joyful school are compassionate, enthusiastic and respectful.”
- “Leaders’ ambitions for Joy Lane to be highly inclusive are fulfilled daily.”
- “Behaviour is impeccable, because this school expects the best of everyone.”
To improve
- “In 2023, pupils’ attainment in mathematics was lower than the national average at the end of key stage 2, so the school is prioritising improvements to boost achievement.”
- “However, this success was not reflected in the most recent national tests at the end of Year 6.”
Safeguarding: Effective
Quoted from the Ofsted report published 11 June 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) | 58% | 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: 85 first-preference applications, 89 offers in total, 83 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.
- Whitstable Junior School 0.6 mi Standards maintained
- St Alphege Church of England Infant School 0.6 mi Good Last distance published
- Whitstable and Seasalter Endowed Church of England Junior School 0.7 mi School remains Outstanding
- Westmeads Community Infant School 0.9 mi Not judged Last distance published
- St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Whitstable 1.3 mi School remains Good Last distance published
- Swalecliffe Community Primary School 2.0 mi School remains Good Last distance published
- Hernhill Church of England Primary School 3.3 mi School remains Outstanding Last distance published
- Graveney Primary School 3.7 mi School remains Good Last distance published