Downs View Infant School, Ashford
Downs View Infant School is a primary school for pupils aged 4 to 7 in Ashford, part of The Diocese of Canterbury Academies Trust.
Reception applications for September 2027 close in 80 days
Deadline Friday 15 January 2027. Apply to Kent (the council where you live). Offers on 16 April.
Data last updated 27 Oct 2026
Downs View Infant School in detail
Getting a place at Downs View Infant School
Across Kent, 90% of families were offered their first-choice primary school for 2026 entry, and 98% were offered one of the schools they named.
In 2026, families in Kent lodged 237 appeals against primary school offers; 166 reached a hearing and 18 succeeded (10.8% of those heard).
Compared with nearby schools
The nearest other state primary schools to Downs View Infant School are Downs View Infant School (under 0.1 miles, Good); Kennington Church of England Academy (under 0.1 miles, Good, 76% reading, 74% maths); Phoenix Community Primary School (0.5 miles, Good, 59% reading, 52% maths); and Goat Lees Primary School (0.7 miles, Good, 47% reading, 57% maths).
Downs View Infant SchoolKennington Church of England AcademyPhoenix Community Primary SchoolGoat Lees Primary School
The trust
Downs View Infant School is one of 18 schools run by The Diocese of Canterbury Academies Trust, an academy trust.
Across the trust's primary schools, 60% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths in 2024/25.
Getting there
The nearest railway station is Ashford International Rail Station, about 1.9 miles away in a straight line.
8 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is Upper Vicarage Road Post Office (adjacent), 200 metres away.
The area around the school
Measured by the 2025 English Indices of Deprivation, the neighbourhood Downs View Infant School stands in is among the 20% least deprived neighbourhoods in England. This describes where the school is, not where its pupils live.
Secondary schools nearby
The secondary schools closest to Downs View Infant School are Towers School and Sixth Form Centre (0.3 miles), Highworth Grammar School (1.6 miles), The Norton Knatchbull School (1.7 miles) and The North School (1.8 miles).
Towers School and Sixth Form CentreHighworth Grammar SchoolThe Norton Knatchbull SchoolThe North School
Sources: DfE school-level applications and offers; council admissions booklets; DfE appeals statistics; DfE multi-academy trust performance data; NaPTAN (Department for Transport); English Indices of Deprivation 2025 (MHCLG); data.police.uk street-level crime
Location
Our estimate from how close the nearest similar schools are and how oversubscribed the council's schools are. It is not a published boundary.
Key Information
DfE GIASOfsted Rating
Downs View Infant School has not been inspected by Ofsted since it became an academy in September 2026. Before that, as Downs View Infant School (URN 118523), it was rated Good in October 2023. See Downs View Infant School's inspections
At a Glance
No
Boarding
No
Nursery
No
Sixth Form
No
Special Measures
How Does This School Compare?
Ranked against 5 nearby primary schools
Keep up with Downs View Infant School
Getting There
Bus Stops
Free school transport
Check free transport to Downs View Infant School from your postcode →
You apply to the council where you live. Downs View Infant School is in Kent; for families living there:
Apply to Kent for free school transport. Its policy is on the council's website.
Safety and surroundings
Road collisions within 500 m (2021 to 2025)
- Collisions
- 6
- Fatal
- 0
- Serious
- 3
- Children hurt
- 2
Within 500 m of the school's mapped location, police recorded 6 road collisions in which someone was injured in 2021 to 2025: none fatal, 3 serious and 3 slight.
2 children aged 0 to 15 were hurt: 2 on foot.
1 of the collisions happened on a weekday between 08:00 and 09:30 or 14:45 and 16:30, holidays included.
The typical figure for schools in Kent is 11 (the median across 711 schools, same distance and years).
Serious and slight counts use the Department for Transport's severity adjustment, which allows for changes in how police forces record injuries; they are estimates, rounded to whole numbers. Distances are in a straight line. Source: Department for Transport, Road Safety Data (STATS19), Open Government Licence v3.0.
Commute and house prices
Will you get a place at Downs View Infant School? Get the admissions report
Your home postcode, set against Downs View Infant School's admissions figures, in one report saved to your account.
What the report includes for Downs View Infant School:
- The straight-line distance from your home to Downs View Infant School.
- We hold no last distance offered figures from Kent, so the report covers demand, alternatives and dates.
- How many families in Kent got their first choice, and how often appeals there succeed.
- The nearest state schools to your home, with Ofsted rating, demand and last distance offered where published.
- Key dates for September 2027 entry and how to apply.
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Applications and offers at Downs View Infant School before it became an academy in 2026
Published under the school's previous registration (URN 118523). There are no figures for it in its current form yet, so these are shown separately.
| Entry year | Places offered | First choices | Named at all | First choices per place | First choices not offered |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 54 | 48 | 104 | 0.9 | 0 |
| 2025 | 57 | 54 | 113 | 0.9 | 0 |
| 2024 | 68 | 63 | 132 | 0.9 | 0 |
| 2023 | 58 | 56 | 112 | 1.0 | 0 |
| 2022 | 87 | 76 | 131 | 0.9 | 0 |
| 2021 | 71 | 67 | 133 | 0.9 | 0 |
| 2020 | 90 | 94 | 152 | 1.0 | 9 |
| 2019 | 83 | 54 | 125 | 0.7 | 0 |
| 2018 | 76 | 56 | 130 | 0.7 | 0 |
| 2017 | 76 | 67 | 123 | 0.9 | 0 |
| 2016 | 90 | 90 | 170 | 1.0 | 7 |
| 2015 | 89 | 73 | 160 | 0.8 | 0 |
| 2014 | 70 | 53 | 139 | 0.8 | 0 |
Source: DfE, Primary and secondary school applications and offers (school-level file). "Places offered" is the number of offers made on national offer day, which can differ from the school's published admission number.
Capacity & Demand
Area Demand Pressure - Ashford
Based on MHCLG Live Table 122 (2024-25, last 5 years) for Ashford
Across Kent council
Places available
18,893
Applications
16,593
Got 1st preference
89.7%
Got preferred school
98.2%
All primary applications across Kent council (2026/27), not just this school.
Absence at Downs View Infant School before it became an academy in 20262024/25
Published under the school's previous registration (URN 118523). There are no figures for it in its current form yet, so these are shown separately.
6.8%
Overall absence
19.3%
Persistent absence
161
Enrolments
Absence trend
Source: DfE pupil absence statistics. Persistent absence = pupils missing 10%+ sessions.
Secondary Schools Nearby
Secondary schools pupils are likely to move to
Questions parents ask about Downs View Infant School
What is Downs View Infant School's Ofsted rating?
Downs View Infant School has not been inspected by Ofsted since it became an academy in September 2026. Before that, as Downs View Infant School (URN 118523), it was rated Good in October 2023.
What is the catchment area for Downs View Infant School?
No fixed boundary. When Downs View Infant School is oversubscribed, Kent allocates places by its published criteria, usually ending with home-to-school distance.
How do I apply to Downs View Infant School?
Apply through Kent's coordinated admissions process, naming Downs View Infant School on your application. Applications for Reception places starting in September 2027 close on Friday 15 January 2027, and offers are made on Friday 16 April 2027.
How many road collisions happen near Downs View Infant School?
Within 500 m of the school's mapped location, police recorded 6 road collisions in which someone was injured in 2021 to 2025: none fatal, 3 serious and 3 slight. 2 children aged 0 to 15 were hurt: 2 on foot. 1 of the collisions happened on a weekday between 08:00 and 09:30 or 14:45 and 16:30, holidays included. The typical figure for schools in Kent is 11 (the median across 711 schools, same distance and years).
Where is Downs View Infant School?
Downs View Infant School is at Ball Lane, Kennington, Ashford, Kent, TN25 4PJ.
Source: Department for Transport, Road Safety Data (STATS19)