Kentmere Primary Academy, Rochdale
Kentmere Primary Academy is a primary school for pupils aged 3 to 11 in Rochdale, part of Watergrove Trust. It was rated Outstanding at its last graded Ofsted inspection, in January 2018. Ofsted's ungraded inspection in July 2024 did not change this grade. Its 2025 Key Stage 2 results were the 15th-highest of the 32 schools in Rochdale with published results, and 6,834th of 14,452 across England. For 2026 entry it had 1.8 first-choice applications for every place. It was 97% full in 2025.
- SATs results
- In line with England
- Ofsted
- Outstanding (2018)
- Demand
- 1.8 first choices per place
- Attendance
- Better than England average
Reception applications for September 2027 close in 81 days
Deadline Friday 15 January 2027. Apply to Rochdale (the council where you live). Offers on 16 April.
Data last updated 26 Oct 2026
Kentmere Primary Academy in detail
Results
In 2025, 76% of Year 6 pupils at Kentmere Primary Academy reached the expected standard in reading and 80% in maths. At the average state primary the figures were 74% and 73% in Rochdale and 77% and 75% across England.
Results rose from 70% in reading and 75% in maths in 2024.
Getting a place at Kentmere Primary Academy
For September 2026 entry, 79 families put Kentmere Primary Academy as their first choice and 129 named it as one of their preferences, for 45 places offered. That is 1.8 first choices for every place. 34 families who put it first were not offered a place there.
Admissions history and your chances at Kentmere Primary Academy
Compared with nearby schools
The nearest other state primary schools to Kentmere Primary Academy are Alice Ingham Roman Catholic Primary School, A Voluntary Academy (0.2 miles, Good, 65% reading, 65% maths); Hamer Community Primary School (0.2 miles, Good, 66% reading, 66% maths); All Saints Church of England Primary School (0.6 miles, Good, 83% reading, 69% maths); and St Patrick's Roman Catholic Primary School (0.7 miles, Good, 71% reading, 78% maths).
Kentmere Primary Academy's 2025 results were higher than all 4 of them.
Alice Ingham Roman Catholic Primary School, A Voluntary AcademyHamer Community Primary SchoolAll Saints Church of England Primary SchoolSt Patrick's Roman Catholic Primary School
The trust
Kentmere Primary Academy is one of 9 schools run by Watergrove Trust, an academy trust.
Across the trust's primary schools, 68% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths in 2024/25.
Who goes there
36.5% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, well above the average state school (25%), and 51.8% speak English as an additional language, against 18.8% on average, according to the 2026 school census.
The largest ethnic groups are Asian (70%), White British (16%) and Mixed (8%).
Staffing
Kentmere Primary Academy had 21 teachers in 2026, one for every 15 pupils: more teachers per pupil than a typical primary school, at about one for every 20.
Getting there
The nearest railway station is Smithy Bridge Rail Station, about 1 mile away in a straight line.
7 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is Smallbridge Library (opposite), 190 metres away.
The area around the school
Measured by the 2025 English Indices of Deprivation, the neighbourhood Kentmere Primary Academy stands in is among the 10% most deprived neighbourhoods in England. This describes where the school is, not where its pupils live.
Suspensions and exclusions
Kentmere Primary Academy recorded no suspensions or permanent exclusions in 2024/25.
Sources: DfE school performance data (averages: state mainstream schools); DfE school-level applications and offers; council admissions booklets; DfE appeals statistics; DfE multi-academy trust performance data; DfE school census and special educational needs statistics; DfE school workforce census; NaPTAN (Department for Transport); English Indices of Deprivation 2025 (MHCLG); data.police.uk street-level crime; DfE exclusions statistics
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
Ofsted · 2 years agoThis judgement is from January 2018, 8 years ago, longer than Ofsted's usual 4-year cycle: the school may have changed since.
Overall
Latest (ungraded) inspection: The school remains Outstanding.
Ofsted's report, in its own words
What is it like to attend this school?
Pupils thrive at this warm and welcoming school. They love coming to school early each day and they engage in learning from the outset. Pupils described their teachers and peers as 'kind' and 'caring'. They were unanimous in the view that they feel safe and happy in school.
The school is highly ambitious for each and every pupil, including pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Pupils readily rise to meet the incredibly high expectations that the school has for them. They are enthusiastic and motivated. Pupils achieve exceptionally well across the curriculum.
What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?
The school has an extremely ambitious and well-established curriculum. It strives to continuously renew and refine the curriculum to ensure that it is relevant and meets the changing needs of pupils. The school has meticulously identified the core knowledge that pupils need to know to be fully prepared for their next stages of education. This begins in the early years where children build secure foundations for their future learning. The vast majority of pupils achieve highly at each stage of their learning across the school.
Teachers have expert subject knowledge and they explain concepts with enthusiasm and clarity. They design learning activities that focus precisely on the knowledge that pupils need to learn. Teachers use assessment particularly well to swiftly address any gaps in knowledge that pupils may have. For example, teachers take advantage of opportunities to provide support for those pupils who need to further practise the knowledge and skills learned previously.
From Ofsted's July 2024 ungraded inspection report: the opening paragraphs of each section, quoted word for word. Read the full report Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Ofsted Insights
Ofsted rated this school Outstanding at its January 2018 inspection - up from Inadequate.
Rated Outstanding for
Leadership & management.
At a Glance
36.5%
Free School Meals
No
Boarding
Yes
Nursery
No
Sixth Form
No
Special Measures
Primary Performance (KS2)
Academic year 2024/25KS2 Results (% meeting expected standard)
Reading has improved from 70% to 76% (2024 to 2025). Maths has improved from 75% to 80% (2024 to 2025). Writing has improved from 75% to 82% (2024 to 2025).
Class Sizes
25.0
Avg class size
26.3
Infant (KS1)
29.8
KS2
10
Total classes
1 class with more than 30 pupils
2025/26 academic year
How Does This School Compare?
Ranked against 5 nearby primary schools
Keep up with Kentmere Primary Academy
Term dates
Kentmere Primary Academy is an academy, so it sets its own term dates: check the school's website. As a guide, see Rochdale's term dates for its community schools.
Getting There
Bus Stops
Free school transport
Check free transport to Kentmere Primary Academy from your postcode →
You apply to the council where you live. Kentmere Primary Academy is in Rochdale; for families living there:
- Rochdale's school travel policy: Home to School Transport Policy
- How to apply: Apply for school travel expenses
Safety and surroundings
Road collisions within 500 m (2021 to 2025)
- Collisions
- 22
- Fatal
- 0
- Serious
- 4
- Children hurt
- 3
Within 500 m of the school's mapped location, police recorded 22 road collisions in which someone was injured in 2021 to 2025: none fatal, 4 serious and 18 slight.
3 children aged 0 to 15 were hurt: 2 on foot and 1 in a vehicle or otherwise.
5 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 Rochdale is 10 (the median across 106 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
Your chances of a place at Kentmere Primary Academy
Will you get a place at Kentmere Primary Academy? Get the admissions report
Your home postcode, set against Kentmere Primary Academy's admissions figures, in one report saved to your account.
What the report includes for Kentmere Primary Academy:
- The straight-line distance from your home to Kentmere Primary Academy.
- We hold no last distance offered figures from Rochdale, so the report covers demand, alternatives and dates.
- Applications, first choices and offers at Kentmere Primary Academy for 2015 to 2026 entry.
- How many families in Rochdale 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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Capacity & Demand
School Occupancy
97%
Near capacity
306 pupils
315 places
9 spare places in 2025
2025, DfE school capacity data
Area Demand Pressure - Rochdale
Based on MHCLG Live Table 122 (2024-25, last 5 years) for Rochdale
Across Rochdale council
Places available
3,242
Applications
2,831
Got 1st preference
89.2%
Got preferred school
97.7%
All primary applications across Rochdale council (2026/27), not just this school.
This school: 1.8 first choices per place
Inspection History(2)
SEND & SEN Provision
SEN Overview
45
SEN Support
11
EHC Plans
15.9%
of Total Pupils
2026 academic year
Provision & Specialist Facilities
Pupils by Need Type
Pupil Demographics
Ethnicity
2026 academic year
Key Indicators
353
Total Pupils
164
Boys
189
Girls
2026 academic year
Workforce
21
Teachers
16.8:1
Pupil-teacher ratio
£51,188
Mean salary
2026 data
School Funding
£5,805
Per pupil
£2030k
Total funding
£148k
Pupil premium
2025-26 financial year allocations
Pupil Absence2024/25
4.2%
Overall absence
10.9%
Persistent absence
267
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
Kentmere Primary Academy
Questions parents ask about Kentmere Primary Academy
What are SATs results like at Kentmere Primary Academy?
Of the pupils at Kentmere Primary Academy who took the 2025 Key Stage 2 assessments, 76% reached the expected standard in reading and 80% did so in maths.
What is Kentmere Primary Academy's Ofsted rating?
Kentmere Primary Academy's most recent Ofsted inspection, in July 2024, was ungraded, so it gave no overall grade. At its last graded inspection, in January 2018, it was rated Outstanding.
What is the catchment area for Kentmere Primary Academy?
No fixed boundary. When Kentmere Primary Academy is oversubscribed, Rochdale allocates places by its published criteria, usually ending with home-to-school distance.
Is it hard to get a place at Kentmere Primary Academy?
Kentmere Primary Academy was close to full in 2025, at 97% of its capacity.
How big are the classes at Kentmere Primary Academy?
Classes at Kentmere Primary Academy average 25 pupils (2025/26). 1 class has more than 30 pupils - infant classes are capped at 30 by law, with limited exceptions.
How many pupils go to Kentmere Primary Academy?
Kentmere Primary Academy has around 353 pupils on roll. 37% are eligible for free school meals.
What is attendance like at Kentmere Primary Academy?
4.2% of sessions were missed at Kentmere Primary Academy in 2024/25. 10.9% of pupils were persistently absent (missing 10% or more of sessions).
How do I apply to Kentmere Primary Academy?
Apply through Rochdale's coordinated admissions process, naming Kentmere Primary Academy 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 Kentmere Primary Academy?
Within 500 m of the school's mapped location, police recorded 22 road collisions in which someone was injured in 2021 to 2025: none fatal, 4 serious and 18 slight. 3 children aged 0 to 15 were hurt: 2 on foot and 1 in a vehicle or otherwise. 5 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 Rochdale is 10 (the median across 106 schools, same distance and years).
Where is Kentmere Primary Academy?
Kentmere Primary Academy is at Kentmere Avenue, Smallbridge, Rochdale, Lancashire, OL12 9EE.
Source: Department for Transport, Road Safety Data (STATS19)