Adisham CofE Primary was graded Exceptional for inclusion, the district's only top mark. Five Canterbury schools now have report cards: every area graded.
Adisham Church of England Primary School has been graded Exceptional for inclusion, Ofsted’s top mark and the only one awarded to a Canterbury district school this year. The inspectorate said the school “is known locally and nationally for the positive impact it has on its most vulnerable pupils” (inspection report, 25 November 2025).
It is one of five district schools whose reports have now been published under Ofsted’s new report cards. The others are The Canterbury Academy, Hoath Primary School, Herne Church of England Infant and Nursery School and The Orchard School in Canterbury.
The change matters if you are choosing a school. The single word at the top of the report has gone. There is no “Outstanding” or “Good” any more. Each school is graded separately across up to seven areas, and safeguarding is reported on its own as met or not met. Safeguarding standards were met at all five.
What the five grades mean
Ofsted prints the scale in every report. In its own words:
- Exceptional: “Practice is exceptional: of the highest standard nationally. Other schools can learn from it.”
- Strong standard: “The school reaches a strong standard. Leaders are working above the standard expected of them.”
- Expected standard: “The school is fulfilling the expected standard of education and/or care.”
- Needs attention: “The expected standards are not met but leaders are likely able to make the necessary improvements.”
- Urgent improvement: “The school needs to make urgent improvements to provide the expected standard of education and/or care.”
The middle grade is the one people misread. Expected standard is the benchmark a school is required to meet, not a near miss. A card full of “expected standard” describes a school doing what it is supposed to do.
Adisham: Exceptional for inclusion
Adisham has 101 pupils and is part of the Stour Academy Trust. It was graded at the strong standard in all six of its other areas: achievement, curriculum and teaching, attendance and behaviour, personal development and wellbeing, leadership and governance, and early years.
On the Exceptional grade for inclusion, inspectors wrote that staff “are experts in designing strategies and resources to help pupils overcome the obstacles they may face”, covering disadvantaged pupils, those with special educational needs and disabilities, and children known to children’s social care. They also noted that pupils are taught to recognise when they need adaptations and to use the resources and technology that help them, which the report says prepares them well for their next school.
The report was published on 28 January 2026 (Ofsted, URN 141308).
The Canterbury Academy: strong on inclusion and post-16
The district’s largest school in this group, with 1,984 pupils aged 11 to 19, was graded at the strong standard in three areas and the expected standard in four.
- Strong standard: inclusion, personal development and wellbeing, post-16 provision.
- Expected standard: achievement, curriculum and teaching, attendance and behaviour, leadership and governance.
Inspectors singled out the school’s approach to pupils with additional needs. “Leaders believe that if they get it right for pupils with barriers to their learning, they will get it right for all pupils. They make this vision a reality.” The report calls that “both important and impressive” given the large proportion of pupils with additional needs, including those in the school’s three specially resourced provisions for pupils with SEND.
Published 2 March 2026, from an inspection on 6 January (Ofsted, URN 136302).
Hoath Primary: behaviour “a strength”
Hoath, a 106-pupil village school between Sturry and Herne, took the strong standard in four areas and the expected standard in three.
- Strong standard: attendance and behaviour, inclusion, leadership and governance, personal development and wellbeing.
- Expected standard: achievement, curriculum and teaching, early years.
“Behaviour in and around the school is a strength,” inspectors wrote. “In classrooms, pupils listen to each other and work cooperatively. At social times, they play together happily.” Attendance is in line with the national average, and the report says leaders work with families on the reasons for absence “without lowering their expectations”.
Published 30 March 2026 (Ofsted, URN 118361).
Herne CofE Infant and Nursery: strong curriculum
Herne, with 318 pupils aged 3 to 7, was graded at the strong standard for curriculum and teaching, inclusion, and personal development and wellbeing, and at the expected standard for achievement, attendance and behaviour, early years and leadership and governance.
Inspectors described an “ambitious and coherently sequenced” curriculum from Nursery to the end of Year 2, with staff placing “a relentless focus” on the foundational knowledge pupils need for key stage 2. Staff were said to have “expert subject knowledge about the way young children learn”.
This is the most recent of the five, inspected on 6 May and published on 23 June 2026 (Ofsted, URN 118710).
The Orchard School: five areas need attention
The Orchard School, a special school on Cambridge Road for 119 pupils aged 7 to 16, was graded “needs attention” in five of its six areas: achievement, curriculum and teaching, attendance and behaviour, inclusion, and leadership and governance. Personal development and wellbeing was at the expected standard, and safeguarding standards were met.
Inspectors found that “too many pupils do not achieve as well as they should” and that many arrive with significant gaps in foundational knowledge, though they noted pupils typically develop the phonics knowledge they need to read. Attendance has declined, which the report links partly to the school’s changing intake and to the appropriate use of part-time timetables for pupils with the most complex needs. On behaviour, it says many classes are calm but staff “do not always apply expectations for behaviour consistently enough”.
The report also records that “new leaders have stabilised the school and begun to overhaul school systems”, and that pupils “build trusting relationships with staff”, which “helps them to feel happy and safe in school”. The school publishes the full set of grades on its own website, noting that under the current framework “schools are evaluated across a range of areas rather than receiving a single overall grade”.
Under Ofsted’s own definition, “needs attention” means the expected standards are not met “but leaders are likely able to make the necessary improvements”. The inspection was on 3 February and the report was published on 27 April 2026 (Ofsted, URN 119058).
What it means for you
If you are comparing schools this autumn, three things are worth knowing.
- You cannot compare a new card with an old grade. A school still showing “Good” has simply not been inspected since the change. It is not a better or worse result than a card full of “expected standard”.
- Read the areas, not an average. The Canterbury Academy is at the expected standard for achievement and the strong standard for inclusion. Which of those matters more depends entirely on your child.
- Safeguarding is separate. It is reported only as met or not met, and it was met at all five of these schools.
Most district schools do not yet have a new-style report. Wickhambreaux Church of England Primary School, for instance, appears in Ofsted’s recent listings only because it converted to an academy on 5 June 2026, not because it was inspected.
If you are working out catchments and travel, our guides to Canterbury council tax bands and parking in Canterbury cover the practical side of moving within the district.
Sources
- Adisham Church of England Primary School, Ofsted URN 141308, inspection 25 November 2025, published 28 January 2026.
- The Canterbury Academy, Ofsted URN 136302, inspection 6 January 2026, published 2 March 2026.
- Hoath Primary School, Ofsted URN 118361, inspection 27 January 2026, published 30 March 2026.
- The Orchard School, Ofsted URN 119058, inspection 3 February 2026, published 27 April 2026, and the school’s own Ofsted page.
- Herne Church of England Infant and Nursery School, Ofsted URN 118710, inspection 6 May 2026, published 23 June 2026.
- Pupil numbers and age ranges are Ofsted’s published figures for each school.
Compiled from Ofsted’s report finder, searched within 10 miles of Canterbury on 18 August 2026, and filtered to schools inside the Canterbury district. Grade definitions are quoted from the reports themselves.
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