For families
The main grammar, secondary, independent and primary schools for a family moving to Rochester, plus 26 nurseries and pre-schools, with the latest inspection, contact details, open days still to come and the dates that matter this year.
For children applying for Year 7 in September 2027.
Up to six preferences on the Medway Parent Portal. Rochester Grammar, Rainham Mark and St John Fisher also need a supplementary form.
Reception (born 1 Sep 2022 to 31 Aug 2023) and Year 3 junior transfer.
Accept or decline by Friday 12 March 2027.
Accept or decline by Friday 30 April 2027.
School holidays are Medway Council's dates for 2026 to 2027, which most Medway schools follow; academies and church schools can differ, so check with the school. The summer holiday runs until the new school year starts on Monday 6 September 2027.
Medway is fully selective. Children register for the Medway Test in the summer term of Year 5 and sit it in September of Year 6, then families apply for up to six schools by 31 October. Apply for a grammar school and a strong non-selective school together. On inspections: Ofsted stopped giving single overall grades in September 2024, and since November 2025 its report cards grade each area on a five-point scale from Exceptional to Urgent improvement. Each school below shows its latest result and date.
Girls 11 to 16, mixed sixth form · Maidstone Road, Rochester ME1 3BY
205 Year 7 places. Supplementary form needed.
Open days and tours coming up
Boys 11 to 18 · Maidstone Road, Rochester ME1 3EL
203 Year 7 places.
Open days and tours coming up
Mixed Year 7 from 2026; older years boys; mixed sixth form · Holcombe, Maidstone Road, Chatham ME4 6JB
180 Year 7 places. Formerly Chatham Grammar School for Boys.
Open days and tours coming up
Mixed Year 7 from 2026; older years girls · Rainham Road, Chatham ME5 7EH
150 Year 7 places. Formerly Chatham Grammar School for Girls.
Mixed Year 7 from 2026; older years girls · Fort Pitt Hill, Chatham ME4 6TJ
150 Year 7 places.
Open days and tours coming up
Mixed 11 to 18 · Pump Lane, Rainham ME8 7AJ
235 Year 7 places. Supplementary form needed. About 20 minutes from Rochester.
Open days and tours coming up
Mixed 11 to 18 · Arethusa Road, Rochester ME1 2UW
190 Year 7 places.
Open days and tours coming up
Mixed 11 to 18 · City Way, Rochester ME1 2FA
180 Year 7 places. Supplementary form and faith evidence needed.
Open days and tours coming up
Mixed 11 to 19 · Carnation Road, Strood ME2 2SX
240 Year 7 places. Renamed from Strood Academy in September 2025.
Open days and tours coming up
Mixed 4 to 19 · Main Road, Hoo ME3 9HH
270 Year 7 places. About 15 minutes from Strood.
Open days and tours coming up
Mixed 11 to 18 · Chalk Lane, Strood ME2 4YG
180 Year 7 places.
Mixed 14 to 19, entry at Year 9 and Year 12 · South Side Three Road, Chatham ME4 4FQ
Construction and engineering specialisms. 80 places at Year 9.
Mixed 2 to 18, boarding from 11 · Satis House, Boley Hill, Rochester ME1 1TE
Admissions 01634 888590.
Open days and tours coming up
11 to 21, day and boarding · 254 St Margaret's Banks, Rochester ME1 1HY
Admissions: admissions@rochester-college.org.uk.
Open days and tours coming up
Mixed 2 to 11, nursery from age 2 · 24-28 Watts Avenue, Rochester ME1 1SA
Founded in 1951, in three Victorian townhouses in the centre of Rochester. Fees from September 2026 are £4,762 a term for Reception to Year 2, rising to £5,035 for Years 5 and 6, including VAT and lunch. Admissions: admissions@st-andrews.rochester.sch.uk. Nursery and Pre-Reception at the Pre-School, 81 St Margaret's Street, 01634 843393.
Open days and tours coming up
Mixed 3 to 11 · King Street, Rochester ME1 1YF
30 Reception places. Supplementary form needed. City centre.
Open days and tours coming up
Mixed 3 to 11 · Warwick Crescent, Borstal ME1 3LF
30 Reception places, oversubscribed. Last place offered in 2026 at about 440 metres. Supplementary form needed.
Open days and tours coming up
Mixed 3 to 11 · Gas House Road, Rochester ME1 1US
60 Reception places. Supplementary form needed. On the Rochester Riverside development.
Open days and tours coming up
Mixed 4 to 7 · Holcombe Road, Rochester ME1 2HU
30 Reception places.
Open days and tours coming up
Mixed 4 to 7 · Pattens Lane, Rochester ME1 2QT
90 Reception places.
Mixed 7 to 11 · Balfour Road, Chatham ME4 6QX
120 Year 3 places. The junior school for Balfour Infant.
Open days and tours coming up
Mixed 7 to 11 · The Tideway, Rochester ME1 2NJ
90 Year 3 places.
Open days and tours coming up
Mixed 3 to 11 · Arethusa Road, Rochester ME1 2UR
60 Reception places.
Open days and tours coming up
Mixed 4 to 11 · Canon Close, Maidstone Road, Rochester ME1 3EN
30 Reception places, oversubscribed. Last place offered in 2026 at about 90 metres. Supplementary form needed.
Open days and tours coming up
Mixed 3 to 11 · Elaine Avenue, Strood ME2 2YN
45 Reception places.
Mixed 4 to 11 · Gordon Road, Strood ME2 3HQ
60 Reception and 60 Year 3 places.
Mixed 4 to 11 · London Road, Strood ME2 3HU
30 Reception places. Supplementary form needed. Now a full primary.
Mixed 3 to 11 · Hilltop Road, Frindsbury ME2 4QN
60 Reception places.
Open days and tours coming up
Mixed 3 to 11 · Cliffe Road, Strood ME2 3NL
30 Reception places.
Open days and tours coming up
Mixed 3 to 11 · Wainscott Road, Wainscott ME2 4JX
60 Reception places.
Mixed 3 to 19 · Rede Court Road, Strood ME2 3SP
Severe and profound learning difficulties. Places need an Education, Health and Care Plan.
Day nurseries, pre-schools and school nursery classes in Rochester and just across the bridge in Strood. Every 3 and 4 year old in England can get 15 funded hours a week over 38 weeks of the year, from the term after their third birthday, and since September 2025 working parents can get 30 funded hours a week from when their child is 9 months old. Ask each setting which funded places it has free. Childminders are not listed.
2 to 4 years · Monday to Friday, 7.30am to 6.30pm
Rock Church Ministries, 336-338 High Street, Rochester ME1 1BT
On the High Street, run by The Word House Christian Ministries, with a mud kitchen where children cut and grate real fruit and vegetables.
3 months to 5 years · Monday to Friday, 7.30am to 6.30pm, all year
The Annexe, Fort Pitt House, New Road, Rochester ME1 1DX
One of the Hedgehogs group of nurseries, in the annexe of Fort Pitt House on New Road.
From 2 years · 7.30am to 6.30pm, 50 weeks a year
King's Rochester, Boley Hill, Rochester ME1 1TE
In the grounds of King's Rochester, two minutes from Rochester station, with outdoor learning in the school's own woodland. Takes part in the free early years entitlement.
2 to 4 years: Nursery from 2, Pre-Reception from 3 · Full day 8.30am to 3.30pm, with wraparound care and paid holiday care
81 St Margaret's Street, Rochester ME1 3BJ
On its own site a short walk from the main school, with weekly French, music and Forest School sessions for the older group. 15 funded hours for Pre-Reception and a limited number of funded Nursery places.
From 3 years
King Street, Rochester ME1 1YF
The nursery class at the Church of England primary. Early years children make regular visits to the school's mini forest, and phonics begins in the nursery year.
From the term after a child turns 3 · Monday to Friday, 8.45am to 3.15pm, term time, with no breakfast or after school club for nursery
Rochester Riverside CofE Primary, Gas House Road, Rochester ME1 1US
A 26 place nursery at the Church of England primary on Rochester Riverside, with three intakes a year, in September, January and April.
Birth to 5 years · Monday to Friday, 7.30am to 6pm, all year
18 City Way, Rochester ME1 2AB
Rated Outstanding in every area in January 2025, with 21 of its 26 staff holding early years qualifications.
2 to 4 years · Term time: 9.15am to 1pm Monday to Friday, and until 3pm on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday
Wesley Hall, St Luke's Methodist Church, City Way, Rochester ME1 2BQ
Registered in 1966, in two rooms of the church hall at St Luke's Methodist Church.
3 months to 5 years · Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm, all year except bank holidays
206C Maidstone Road, Rochester ME1 3EJ
Part of Family First Nurseries, next to Sir Joseph Williamson's Mathematical School, with meals cooked on site every day.
Call for ages, sessions and places
Albert Road, Rochester ME1 3DG
Registered with Ofsted in December 2023 as full day care. Call for ages, sessions and places.
2 to 4 years · Term time, Monday to Friday, 9.15am to 2.15pm
13-14 Mercury Close, Borstal, Rochester ME1 3AT
Run by the Action for Borstal Community Project, and all five staff hold level 3 or higher early years qualifications.
Call for ages, sessions and places
Christ Apostolic Church, 128 Borstal Street, Rochester ME1 3JS
A day nursery at Christ Apostolic Church on Borstal Street. Call for ages, hours and places.
From 3 years
Warwick Crescent, Borstal, Rochester ME1 3LF
The nursery at the Church of England primary in Borstal, graded Outstanding in every area, early years included, in January 2025.
2 to 4 years · Term time, 8am to 4pm: the funded day is 9am to 2pm, with breakfast, lunch and after school clubs around it
64 Windward Road, Rochester ME1 2NB
Family run since 1996, and offers the 15 and 30 funded hours.
2 to 4 years · 7.30am to 6pm, 50 weeks of the year
Crest Infant School, Fleet Road, Rochester ME1 2QA
A nursery on the Crest Infant School site.
2 to 4 years · Term time: 9am to 12pm Monday, Wednesday and Friday; 9am to 3pm Tuesday and Thursday
The Scout Hut, Beresford Avenue, Rochester ME1 2QX
A charity pre-school, in the Scout Hut on Beresford Avenue since 1992.
Birth to 5 years · Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm, all year except bank holidays
Arethusa Road, Rochester ME1 2UR
Part of Family First Nurseries, with three gardens of its own and shared use of the primary school field and wooded trail next door.
From 3 years
Arethusa Road, Rochester ME1 2UR
The nursery class at Warren Wood Primary. Ofsted noted that nursery children join in songs and rhymes enthusiastically as the start of early reading.
2 to 5 years · Monday to Friday, 7.30am to 6.30pm, all year
The Parish Room, English Martyrs Church, 37 Frindsbury Road, Strood ME2 4JA
In the parish room of English Martyrs Church on Frindsbury Road.
3 months to 5 years · Weekdays, 7.30am to 6pm, 51 weeks a year
Whitewall Road, Medway City Estate, Rochester ME2 4DZ
Freshly cooked meals are a big part of its curriculum, and it runs a holiday club too.
Birth to 5 years · Monday to Friday, 7.30am to 6.30pm, 50 weeks a year
130 Brompton Lane, Strood ME2 3BA
Part of the Witty Kiddies group of nurseries, in Strood since 2021.
3 months to 5 years · Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm, 51 weeks a year
Nuffield Health, Medway Valley Leisure Park, Chariot Way, Strood ME2 2SS
Run by Nuffield Health at its Medway fitness centre, with separate baby, toddler and preschool areas.
3 months to 5 years · Monday to Friday, 7am to 6.50pm, all year
5 Castle View Road, Strood ME2 3PP
A Montessori nursery with a quiet sensory room that children can use when they feel overwhelmed.
Birth to 5 years · Monday to Friday, 7am to 7pm, all year
1 Castle View Road, Strood ME2 3PP
Registered since 1996 and rated Outstanding in every area in April 2022.
Birth to 5 years · Weekdays, 7.45am to 5.30pm, 48 weeks a year
Siri Guru Ravidass Temple, Vicarage Road, Strood ME2 4DG
On the ground floor of the Siri Guru Ravidass Temple, with before and after school care and a holiday play scheme as well.
9 months to 3 years
All Faiths Children's Academy, Gun Lane, Strood ME2 4UF
A purpose built nursery for babies and toddlers, opened in 2026 as the first Little Thinkers setting in Kent.
Checked on 13 October 2026 against Ofsted's inspection reports, the Department for Education's Get Information about Schools register and each setting's own website. Where Ofsted has published a new style report card we could not open, the last full grade is shown with the date of the newer inspection; use the inspection report link for the latest. Hours and places change, so call before you visit.
01634 333 333 · admissions@medway.gov.uk · Mon to Fri 9am to 5pm
casualadmissions@medway.gov.uk. Apply to each school separately, up to six weeks before the move.
Checked on 10 October 2026 against Ofsted, the Department for Education's Get Information about Schools register, Medway Council's school directory and each school's own website. Places and last distances offered are Medway Council figures for September 2026 entry. Open days marked as a Medway Council listing were not yet on the school's own site, so confirm with the school before you go.