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State secondary schools in Kent

104 schools · South East · 2024/25 Department for Education figures

Kent has 104 state secondaries, 98 of them with sixth forms, 32 grammar schools among them. 78.9% of families got their first choice last year, worse than most of England. Results run from 7.5% to 98.9% passing English and maths, a spread of 91 points, with a middle school at 35.2%, below England's 45.4%.

Of those Ofsted has graded, 10 rated Outstanding, 56 Good, 8 Requires improvement, 2 Inadequate. 28 schools carry no overall grade at all — either inspected since Ofsted stopped issuing one in September 2024, or never inspected.

Medway
104 schools in Kent. Tap one, or see the full list. Medway is a separate council, marked on the map.
8% 99% passed English & maths no figure

Kent against England

State-funded schools, 2024/25

47%

Passed English & maths grade 5 or above

1.6% above England

England 45%

46.7

Attainment 8 average score

in line with England

England 46.1

23%

Persistently absent missed 10% of sessions

1.4% above England

England 21%

Getting a place

2026/27 secondary admissions round, across Kent

78.9%

Got their first choiceof those who applied

England 84%

94.8%

Got one of their threefirst, second or third

<0.1%

Got no offer at allfrom any preference

30%

Appeals upheld593 of 1948 heard

These are figures for Kent as a whole. A popular school can be much harder to get into than the average suggests, and the criteria that decide it are set by each school's own admission authority rather than centrally. How applying works

How much the choice matters here

Across Kent's 100 schools, the share passing English and maths runs from 8% to 99%. That is a spread of 91 percentage points, wider than most councils.

The typical council spans about 48 points. Where schools are close together the school a child gets matters less; where they are far apart it matters a great deal. The widest spreads are all selective areas, where grammar schools sit at one end and everything else at the other.

Kent schools, subject by subject

The share reaching grade 4 or above, among schools entering at least 20 pupils. Which pupils take a subject differs a lot between schools, so read this as what happened rather than as a ranking of teaching.

mathsenglish literatureenglish languagegeographyhistorycombined scienceartbiologyfrenchspanishphysicschemistrycomputer sciencebusiness studiesreligious studiesphysical educationdesign technologydrama
  1. 1 Dover Grammar School for Girls Dover · 49 entries 100%
  2. 2 Simon Langton Girls' Grammar School Canterbury · 144 entries 100%
  3. 3 Wrotham School Sevenoaks · 20 entries 100%
  4. 4 Chatham & Clarendon Grammar School Ramsgate · 46 entries 100%
  5. 5 Gravesend Grammar School Gravesend · 122 entries 100%
  6. 6 Mayfield Grammar School, Gravesend Gravesend · 124 entries 100%
  7. 7 Tunbridge Wells Girls' Grammar School Tunbridge Wells · 125 entries 100%
  8. 8 The Harvey Grammar School Folkestone · 52 entries 100%
  9. 9 The Folkestone School for Girls Folkestone · 56 entries 100%
  10. 10 School of Science and Technology Maidstone Maidstone · 34 entries 100%
  11. 11 Invicta Grammar School Maidstone · 220 entries 100%
  12. 12 Oakwood Park Grammar School Maidstone · 121 entries 100%
  13. 13 Dartford Grammar School Dartford · 159 entries 100%
  14. 14 Highworth Grammar School Ashford · 146 entries 100%
  15. 15 Highsted Grammar School Sittingbourne · 53 entries 100%
  16. 16 Dartford Grammar School for Girls Dartford · 154 entries 100%
  17. 17 Dover Grammar School for Boys Dover · 48 entries 100%
  18. 18 Tonbridge Grammar School Tonbridge · 166 entries 100%
  19. 19 Dane Court Grammar School Broadstairs · 145 entries 99%
  20. 20 Cranbrook School Cranbrook · 123 entries 99%
  21. 21 Maidstone Grammar School Maidstone · 124 entries 99%
  22. 22 The Norton Knatchbull School Ashford · 121 entries 99%
  23. 23 Maidstone Grammar School for Girls Maidstone · 107 entries 99%
  24. 24 Wilmington Grammar School for Girls Dartford · 106 entries 99%
  25. 25 The Judd School Tonbridge · 189 entries 99%
  26. 26 Weald of Kent Grammar School Tonbridge · 253 entries 99%
  27. 27 Sir Roger Manwood's School Sandwich · 113 entries 98%
  28. 28 The Skinners' School Tunbridge Wells · 161 entries 98%
  29. 29 Westlands School Sittingbourne · 50 entries 98%
  30. 30 Trinity School Sevenoaks · 48 entries 98%
  31. 31 Simon Langton Grammar School for Boys Canterbury · 161 entries 97%
  32. 32 Wilmington Grammar School for Boys Dartford · 109 entries 96%
  33. 33 Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School Faversham · 135 entries 96%
  34. 34 St Gregory's Catholic School Tunbridge Wells · 44 entries 95%
  35. 35 Barton Court Grammar School Canterbury · 151 entries 93%
  36. 36 Leigh Academy Ebbsfleet Swanscombe · 26 entries 92%
  37. 37 Cornwallis Academy Maidstone · 37 entries 92%
  38. 38 Tunbridge Wells Grammar School for Boys Tunbridge Wells · 214 entries 91%
  39. 39 The Canterbury Academy Canterbury · 23 entries 87%
  40. 40 Towers School and Sixth Form Centre Ashford · 30 entries 87%
  41. 41 Bennett Memorial Diocesan School Tunbridge Wells · 273 entries 86%
  42. 42 Leigh Academy Longfield Longfield · 22 entries 86%
  43. 43 Knole Academy Sevenoaks · 28 entries 86%
  44. 44 Sandwich Technology School Sandwich · 40 entries 85%
  45. 45 The Abbey School Faversham · 36 entries 83%
  46. 46 Borden Grammar School Sittingbourne · 123 entries 83%
  47. 47 The Holmesdale School Snodland · 23 entries 83%
  48. 48 Dartford Science & Technology College Dartford · 42 entries 81%
  49. 49 Duke of York's Royal Military School Dover · 36 entries 81%
  50. 50 St Anselm's Catholic School, Canterbury Canterbury · 66 entries 80%
  51. 51 Sir Geoffrey Leigh Academy Dartford · 24 entries 79%
  52. 52 Homewood School and Sixth Form Centre Tenterden · 65 entries 74%
  53. 53 St Augustine Academy Maidstone · 30 entries 73%
  54. 54 The Sittingbourne School Sittingbourne · 73 entries 68%
  55. 55 Hillview School for Girls Tonbridge · 147 entries 65%
  56. 56 Goodwin Academy Deal · 51 entries 63%
  57. 57 Herne Bay High School Herne Bay · 107 entries 62%
  58. 58 Brockhill Park Performing Arts College Hythe · 61 entries 61%
  59. 59 Fulston Manor School Sittingbourne · 22 entries 59%
  60. 60 Leigh Academy Hugh Christie Tonbridge · 43 entries 56%
  61. 61 Hadlow Rural Community School Hadlow · 24 entries 54%
  62. 62 Leigh UTC Dartford Dartford · 104 entries 48%
  63. 63 Dover Christ Church Academy Dover · 53 entries 42%
  64. 64 St George's Church of England Foundation School Broadstairs · 209 entries 34%
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Every school in Kent

Medway sits inside Kent but runs its own admissions as a separate local authority, so its schools are not in this list.

11 of 102 have no spare places. Sort the list, or narrow it first.

Pick up to 4 schools to see them side by side in the comparison tool, subject by subject.

Sixth form · Key stage 5·2024/25

A levels in Kent

78 of Kent's 98 sixth forms publish A level results. Ranked on the share reaching AAB or better in at least two of the subjects universities name, which is the measure the steepest entry requirements are written in.

Sixth form Grade AAB+

A level results only. A sixth form running mostly BTECs and other applied courses will show a dash here and can still be the right one — those are graded on their own scale, where a distinction and an A grade carry the same points and mean different things.

Bordering Kent

Near a boundary, schools on both sides are usually in reach. Whether a child can apply is set by each school's admission criteria, not by the border.

Bexley 16 schools · 54% passed English & mathsBromley 19 schools · 54% passed English & mathsEast Sussex 26 schools · 42% passed English & mathsMedway 20 schools · 44% passed English & mathsSurrey 57 schools · 55% passed English & maths

What these mean

Attainment 8
The average pupil's total score across eight GCSE-equivalent subjects, with English and maths counting double. It is scored out of 90. A score of 50 is roughly equivalent to achieving a grade 5 across eight subjects.
Grades 4 and 5
GCSEs are graded from 9 down to 1. Grade 4 is a standard pass and broadly corresponds to the old grade C; grade 5 is what the government calls a strong pass. Grade 7 is broadly equivalent to an old grade A.
Persistent absence
The share of pupils who miss at least 10% of their possible sessions during the school year. This includes both authorised and unauthorised absence, so illness and other authorised reasons are included. Persistent absence has remained substantially higher than its pre-pandemic level.
First preference
The share of families who were offered the school they ranked first on their application, on national offer day in March. This figure is calculated across the relevant schools or admissions authority, so a high overall figure does not necessarily mean that every individual school is easy to get into.
Spare places
The amount of available capacity a school has compared with the number of pupils on roll. This is different from oversubscription: spare places measure whether a school has capacity, whereas oversubscription describes demand for places exceeding the number available. A school with no spare places may be popular, but a small school can also be full without receiving a large number of applications.
Average A-level grade
The average grade achieved across students' A-level entries. This is different from measures such as the proportion achieving AAB or better in two or more facilitating subjects, which are sometimes used to indicate higher attainment and university-entry performance.
Covers state-funded schools in England; independent schools are not included, and neither the list nor the subject figures above take account of them.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Key stage 4 performance and school characteristics: Department for Education, 2024/25. Inspection outcomes: Ofsted.