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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 Dartford Grammar School Dartford · 20 entries 100%
  2. 2 Cranbrook School Cranbrook · 25 entries 100%
  3. 3 Maidstone Grammar School Maidstone · 88 entries 99%
  4. 4 Highworth Grammar School Ashford · 68 entries 99%
  5. 5 Chatham & Clarendon Grammar School Ramsgate · 143 entries 98%
  6. 6 Simon Langton Girls' Grammar School Canterbury · 31 entries 97%
  7. 7 Invicta Grammar School Maidstone · 29 entries 97%
  8. 8 Gravesend Grammar School Gravesend · 99 entries 96%
  9. 9 The Norton Knatchbull School Ashford · 87 entries 95%
  10. 10 Weald of Kent Grammar School Tonbridge · 36 entries 94%
  11. 11 Dover Grammar School for Boys Dover · 66 entries 94%
  12. 12 Dover Grammar School for Girls Dover · 82 entries 94%
  13. 13 Dane Court Grammar School Broadstairs · 47 entries 94%
  14. 14 Highsted Grammar School Sittingbourne · 89 entries 93%
  15. 15 Wilmington Grammar School for Boys Dartford · 71 entries 93%
  16. 16 The Harvey Grammar School Folkestone · 93 entries 92%
  17. 17 Mayfield Grammar School, Gravesend Gravesend · 77 entries 92%
  18. 18 Maidstone Grammar School for Girls Maidstone · 64 entries 92%
  19. 19 Wilmington Grammar School for Girls Dartford · 70 entries 91%
  20. 20 Sir Roger Manwood's School Sandwich · 45 entries 91%
  21. 21 The Folkestone School for Girls Folkestone · 101 entries 91%
  22. 22 Oakwood Park Grammar School Maidstone · 36 entries 89%
  23. 23 Duke of York's Royal Military School Dover · 44 entries 89%
  24. 24 Dartford Grammar School for Girls Dartford · 22 entries 86%
  25. 25 School of Science and Technology Maidstone Maidstone · 154 entries 74%
  26. 26 Wye School Wye · 78 entries 72%
  27. 27 St Simon Stock Catholic School Maidstone · 170 entries 71%
  28. 28 Knole Academy Sevenoaks · 195 entries 67%
  29. 29 Leigh Academy Hugh Christie Tonbridge · 90 entries 61%
  30. 30 The North School Ashford · 218 entries 61%
  31. 31 Leigh Academy Wilmington Wilmington · 210 entries 61%
  32. 32 Dartford Science & Technology College Dartford · 102 entries 60%
  33. 33 St Gregory's Catholic School Tunbridge Wells · 149 entries 60%
  34. 34 St John's Catholic Comprehensive Gravesend · 172 entries 59%
  35. 35 The Maplesden Noakes School Maidstone · 184 entries 58%
  36. 36 The Malling School West Malling · 150 entries 58%
  37. 37 The Holmesdale School Snodland · 55 entries 56%
  38. 38 Meopham School Gravesend · 159 entries 55%
  39. 39 Trinity School Sevenoaks · 125 entries 55%
  40. 40 The Whitstable School Whitstable · 209 entries 55%
  41. 41 The Marsh Academy New Romney · 162 entries 54%
  42. 42 The Charles Dickens School Broadstairs · 190 entries 53%
  43. 43 Orion Spires Canterbury · 120 entries 53%
  44. 44 Northfleet School for Girls Gravesend · 204 entries 52%
  45. 45 Leigh Academy Ebbsfleet Swanscombe · 106 entries 51%
  46. 46 Skinners' Kent Academy Tunbridge Wells · 151 entries 50%
  47. 47 Turner Free School Folkestone · 158 entries 50%
  48. 48 Leigh Academy Longfield Longfield · 130 entries 49%
  49. 49 Saint George's Church of England School Gravesend · 185 entries 49%
  50. 50 Towers School and Sixth Form Centre Ashford · 234 entries 48%
  51. 51 Westlands School Sittingbourne · 258 entries 47%
  52. 52 Wrotham School Sevenoaks · 125 entries 47%
  53. 53 Stone Lodge School Dartford · 122 entries 47%
  54. 54 Homewood School and Sixth Form Centre Tenterden · 286 entries 47%
  55. 55 Leigh Academy Tonbridge Tonbridge · 52 entries 46%
  56. 56 Sir Geoffrey Leigh Academy Dartford · 191 entries 46%
  57. 57 Northfleet Technology College Gravesend · 131 entries 46%
  58. 58 Aylesford School Aylesford · 158 entries 46%
  59. 59 Orchards Academy Swanley · 71 entries 45%
  60. 60 St Edmund's Catholic School Dover · 96 entries 45%
  61. 61 The Archbishop's School Canterbury · 117 entries 44%
  62. 62 The Canterbury Academy Canterbury · 198 entries 44%
  63. 63 Valley Park School Maidstone · 257 entries 44%
  64. 64 Hartsdown Academy Margate · 129 entries 43%
  65. 65 The Lenham School Maidstone · 145 entries 42%
  66. 66 Thamesview School Gravesend · 151 entries 42%
  67. 67 King Ethelbert School Birchington · 137 entries 42%
  68. 68 Leigh Academy Mascalls Tonbridge · 183 entries 42%
  69. 69 Hadlow Rural Community School Hadlow · 42 entries 40%
  70. 70 St Anselm's Catholic School, Canterbury Canterbury · 97 entries 40%
  71. 71 The John Wallis Church of England Academy Ashford · 209 entries 40%
  72. 72 New Line Learning Academy Maidstone · 103 entries 39%
  73. 73 Fulston Manor School Sittingbourne · 159 entries 36%
  74. 74 The Abbey School Faversham · 155 entries 36%
  75. 75 Ursuline College Westgate-on-Sea · 134 entries 36%
  76. 76 The Royal Harbour Academy Ramsgate · 171 entries 34%
  77. 77 Sandwich Technology School Sandwich · 186 entries 34%
  78. 78 Cornwallis Academy Maidstone · 130 entries 32%
  79. 79 Brockhill Park Performing Arts College Hythe · 156 entries 31%
  80. 80 Dover Christ Church Academy Dover · 62 entries 26%
  81. 81 St Augustine Academy Maidstone · 116 entries 25%
  82. 82 The Sittingbourne School Sittingbourne · 187 entries 25%
  83. 83 Leigh Academy Minster Sheerness · 224 entries 24%
  84. 84 Herne Bay High School Herne Bay · 144 entries 21%
  85. 85 Goodwin Academy Deal · 116 entries 16%
  86. 86 Astor Secondary School Dover · 117 entries 15%
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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.