tutorperch
First Tutors closed Read guide

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 · 90 entries 100%
  2. 2 Invicta Grammar School Maidstone · 67 entries 100%
  3. 3 Tunbridge Wells Girls' Grammar School Tunbridge Wells · 43 entries 100%
  4. 4 Dartford Grammar School for Girls Dartford · 27 entries 100%
  5. 5 Oakwood Park Grammar School Maidstone · 34 entries 100%
  6. 6 The Judd School Tonbridge · 68 entries 99%
  7. 7 Gravesend Grammar School Gravesend · 63 entries 98%
  8. 8 Tonbridge Grammar School Tonbridge · 55 entries 98%
  9. 9 Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School Faversham · 43 entries 98%
  10. 10 Dane Court Grammar School Broadstairs · 66 entries 95%
  11. 11 Maidstone Grammar School Maidstone · 64 entries 95%
  12. 12 Wilmington Grammar School for Boys Dartford · 69 entries 94%
  13. 13 Weald of Kent Grammar School Tonbridge · 56 entries 93%
  14. 14 The Norton Knatchbull School Ashford · 88 entries 92%
  15. 15 Highworth Grammar School Ashford · 24 entries 92%
  16. 16 Wilmington Grammar School for Girls Dartford · 55 entries 91%
  17. 17 Simon Langton Grammar School for Boys Canterbury · 43 entries 91%
  18. 18 The Skinners' School Tunbridge Wells · 53 entries 91%
  19. 19 Maidstone Grammar School for Girls Maidstone · 52 entries 90%
  20. 20 Chatham & Clarendon Grammar School Ramsgate · 40 entries 90%
  21. 21 Barton Court Grammar School Canterbury · 39 entries 90%
  22. 22 Tunbridge Wells Grammar School for Boys Tunbridge Wells · 56 entries 89%
  23. 23 The North School Ashford · 23 entries 87%
  24. 24 Sir Roger Manwood's School Sandwich · 22 entries 86%
  25. 25 Dover Grammar School for Boys Dover · 28 entries 86%
  26. 26 Cranbrook School Cranbrook · 27 entries 85%
  27. 27 Orchards Academy Swanley · 29 entries 83%
  28. 28 Mayfield Grammar School, Gravesend Gravesend · 24 entries 79%
  29. 29 The Malling School West Malling · 26 entries 73%
  30. 30 Borden Grammar School Sittingbourne · 33 entries 73%
  31. 31 Leigh Academy Wilmington Wilmington · 47 entries 72%
  32. 32 Dartford Science & Technology College Dartford · 20 entries 70%
  33. 33 Northfleet School for Girls Gravesend · 20 entries 65%
  34. 34 School of Science and Technology Maidstone Maidstone · 48 entries 65%
  35. 35 Leigh Academy Ebbsfleet Swanscombe · 26 entries 62%
  36. 36 Hillview School for Girls Tonbridge · 25 entries 60%
  37. 37 Sir Geoffrey Leigh Academy Dartford · 47 entries 60%
  38. 38 Bennett Memorial Diocesan School Tunbridge Wells · 81 entries 59%
  39. 39 The Sittingbourne School Sittingbourne · 23 entries 57%
  40. 40 Skinners' Kent Academy Tunbridge Wells · 25 entries 56%
  41. 41 Leigh Academy Tonbridge Tonbridge · 20 entries 55%
  42. 42 Brockhill Park Performing Arts College Hythe · 21 entries 52%
  43. 43 The Whitstable School Whitstable · 20 entries 50%
  44. 44 St Simon Stock Catholic School Maidstone · 45 entries 47%
  45. 45 St Gregory's Catholic School Tunbridge Wells · 27 entries 44%
  46. 46 Herne Bay High School Herne Bay · 26 entries 42%
  47. 47 Stone Lodge School Dartford · 24 entries 42%
  48. 48 The Royal Harbour Academy Ramsgate · 39 entries 41%
  49. 49 Trinity School Sevenoaks · 27 entries 41%
  50. 50 Westlands School Sittingbourne · 40 entries 40%
  51. 51 The Marsh Academy New Romney · 26 entries 31%
  52. 52 Homewood School and Sixth Form Centre Tenterden · 42 entries 29%
  53. 53 Sandwich Technology School Sandwich · 24 entries 25%
  54. 54 The Maplesden Noakes School Maidstone · 31 entries 23%
  55. 55 The Lenham School Maidstone · 29 entries 21%
computer science tutors

Parent guides

Thinking about a tutor?

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.