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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 Tunbridge Wells Girls' Grammar School Tunbridge Wells · 143 entries 100%
  2. 2 Dartford Grammar School Dartford · 179 entries 100%
  3. 3 The Judd School Tonbridge · 187 entries 99%
  4. 4 Tonbridge Grammar School Tonbridge · 179 entries 99%
  5. 5 Weald of Kent Grammar School Tonbridge · 290 entries 99%
  6. 6 Simon Langton Girls' Grammar School Canterbury · 176 entries 99%
  7. 7 Dartford Grammar School for Girls Dartford · 176 entries 99%
  8. 8 Maidstone Grammar School Maidstone · 212 entries 99%
  9. 9 Invicta Grammar School Maidstone · 249 entries 98%
  10. 10 Maidstone Grammar School for Girls Maidstone · 171 entries 98%
  11. 11 Highworth Grammar School Ashford · 214 entries 98%
  12. 12 Barton Court Grammar School Canterbury · 151 entries 98%
  13. 13 Highsted Grammar School Sittingbourne · 142 entries 98%
  14. 14 Gravesend Grammar School Gravesend · 221 entries 98%
  15. 15 Wilmington Grammar School for Girls Dartford · 176 entries 98%
  16. 16 Simon Langton Grammar School for Boys Canterbury · 162 entries 98%
  17. 17 Tunbridge Wells Grammar School for Boys Tunbridge Wells · 216 entries 97%
  18. 18 The Norton Knatchbull School Ashford · 208 entries 97%
  19. 19 Oakwood Park Grammar School Maidstone · 158 entries 97%
  20. 20 Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School Faversham · 149 entries 97%
  21. 21 Dover Grammar School for Boys Dover · 114 entries 96%
  22. 22 The Skinners' School Tunbridge Wells · 165 entries 96%
  23. 23 Sir Roger Manwood's School Sandwich · 158 entries 96%
  24. 24 Wilmington Grammar School for Boys Dartford · 180 entries 96%
  25. 25 Mayfield Grammar School, Gravesend Gravesend · 201 entries 95%
  26. 26 Dane Court Grammar School Broadstairs · 193 entries 94%
  27. 27 Cranbrook School Cranbrook · 153 entries 94%
  28. 28 The Folkestone School for Girls Folkestone · 166 entries 94%
  29. 29 The Harvey Grammar School Folkestone · 145 entries 94%
  30. 30 Chatham & Clarendon Grammar School Ramsgate · 191 entries 94%
  31. 31 Borden Grammar School Sittingbourne · 124 entries 94%
  32. 32 Dover Grammar School for Girls Dover · 132 entries 93%
  33. 33 Hillview School for Girls Tonbridge · 223 entries 87%
  34. 34 Bennett Memorial Diocesan School Tunbridge Wells · 294 entries 85%
  35. 35 Leigh Academy Wilmington Wilmington · 226 entries 80%
  36. 36 Wye School Wye · 93 entries 80%
  37. 37 St Simon Stock Catholic School Maidstone · 172 entries 78%
  38. 38 School of Science and Technology Maidstone Maidstone · 190 entries 78%
  39. 39 Duke of York's Royal Military School Dover · 80 entries 76%
  40. 40 Dartford Science & Technology College Dartford · 145 entries 76%
  41. 41 Knole Academy Sevenoaks · 229 entries 73%
  42. 42 Northfleet School for Girls Gravesend · 204 entries 71%
  43. 43 St Gregory's Catholic School Tunbridge Wells · 206 entries 71%
  44. 44 Leigh Academy Ebbsfleet Swanscombe · 133 entries 71%
  45. 45 King Ethelbert School Birchington · 141 entries 67%
  46. 46 St John's Catholic Comprehensive Gravesend · 189 entries 67%
  47. 47 Sir Geoffrey Leigh Academy Dartford · 215 entries 66%
  48. 48 Saint George's Church of England School Gravesend · 202 entries 66%
  49. 49 Trinity School Sevenoaks · 175 entries 66%
  50. 50 The Charles Dickens School Broadstairs · 195 entries 66%
  51. 51 The Malling School West Malling · 158 entries 65%
  52. 52 St Edmund's Catholic School Dover · 108 entries 64%
  53. 53 The Maplesden Noakes School Maidstone · 193 entries 64%
  54. 54 Towers School and Sixth Form Centre Ashford · 264 entries 64%
  55. 55 Cornwallis Academy Maidstone · 176 entries 61%
  56. 56 The Whitstable School Whitstable · 215 entries 61%
  57. 57 Leigh UTC Dartford Dartford · 106 entries 60%
  58. 58 St George's Church of England Foundation School Broadstairs · 211 entries 60%
  59. 59 Herne Bay High School Herne Bay · 265 entries 59%
  60. 60 Hartsdown Academy Margate · 135 entries 59%
  61. 61 Valley Park School Maidstone · 262 entries 58%
  62. 62 Westlands School Sittingbourne · 312 entries 58%
  63. 63 Meopham School Gravesend · 160 entries 58%
  64. 64 Homewood School and Sixth Form Centre Tenterden · 357 entries 58%
  65. 65 Turner Free School Folkestone · 167 entries 57%
  66. 66 The Abbey School Faversham · 200 entries 57%
  67. 67 The Canterbury Academy Canterbury · 230 entries 57%
  68. 68 Brockhill Park Performing Arts College Hythe · 231 entries 57%
  69. 69 Wrotham School Sevenoaks · 147 entries 56%
  70. 70 Ursuline College Westgate-on-Sea · 147 entries 56%
  71. 71 St Anselm's Catholic School, Canterbury Canterbury · 171 entries 56%
  72. 72 The North School Ashford · 226 entries 56%
  73. 73 The Marsh Academy New Romney · 167 entries 55%
  74. 74 Aylesford School Aylesford · 162 entries 55%
  75. 75 St Augustine Academy Maidstone · 148 entries 53%
  76. 76 Leigh Academy Hugh Christie Tonbridge · 135 entries 53%
  77. 77 Orchards Academy Swanley · 88 entries 52%
  78. 78 The Archbishop's School Canterbury · 124 entries 52%
  79. 79 Northfleet Technology College Gravesend · 139 entries 51%
  80. 80 New Line Learning Academy Maidstone · 114 entries 51%
  81. 81 Leigh Academy Mascalls Tonbridge · 195 entries 51%
  82. 82 Hadlow Rural Community School Hadlow · 67 entries 51%
  83. 83 Fulston Manor School Sittingbourne · 202 entries 50%
  84. 84 Leigh Academy Longfield Longfield · 152 entries 50%
  85. 85 Sandwich Technology School Sandwich · 233 entries 50%
  86. 86 Stone Lodge School Dartford · 123 entries 50%
  87. 87 The Royal Harbour Academy Ramsgate · 177 entries 49%
  88. 88 Dover Christ Church Academy Dover · 128 entries 48%
  89. 89 The Sittingbourne School Sittingbourne · 263 entries 48%
  90. 90 The Lenham School Maidstone · 145 entries 48%
  91. 91 Thamesview School Gravesend · 156 entries 48%
  92. 92 The John Wallis Church of England Academy Ashford · 225 entries 48%
  93. 93 The Holmesdale School Snodland · 80 entries 48%
  94. 94 Leigh Academy Tonbridge Tonbridge · 72 entries 47%
  95. 95 Skinners' Kent Academy Tunbridge Wells · 176 entries 47%
  96. 96 Orion Spires Canterbury · 133 entries 46%
  97. 97 Goodwin Academy Deal · 173 entries 43%
  98. 98 Leigh Academy Minster Sheerness · 227 entries 37%
  99. 99 Astor Secondary School Dover · 139 entries 28%
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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.