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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 for Girls Dartford · 53 entries 100%
  2. 2 Dartford Grammar School Dartford · 50 entries 100%
  3. 3 Tunbridge Wells Girls' Grammar School Tunbridge Wells · 61 entries 100%
  4. 4 Tonbridge Grammar School Tonbridge · 108 entries 99%
  5. 5 Weald of Kent Grammar School Tonbridge · 103 entries 99%
  6. 6 Mayfield Grammar School, Gravesend Gravesend · 59 entries 97%
  7. 7 Simon Langton Grammar School for Boys Canterbury · 66 entries 95%
  8. 8 The Folkestone School for Girls Folkestone · 41 entries 95%
  9. 9 Simon Langton Girls' Grammar School Canterbury · 64 entries 94%
  10. 10 Dartford Science & Technology College Dartford · 24 entries 92%
  11. 11 Maidstone Grammar School Maidstone · 79 entries 90%
  12. 12 The Harvey Grammar School Folkestone · 59 entries 90%
  13. 13 Sir Roger Manwood's School Sandwich · 102 entries 89%
  14. 14 Borden Grammar School Sittingbourne · 74 entries 89%
  15. 15 Gravesend Grammar School Gravesend · 83 entries 89%
  16. 16 Maidstone Grammar School for Girls Maidstone · 64 entries 88%
  17. 17 Highworth Grammar School Ashford · 71 entries 87%
  18. 18 Dane Court Grammar School Broadstairs · 94 entries 87%
  19. 19 Oakwood Park Grammar School Maidstone · 100 entries 87%
  20. 20 Cranbrook School Cranbrook · 65 entries 86%
  21. 21 Invicta Grammar School Maidstone · 94 entries 85%
  22. 22 Duke of York's Royal Military School Dover · 25 entries 84%
  23. 23 Trinity School Sevenoaks · 49 entries 84%
  24. 24 Wilmington Grammar School for Girls Dartford · 68 entries 82%
  25. 25 Chatham & Clarendon Grammar School Ramsgate · 110 entries 82%
  26. 26 Hillview School for Girls Tonbridge · 55 entries 80%
  27. 27 Dover Grammar School for Boys Dover · 43 entries 79%
  28. 28 St George's Church of England Foundation School Broadstairs · 23 entries 78%
  29. 29 The Norton Knatchbull School Ashford · 115 entries 78%
  30. 30 St Gregory's Catholic School Tunbridge Wells · 45 entries 78%
  31. 31 Barton Court Grammar School Canterbury · 70 entries 76%
  32. 32 Sir Geoffrey Leigh Academy Dartford · 53 entries 75%
  33. 33 St Anselm's Catholic School, Canterbury Canterbury · 24 entries 75%
  34. 34 Saint George's Church of England School Gravesend · 43 entries 74%
  35. 35 Tunbridge Wells Grammar School for Boys Tunbridge Wells · 124 entries 69%
  36. 36 Northfleet School for Girls Gravesend · 91 entries 68%
  37. 37 Sandwich Technology School Sandwich · 46 entries 67%
  38. 38 The North School Ashford · 57 entries 67%
  39. 39 Stone Lodge School Dartford · 64 entries 66%
  40. 40 The Abbey School Faversham · 49 entries 65%
  41. 41 Wilmington Grammar School for Boys Dartford · 61 entries 61%
  42. 42 Wye School Wye · 22 entries 55%
  43. 43 Meopham School Gravesend · 23 entries 52%
  44. 44 Leigh Academy Tonbridge Tonbridge · 57 entries 51%
  45. 45 The Malling School West Malling · 72 entries 44%
  46. 46 Herne Bay High School Herne Bay · 27 entries 41%
  47. 47 School of Science and Technology Maidstone Maidstone · 89 entries 39%
  48. 48 St Simon Stock Catholic School Maidstone · 51 entries 39%
  49. 49 Leigh Academy Wilmington Wilmington · 111 entries 39%
  50. 50 Leigh Academy Ebbsfleet Swanscombe · 67 entries 37%
  51. 51 Wrotham School Sevenoaks · 44 entries 36%
  52. 52 The Marsh Academy New Romney · 29 entries 34%
  53. 53 The Royal Harbour Academy Ramsgate · 35 entries 34%
  54. 54 Leigh Academy Hugh Christie Tonbridge · 30 entries 33%
  55. 55 The Charles Dickens School Broadstairs · 22 entries 32%
  56. 56 Hadlow Rural Community School Hadlow · 27 entries 30%
  57. 57 Turner Free School Folkestone · 44 entries 30%
  58. 58 Leigh Academy Mascalls Tonbridge · 173 entries 29%
  59. 59 New Line Learning Academy Maidstone · 32 entries 25%
  60. 60 The Whitstable School Whitstable · 90 entries 21%
  61. 61 King Ethelbert School Birchington · 31 entries 19%
  62. 62 Skinners' Kent Academy Tunbridge Wells · 50 entries 18%
  63. 63 Leigh Academy Longfield Longfield · 75 entries 17%
  64. 64 Leigh Academy Minster Sheerness · 64 entries 5%
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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.