Borden Grammar School, Sittingbourne

Ofsted's report card from its 12 May 2026 inspection grades Borden Grammar School on 7 areas: 5 strong standard and 2 expected standard. Report cards replaced single-word judgements in November 2025, on a five-point scale from exceptional to urgent improvement.

Achievement - Strong standard. "Pupils develop deep and secure knowledge across the curriculum."

Attendance and behaviour - Strong standard. "Pupils attend school extremely well."

Inclusion - Strong standard. "Inclusion is at the heart of this school."

Leadership and governance - Strong standard. "Leaders have worked extremely hard to improve the outcomes and experiences of pupils."

Personal development and wellbeing - Strong standard. "The school has a well-designed personal development curriculum."

Curriculum and teaching - Expected standard. "Teachers are experts in their subjects."

Post 16 provision - Expected standard. "Leaders have a keen awareness of the strengths and areas that could be even better in the sixth form."

Safeguarding standards were met.

Ofsted's next steps for the school: "Leaders should continue to embed consistent approaches to teaching and assessment, so that higher attaining pupils and students in the sixth form improve their achievement even further".

In its own words: "Borden Grammar school provides a supportive and inclusive academic environment. We nurture our students to become courageous, creative and resilient in their response to challenge and to be respectful and kind to others."

From the headteacher's welcome: "As you enter our school you will be forgiven for failing to notice our school motto written on the entrance hall carpet. Whilst dating back to before the second world war it remains as valid as it has ever been. 'Nitere porro' means 'to strive forward' and is both a description and a goal."

In 2026, pupils at Borden Grammar School averaged an Attainment 8 score of 62.7, the average grade across their best eight GCSEs. The average state school scored 48.1 in Kent and 47 across England.

83% passed English and maths at grade 5 or above, against 49% in Kent and 47% in England.

That is in line with 2025, when the score was 63.2.

Its most recent Progress 8 score, for 2024, was 0.26: pupils made above average progress compared with pupils nationally who started secondary school at the same level. Progress 8 was not published for 2026.

Pupils sat GCSEs in 21 subjects; after English and maths, the most popular were Biology, Chemistry and Physics.

Borden Grammar School is a grammar school: places go to children who reach the required standard in its entrance test, and only then are the oversubscription criteria applied.

For September 2026 entry, 138 families put Borden Grammar School as their first choice and 346 named it as one of their preferences, for 123 places offered. That is 1.1 first choices for every place. 24 families who put it first were not offered a place there.

Borden Grammar School admits pupils through an entrance test - in Kent, the Kent Test. Children have to be registered for it in advance, normally in the spring or summer of Year 5; the test itself is usually sat in September of Year 6, and results come out in October, before the 31 October deadline for naming secondary schools.

Passing the test makes a child eligible rather than guaranteeing a place: when more children pass than there are places, Borden Grammar School ranks them by the criteria in its admissions policy, which can include test score and distance. Check Kent's admissions pages and the school's own policy for this year's registration deadline - a child who is not registered in time cannot sit the test.

Kent has 32 state grammar schools in all, so a child who passes may have several selective schools to choose between.

The nearest other state secondary schools to Borden Grammar School are Highsted Grammar School (0.3 miles, Good, selective, Attainment 8 61.9); Fulston Manor School (0.3 miles, Requires improvement, Attainment 8 36.8); The Sittingbourne School (1 mile, Good, Attainment 8 34.8); and Westlands School (1.1 miles, Good, Attainment 8 42.3).

Borden Grammar School's 2026 results were higher than all 4 of them.

162 parents answered Ofsted's Parent View survey about Borden Grammar School (as of September 2026): 100% would recommend the school, 96% say their child is happy there and 94% of those with a view say bullying is dealt with well.

The strongest agreement was that they would recommend the school (100%); the weakest, that pupils behave well (94%).

Of the 123 pupils who finished Year 11 in 2023/24, 92% stayed in education or training for at least two terms, including 7% to a further education college, 4% to an apprenticeship and 1% into work.

Of the 123 students who left the sixth form in 2023/24, 51% went on to university or other higher education, 7% to apprenticeships and 24% into work. 18% went to one of the most selective third of universities.

10.3% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, well below the average state school (25%), and 10.6% speak English as an additional language, against 18.8% on average, according to the 2026 school census.

The largest ethnic groups are White British (68%), Black (14%) and Mixed (6%).

In 2026, 24 pupils (2.6%) received SEN support and 7 (0.7%) had an education, health and care plan, against 16.2% and 4.6% at the average state school. The most common need among them is autism.

The nearest railway station is Sittingbourne Rail Station, about 510 metres away (roughly a 6-minute walk).

5 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is Borden Grammar School (opposite), 70 metres away.

In August 2026, police recorded 345 crimes within a mile of the school, most often anti-social behaviour, violence and sexual offences and shoplifting. That is well above the typical figure around schools in Kent (101), as is usual near a town centre.

In 2024/25, Borden Grammar School issued 39 suspensions, 4.2 for every 100 pupils (the average state school: 6.3), and no permanent exclusions.

The primary schools closest to Borden Grammar School are South Avenue Primary School (0.4 miles), St Peter's Catholic Primary School (0.5 miles), The Oaks Infant School (0.5 miles) and Minterne Junior School (0.6 miles). Admission does not depend on which primary a child attends unless the school's policy names feeder schools.