Chatham & Clarendon Grammar School, Ramsgate

From the headteacher's welcome: "Welcome to Chatham & Clarendon Grammar School (formerly Chatham House and Clarendon House Grammar Schools). Chatham House and Clarendon House have a long history of providing high quality education in Thanet. Generations of young people have flourished at the two schools and in due course many have chosen to send their own children to Chatham & Clarendon."

Clubs and activities named on the school's website include drama, choir, ukulele, guitar, chess, coding, Lego, STEM, gardening and Duke of Edinburgh.

Coming up: an open day on Saturday 31 October 2026 and an open evening on Thursday 19 November 2026. Check the school's website before you go, as dates can change.

In 2026, pupils at Chatham & Clarendon Grammar School averaged an Attainment 8 score of 62.2, the average grade across their best eight GCSEs. The average state school scored 48.1 in Kent and 47 across England.

82% passed English and maths at grade 5 or above, against 49% in Kent and 47% in England.

That is down from 64 in 2025.

Its most recent Progress 8 score, for 2024, was 0.3: pupils made above average progress compared with pupils nationally who started secondary school at the same level. Progress 8 was not published for 2026.

Disadvantaged pupils averaged an Attainment 8 of 56.1, against 63.9 for other pupils at the school - a gap of 7.8 points.

Pupils sat GCSEs in 25 subjects; after English and maths, the most popular were Combined Science, French and Geography.

Chatham & Clarendon 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, 121 families put Chatham & Clarendon Grammar School as their first choice and 502 named it as one of their preferences, for 133 places offered. It had fewer first-choice applications than places. 16 families who put it first were not offered a place there.

Chatham & Clarendon 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, Chatham & Clarendon 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 Chatham & Clarendon Grammar School are The Royal Harbour Academy (1.4 miles, Attainment 8 31.1); Dane Court Grammar School (1.7 miles, Good, selective, Attainment 8 67.2); The Charles Dickens School (1.7 miles, Good, Attainment 8 42.8); and St George's Church of England Foundation School (1.7 miles, Good, Attainment 8 37.4).

Chatham & Clarendon Grammar School's 2026 results were higher than 3 of these 4 schools.

188 parents answered Ofsted's Parent View survey about Chatham & Clarendon Grammar School (as of September 2025): 90% would recommend the school, 93% say their child is happy there and 86% of those with a view say bullying is dealt with well.

The strongest agreement was that their child feels safe (97%); the weakest, that the school deals with bullying well (among parents with a view) (86%).

Of the 203 pupils who finished Year 11 in 2023/24, 96% stayed in education or training for at least two terms, including 9% to a further education college, 2% to an apprenticeship and 1% into work.

Of the 259 students who left the sixth form in 2023/24, 57% went on to university or other higher education, 3% to apprenticeships and 24% into work. 23% went to one of the most selective third of universities.

15.4% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, well below the average state school (25%), and 11.5% speak English as an additional language, against 18.8% on average, according to the 2026 school census.

The largest ethnic groups are White British (72%) and Mixed (8%).

In 2026, 56 pupils (4.2%) received SEN support and 5 (0.4%) 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 social, emotional and mental health needs.

The nearest railway station is Ramsgate Rail Station, about 830 metres away (roughly a 10-minute walk).

6 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is Staffordshire Street (opposite), 220 metres away.

Measured by the 2025 English Indices of Deprivation, the neighbourhood Chatham & Clarendon Grammar School stands in is among the 10% most deprived neighbourhoods in England. This describes where the school is, not where its pupils live.

In August 2026, police recorded 373 crimes within a mile of the school, most often violence and sexual offences, anti-social behaviour and criminal damage and arson. That is well above the typical figure around schools in Kent (101), as is usual near a town centre.

In 2024/25, Chatham & Clarendon Grammar School issued 50 suspensions, 3.6 for every 100 pupils (the average state school: 6.3), and no permanent exclusions.

The primary schools closest to Chatham & Clarendon Grammar School are Priory Infant School (0.2 miles); St Ethelbert's Catholic Primary School and Nursery (0.4 miles); Ellington Infant School (0.5 miles); and Christ Church Church of England Junior School, Ramsgate (0.6 miles). Admission does not depend on which primary a child attends unless the school's policy names feeder schools.