Dartford Grammar School, Dartford

In 2026, pupils at Dartford Grammar School averaged an Attainment 8 score of 78.9, the average grade across their best eight GCSEs. The average state school scored 48.1 in Kent and 47 across England.

100% passed English and maths at grade 5 or above, against 49% in Kent and 47% in England.

That is down from 79.9 in 2025.

Its most recent Progress 8 score, for 2024, was 1.11: pupils made well 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 73, against 79.4 for other pupils at the school - a gap of 6.4 points.

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

Dartford 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, 569 families put Dartford Grammar School as their first choice and 1574 named it as one of their preferences, for 179 places offered. That is 3.2 first choices for every place. 420 families who put it first were not offered a place there.

Dartford 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, Dartford 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 Dartford Grammar School are Dartford Grammar School for Girls (0.1 miles, Outstanding, selective, Attainment 8 77.3); Dartford Science & Technology College (0.2 miles, Good, Attainment 8 47.1); Wilmington Grammar School for Girls (1.1 miles, Good, selective, Attainment 8 65.3); and Haberdashers' Crayford Academy (1.2 miles, Good, Attainment 8 43.8).

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

Of the 184 pupils who finished Year 11 in 2023/24, 99% stayed in education or training for at least two terms.

Of the 316 students who left the sixth form in 2023/24, 84% went on to university or other higher education, 3% to apprenticeships and 6% into work. 66% went to one of the most selective third of universities.

8.8% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, well below the average state school (25%), and 34.2% speak English as an additional language, against 18.8% on average, according to the 2026 school census.

The largest ethnic groups are Asian (37%), Black (28%) and Mixed (10%).

In 2026, 90 pupils (5.7%) received SEN support and 10 (0.6%) 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 Dartford Rail Station, about 970 metres away (roughly a 12-minute walk).

11 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is Dartford Boys' Grammar School (outside), 40 metres away.

In August 2026, police recorded 335 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, Dartford Grammar School issued 26 suspensions, 1.7 for every 100 pupils (the average state school: 6.3), and no permanent exclusions.

The primary schools closest to Dartford Grammar School are Our Lady's Catholic Primary School, Dartford (0.2 miles); West Hill Primary Academy (0.2 miles); Westgate Primary School (0.3 miles); and Holy Trinity Church of England Primary School, Dartford (0.5 miles). Admission does not depend on which primary a child attends unless the school's policy names feeder schools.