Dartford Grammar School for Girls, Dartford

Ofsted's report card from its 17 March 2026 inspection grades Dartford Grammar School for Girls on 7 areas: 4 exceptional and 3 strong standard. Report cards replaced single-word judgements in November 2025, on a five-point scale from exceptional to urgent improvement.

Achievement - Exceptional. "Pupils achieve extraordinarily well."

Attendance and behaviour - Exceptional. "Leaders' high expectations shine through these elements of the school."

Personal development and wellbeing - Exceptional. "Provision for pupils' personal development is impressive."

Post 16 provision - Exceptional. "Post-16 provision is extremely well considered, with students' needs and leaders' high aspirations incorporated seamlessly."

Curriculum and teaching - Strong standard. "Pupils benefit from a rich and well-sequenced curriculum that develops their expertise across a broad range of subjects in a logical and coherent way."

Inclusion - Strong standard. "This school promotes a fully inclusive ethos where pupils feel valued and seen."

Leadership and governance - Strong standard. "Senior leaders know their school extremely well."

Safeguarding standards were met.

Ofsted's next steps for the school: "Ensure that current work to strengthen governance is successful in increasing corporate rigour, supporting leaders exceptionally well in sustaining the highest standards of education and care"; "Refine and sustain recent work to further develop responsive teaching, so that all pupils benefit fully from the swift use of strategies that address emerging misconceptions in lessons".

In 2026, pupils at Dartford Grammar School for Girls averaged an Attainment 8 score of 77.3, the average grade across their best eight GCSEs. The average state school scored 48.1 in Kent and 47 across England.

98% passed English and maths at grade 5 or above, against 49% in Kent and 47% in England.

That is up from 75.5 in 2025.

Its most recent Progress 8 score, for 2024, was 0.82: 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 72.8, against 78.7 for other pupils at the school - a gap of 5.9 points.

Pupils sat GCSEs in 24 subjects; after English and maths, the most popular were Biology, Chemistry and Physics.

Dartford Grammar School for Girls 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, 428 families put Dartford Grammar School for Girls as their first choice and 1269 named it as one of their preferences, for 178 places offered. That is 2.4 first choices for every place. 275 families who put it first were not offered a place there.

Dartford Grammar School for Girls 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 for Girls 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 for Girls are Dartford Science & Technology College (0.1 miles, Good, Attainment 8 47.1); Dartford Grammar School (0.1 miles, Outstanding, selective, Attainment 8 78.9); Wilmington Grammar School for Girls (1 mile, Good, selective, Attainment 8 65.3); and Wilmington Grammar School for Boys (1.1 miles, Good, selective, Attainment 8 67.6).

Dartford Grammar School for Girls's 2026 results were higher than 3 of these 4 schools.

Dartford Grammar School for Girls is run by its own single-school academy trust.

235 parents answered Ofsted's Parent View survey about Dartford Grammar School for Girls (as of April 2026): 92% would recommend the school, 87% say their child is happy there and 57% of those with a view say bullying is dealt with well.

The strongest agreement was that their child feels safe (94%); the weakest, that the school deals with bullying well (among parents with a view) (57%).

Of the 179 pupils who finished Year 11 in 2023/24, 99% stayed in education or training for at least two terms, including 1% to a further education college.

Of the 176 students who left the sixth form in 2023/24, 82% went on to university or other higher education, 4% to apprenticeships and 7% into work. 44% went to one of the most selective third of universities.

37.3% speak English as an additional language, against 18.8% on average, according to the 2026 school census.

The largest ethnic groups are Black (38%), Asian (37%) and White British (7%).

In 2026, 57 pupils (4.5%) 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 a specific learning difficulty such as dyslexia.

The nearest railway station is Dartford Rail Station, about 1130 metres away (roughly a 14-minute walk).

10 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is Dartford Girls' Grammar School (opposite), 50 metres away.

In August 2026, police recorded 326 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 for Girls issued 23 suspensions, 1.8 for every 100 pupils (the average state school: 6.3), and no permanent exclusions.

The primary schools closest to Dartford Grammar School for Girls are West Hill Primary Academy (0.3 miles); Our Lady's Catholic Primary School, Dartford (0.3 miles); Westgate Primary School (0.3 miles); and Holy Trinity Church of England Primary School, Dartford (0.6 miles). Admission does not depend on which primary a child attends unless the school's policy names feeder schools.