Gravesend Grammar School, Gravesend

In its own words: "We aim to provide our students with challenges and opportunities that will equip them with the qualifications and personal attributes that will enable them to be successful in later life. Students will engage in an ambitious curriculum that is rigorous and challenging, We have high academic aspirations for all our students."

From the headteacher's welcome: "I am very proud to be the Headteacher of Gravesend Grammar School. I have spent over 20 years at the School as a teacher and a leader and I am passionate that our traditional values are upheld in a modern context."

Clubs and activities named on the school's website include drama and Duke of Edinburgh.

Coming up: an open evening on Thursday 21 January 2027. Check the school's website before you go, as dates can change.

In 2026, pupils at Gravesend Grammar School averaged an Attainment 8 score of 67.9, 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 65.3 in 2025.

Its most recent Progress 8 score, for 2024, was 0.18: 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 65.1, against 68.2 for other pupils at the school - a gap of 3.1 points.

Pupils sat GCSEs in 20 subjects; after English and maths, the most popular were History, Business Studies and Physics.

Gravesend 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, 254 families put Gravesend Grammar School as their first choice and 642 named it as one of their preferences, for 209 places offered. That is 1.2 first choices for every place. 78 families who put it first were not offered a place there.

Gravesend 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, Gravesend 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 Gravesend Grammar School are St John's Catholic Comprehensive (0.2 miles, Good, Attainment 8 45.3); Mayfield Grammar School, Gravesend (1.1 miles, Outstanding, selective, Attainment 8 62.2); Saint George's Church of England School (1.1 miles, Good, Attainment 8 42.1); and Thamesview School (1.1 miles, Good, Attainment 8 36.6).

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

Gravesend Grammar School is one of 19 schools run by Aletheia Academies Trust, an academy trust.

200 parents answered Ofsted's Parent View survey about Gravesend Grammar School (as of September 2025): 94% would recommend the school, 94% say their child is happy there and 77% of those with a view say bullying is dealt with well.

The strongest agreement was that the school has high expectations for their child (97%); the weakest, that the school deals with bullying well (among parents with a view) (77%).

Of the 185 pupils who finished Year 11 in 2023/24, 94% stayed in education or training for at least two terms, including 8% to a further education college, 1% to an apprenticeship and 1% into work.

Of the 205 students who left the sixth form in 2023/24, 70% went on to university or other higher education, 7% to apprenticeships and 15% into work. 27% went to one of the most selective third of universities.

9.8% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, well below the average state school (25%), according to the 2026 school census.

In 2026, 60 pupils (4%) received SEN support and 4 (0.3%) 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 Gravesend Rail Station, about 0.8 miles away in a straight line.

5 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is St John's School (in), 170 metres away.

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

In August 2026, police recorded 396 crimes within a mile of the school, most often violence and sexual offences, anti-social behaviour and other theft. That is well above the typical figure around schools in Kent (101), as is usual near a town centre.

In 2024/25, Gravesend Grammar School issued 18 suspensions, 1.2 for every 100 pupils (the average state school: 6.3), and no permanent exclusions.

The primary schools closest to Gravesend Grammar School are St John's Catholic Primary School, Gravesend (0.1 miles); Chantry Community Primary School (0.4 miles); Holy Trinity Church of England Primary School (0.4 miles); and Westcourt Primary School (0.6 miles). Admission does not depend on which primary a child attends unless the school's policy names feeder schools.