Highworth Grammar School, Ashford

From the headteacher's welcome: "Highworth Grammar School combines a tradition of academic excellence with extensive pastoral support. The school has been educating students from the Ashford community for over a century and we are now a thriving school with over 1500 students and 140 staff. Students at Highworth love learning and are highly motivated."

Clubs and activities named on the school's website include football, netball, rugby, cricket, tennis, athletics, gymnastics, basketball, badminton and drama.

Coming up: an open day on Thursday 26 November 2026 at 9am. Check the school's website before you go, as dates can change.

In 2026, pupils at Highworth Grammar School averaged an Attainment 8 score of 69.2, the average grade across their best eight GCSEs. The average state school scored 48.1 in Kent and 47 across England.

93% passed English and maths at grade 5 or above, against 49% in Kent and 47% in England.

That is down from 70.8 in 2025.

Its most recent Progress 8 score, for 2024, was 0.65: 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 64.5, against 69.6 for other pupils at the school - a gap of 5.1 points.

Pupils sat GCSEs in 25 subjects; after English and maths, the most popular were Religious Studies, Chemistry and Physics.

Highworth 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, 267 families put Highworth Grammar School as their first choice and 446 named it as one of their preferences, for 214 places offered. That is 1.2 first choices for every place. 67 families who put it first were not offered a place there.

Highworth 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, Highworth 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 Highworth Grammar School are The North School (1.2 miles, Attainment 8 39.4); The Norton Knatchbull School (1.3 miles, Good, selective, Attainment 8 64.2); Towers School and Sixth Form Centre (1.6 miles, Good, Attainment 8 42.4); and The John Wallis Church of England Academy (1.9 miles, Good, Attainment 8 36.4).

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

393 parents answered Ofsted's Parent View survey about Highworth Grammar School (as of September 2025): 95% would recommend the school, 93% say their child is happy there and 66% of those with a view say bullying is dealt with well.

The strongest agreement was that the school has high expectations for their child (98%); the weakest, that the school deals with bullying well (among parents with a view) (66%).

Of the 217 pupils who finished Year 11 in 2023/24, 96% stayed in education or training for at least two terms, including 11% to a further education college, 1% to an apprenticeship and 1% into work.

Of the 230 students who left the sixth form in 2023/24, 73% went on to university or other higher education, 4% to apprenticeships and 13% into work. 41% went to one of the most selective third of universities.

8% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, well below the average state school (25%), and 28.5% speak English as an additional language, against 18.8% on average, according to the 2026 school census.

The largest ethnic groups are White British (55%), Asian (18%) and Mixed (9%).

In 2026, 125 pupils (8%) received SEN support and 5 (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 Ashford International Rail Station, about 0.9 miles away in a straight line.

4 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is Highworth School (adjacent), 150 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 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, Highworth Grammar School issued 3 suspensions, 0.2 for every 100 pupils (the average state school: 6.3), and no permanent exclusions.

The primary schools closest to Highworth Grammar School are St Teresa's Catholic Primary School (0.1 miles); Ashford, St Mary's Church of England Primary School (0.2 miles); Repton Manor Primary School (0.5 miles); and Victoria Road Primary School (0.7 miles). Admission does not depend on which primary a child attends unless the school's policy names feeder schools.