Knole Academy, Sevenoaks

From the headteacher's welcome: "I want to start this welcome not by telling you about Knole Academy but by asking parents and students a simple question: What do you want from secondary education?"

Clubs and activities named on the school's website include football, netball, rugby, basketball, cross-country, dance, drama, choir, orchestra and guitar.

In 2026, pupils at Knole Academy averaged an Attainment 8 score of 41.3, the average grade across their best eight GCSEs. The average state school scored 48.1 in Kent and 47 across England.

36% passed English and maths at grade 5 or above, against 49% in Kent and 47% in England.

That is down from 44.3 in 2025.

Its most recent Progress 8 score, for 2024, was -0.49: pupils made below 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 31.9, against 43.8 for other pupils at the school - a gap of 11.9 points.

Pupils sat GCSEs in 26 subjects; after English and maths, the most popular were Combined Science, French and Geography.

For September 2026 entry, 199 families put Knole Academy as their first choice and 931 named it as one of their preferences, for 237 places offered. It had fewer first-choice applications than places. 58 families who put it first were not offered a place there.

Knole Academy is one of 19 schools run by Aletheia Academies Trust, an academy trust.

Of the 240 pupils who finished Year 11 in 2023/24, 82% stayed in education or training for at least two terms, including 29% to a further education college, 3% to an apprenticeship and 4% into work.

Of the 66 students who left the sixth form in 2023/24, 56% went on to university or other higher education, 2% to apprenticeships and 23% into work. 10% went to one of the most selective third of universities.

4.7% speak English as an additional language, against 18.8% on average, according to the 2026 school census.

The largest ethnic groups are White British (80%) and Mixed (7%).

The nearest railway station is Bat & Ball Rail Station, about 760 metres away (roughly a 9-minute walk).

5 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is Knole Academy (outside), 80 metres away.

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

In 2024/25, Knole Academy issued 154 suspensions, 10.9 for every 100 pupils (the average state school: 6.3), and no permanent exclusions.

The primary schools closest to Knole Academy are Sevenoaks Primary School (0.2 miles); Riverhead Infants' School (0.7 miles); St John's Church of England Primary School, Sevenoaks (0.8 miles); and Dunton Green Primary School (0.9 miles). Admission does not depend on which primary a child attends unless the school's policy names feeder schools.