Maidstone Grammar School, Maidstone

From the headteacher's welcome: "Maidstone Grammar School is like an extended but close-knit family, and our aims are also the same as every family’s: to keep our children and young people safe, to meet their needs, to build ties and bonds within the wider community, and to support them in times of challenge and adversity."

In 2026, pupils at Maidstone Grammar School averaged an Attainment 8 score of 67, the average grade across their best eight GCSEs. The average state school scored 48.1 in Kent and 47 across England.

91% passed English and maths at grade 5 or above, against 49% in Kent and 47% in England.

That is down from 68.4 in 2025.

Its most recent Progress 8 score, for 2024, was 0.5: 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 66.4, against 67.1 for other pupils at the school - a gap of 0.7 points.

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

Maidstone 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, 235 families put Maidstone Grammar School as their first choice and 629 named it as one of their preferences, for 205 places offered. That is 1.1 first choices for every place. 40 families who put it first were not offered a place there.

Maidstone 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, Maidstone 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 Maidstone Grammar School are Invicta Grammar School (0.7 miles, Outstanding, selective, Attainment 8 70.8); Valley Park School (0.7 miles, Good, Attainment 8 41.8); School of Science and Technology Maidstone (0.8 miles, Outstanding, Attainment 8 49.1); and New Line Learning Academy (1.1 miles, Good, Attainment 8 29.2).

Maidstone Grammar School's 2026 results were higher than 3 of these 4 schools.

253 parents answered Ofsted's Parent View survey about Maidstone Grammar School (as of September 2025): 90% would recommend the school, 93% say their child is happy there and 64% of those with a view say bullying is dealt with well.

The strongest agreement was that their child feels safe (95%); the weakest, that the school deals with bullying well (among parents with a view) (64%).

Of the 216 pupils who finished Year 11 in 2023/24, 95% stayed in education or training for at least two terms, including 8% to a further education college and 2% to an apprenticeship.

Of the 175 students who left the sixth form in 2023/24, 57% went on to university or other higher education, 3% to apprenticeships and 30% into work. 37% went to one of the most selective third of universities.

8.1% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, well below the average state school (25%), according to the 2026 school census.

In 2026, 26 pupils (1.8%) received SEN support and 8 (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 Maidstone West Rail Station, about 0.7 miles away in a straight line.

15 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is Upper Road (o/s 22), 100 metres away.

In August 2026, police recorded 550 crimes within a mile of the school, most often violence and sexual offences, anti-social behaviour 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, Maidstone Grammar School issued 72 suspensions, 5.1 for every 100 pupils (the average state school: 6.3), and no permanent exclusions.

The primary schools closest to Maidstone Grammar School are South Borough Primary School (0.2 miles), Park Way Primary School (0.4 miles), Archbishop Courtenay Primary School (0.6 miles) and Valley Invicta Primary School At East Borough (0.7 miles). Admission does not depend on which primary a child attends unless the school's policy names feeder schools.