The Harvey Grammar School, Folkestone

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

In 2026, pupils at The Harvey Grammar School averaged an Attainment 8 score of 65.2, the average grade across their best eight GCSEs. The average state school scored 48.1 in Kent and 47 across England.

90% passed English and maths at grade 5 or above, against 49% in Kent and 47% in England.

That is up from 61.8 in 2025.

Its most recent Progress 8 score, for 2024, was 0.24: 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 63.8, against 65.3 for other pupils at the school - a gap of 1.5 points.

Pupils sat GCSEs in 22 subjects; after English and maths, the most popular were History, Geography and Combined Science.

The Harvey 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, 190 families put The Harvey Grammar School as their first choice and 348 named it as one of their preferences, for 147 places offered. That is 1.3 first choices for every place. 48 families who put it first were not offered a place there.

The Harvey 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, The Harvey 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 The Harvey Grammar School are Turner Free School (0.5 miles, Good, Attainment 8 39.4); Folkestone Academy (0.6 miles, Good, Attainment 8 38); The Folkestone School for Girls (0.7 miles, Good, selective, Attainment 8 62.3); and Brockhill Park Performing Arts College (4 miles, Good, Attainment 8 36.1).

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

The Harvey Grammar School is run by its own single-school academy trust.

Of the 139 pupils who finished Year 11 in 2023/24, 98% stayed in education or training for at least two terms, including 17% to a further education college and 1% to an apprenticeship.

Of the 136 students who left the sixth form in 2023/24, 58% went on to university or other higher education, 4% to apprenticeships and 27% into work. 21% went to one of the most selective third of universities.

13.9% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, well below the average state school (25%), and 8.8% speak English as an additional language, against 18.8% on average, according to the 2026 school census.

The largest ethnic groups are White British (77%), Asian (8%) and Mixed (5%).

In 2026, 48 pupils (4.8%) received SEN support and 5 (0.5%) 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 Folkestone West Rail Station, about 270 metres away (roughly a 3-minute walk).

9 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is Harvey Grammar School (outside), 50 metres away.

In August 2026, police recorded 293 crimes within a mile of the school, most often violence and sexual offences, anti-social behaviour and shoplifting. That is well above the typical figure around schools in Kent (101), as is usual near a town centre.

In 2024/25, The Harvey Grammar School issued 13 suspensions, 1.3 for every 100 pupils (the average state school: 6.3), and no permanent exclusions.

The primary schools closest to The Harvey Grammar School are Morehall Primary School and Nursery (0.3 miles), Sandgate Primary School (0.5 miles), Folkestone Primary (0.6 miles) and Stella Maris Catholic Primary School (0.6 miles). Admission does not depend on which primary a child attends unless the school's policy names feeder schools.