Townley Grammar School, Bexleyheath

From the headteacher's welcome: "Education should inspire students to value learning for its own sake: to take joy from the pursuit of ideas and the struggle to understand. Townley students learn in a stimulating environment where teachers understand how to challenge and where the range of extracurricular opportunities is vast and varied."

In 2026, pupils at Townley Grammar School averaged an Attainment 8 score of 74.8, the average grade across their best eight GCSEs. The average state school scored 52.2 in Bexley and 47 across England.

98% passed English and maths at grade 5 or above, against 56% in Bexley and 47% in England.

That is in line with 2025, when the score was 75.

Its most recent Progress 8 score, for 2024, was 0.66: 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 74.8, against 74.8 for other pupils at the school.

Pupils sat GCSEs in 23 subjects; after English and maths, the most popular were Biology, Chemistry and Religious Studies.

Townley 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 Townley Grammar School as their first choice and 902 named it as one of their preferences, for 246 places offered. It had fewer first-choice applications than places. 58 families who put it first were not offered a place there.

Townley Grammar School admits pupils through an entrance test, usually called the 11-plus. 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, Townley Grammar School ranks them by the criteria in its admissions policy, which can include test score and distance. Check Bexley'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.

Bexley has 4 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 Townley Grammar School are Beths Grammar School (0.5 miles, Good, selective, Attainment 8 73.2); Lift Bexleyheath (0.6 miles, Good, Attainment 8 47.3); St Columba's Catholic Boys' School (0.7 miles, Good, Attainment 8 48.9); and St Catherine's Catholic School (0.8 miles, Good, Attainment 8 55.5).

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

Of the 219 pupils who finished Year 11 in 2023/24, 98% stayed in education or training for at least two terms.

Of the 209 students who left the sixth form in 2023/24, 80% went on to university or other higher education, 4% to apprenticeships and 9% into work. 49% 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%), and 31.6% speak English as an additional language, against 18.8% on average, according to the 2026 school census.

The largest ethnic groups are Asian (32%), Black (29%) and White British (12%).

In 2026, 78 pupils (4.7%) 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 social, emotional and mental health needs.

The nearest railway station is Bexley, about 0.8 miles away in a straight line.

9 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is Townley Grammar School, 40 metres away.

Measured by the 2025 English Indices of Deprivation, the neighbourhood Townley Grammar School stands in is among the 20% least deprived neighbourhoods in England. This describes where the school is, not where its pupils live.

In 2024/25, Townley Grammar School issued 13 suspensions, 0.8 for every 100 pupils (the average state school: 6.3), and no permanent exclusions.

The primary schools closest to Townley Grammar School are Upton Primary School (0.2 miles), Gravel Hill Primary School (0.7 miles), Old Bexley Church of England School (0.7 miles) and Pelham Primary School (0.7 miles). Admission does not depend on which primary a child attends unless the school's policy names feeder schools.