Highsted Grammar School
Secondary · Academy converter · Girls · Kent
Highsted Road, Sittingbourne, ME10 4PT
87
headline score
Ranking (England)
—
No ranked results
Ofsted
Good
Graded 17/01/2023
Application demand
74%
1st preference success · Oversubscribed
Attendance
94.0%
16.1% persistently absent
At a glance
Pupils on roll
793
Capacity used
Nearly full96%
830 places
GCSE rank (England)
—
KS2 rank (England)
—
Application demand
Secondary entry · official council applications and offers
74%
1st preference success rate
106 of 143 families who put it first got an offer
111
Places offered
326
Total applications
2.9
Applications per place
| Preference (Sept 2025 entry) | Applications | Offers | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st preference | 143 | 106 | ● 74% |
| 2nd preference | 55 | 3 | ● 5% |
| 3rd preference | 58 | 2 | ● 3% |
| 4th preference | 70 | 0 | ● 0% |
| Total | 326 | 111 | 34% |
1st preference success by year
Kent lets families list 4 preferences. 2 applications came from outside the council area (0 offered). Source: Department for Education, school-level applications and offers. Offers are made on each school's admissions criteria (e.g. siblings, distance, faith), so check the school's policy.
Details
- Type
- Academy converter
- Phase
- Secondary
- Age range
- 11–18
- Gender
- Girls
- Religious character
- None
- Admissions policy
- Selective
- Sixth form
- Yes
- Boarding
- No boarders
- Headteacher
- Anne Kelly
- Address
- Highsted Road, Sittingbourne, ME10 4PT
- Phone
- 01795424223
- Local authority
- Kent
- Ward / constituency
- Woodstock · Sittingbourne and Sheppey
- Area
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- URN
- 136305
Pupils
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free school meals | 13% | — | — |
| English as additional language | 7% | — | — |
| SEN support | 6% | — | — |
Local deprivation (IDACI quintile 3 of 5)
1 = least deprived area, 5 = most deprived. Context only.
Academy trust: HIGHSTED ACADEMY TRUST
793 pupils · 830 places. Intake figures describe the school's community — they aren't good or bad.
Ofsted inspections
- 23
17 January 2023
Full graded inspection
Good overall effectivenessSixth form Good Personal development Good Quality of education Good Safeguarding effective Yes Behaviour and attitudes Good Leadership and management Good
Attendance
2024/2025 school year · 679 pupils
Attendance
94.0%
Share of sessions attended · England 91.1%
Overall absence
6.0%
Sessions missed, any reason · England 8.9%
Persistent absence
16.1%
Pupils missing 10%+ of school · England 26.7%
Severe absence
1.8%
Pupils missing 50%+ of school · England 2.3%
Unauthorised absence
1.2%
Absences the school didn't approve
Persistent absence by year
Source: Department for Education, pupil absence by school (pupils aged 5–15). Lower absence is better. England figures are approximate 2023/24 averages.
GCSE results
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 score | 60.6 | — | — |
| Progress 8 score | -0.04 | — | 0.00 |
| Grade 5+ in English & maths | 76% | — | — |
| Grade 4+ in English & maths | 92% | — | — |
| EBacc average point score | 5.78 | — | — |
Progress 8 band
A-level results
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average points per entry | 35.33 | — | — |
Average grade: B- (England B-)
GCSE results over time
Attainment 8 by year (2020 and 2021 exams were cancelled)
| Result | School | England (approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 | 61.1 | 46 |
| Grade 5+ English & maths | 82.4% | 46% |
| Grade 4+ English & maths | 94.4% | 65% |
| Entering EBacc | 97.2% | 40% |
| EBacc average point score | 5.88 | 4.1 |
| Pupils in cohort | 142 | — |
How different pupils progress (GCSE, 2023/2024)
Progress 8 by group. 0 is the national average; above 0 means pupils do better than similar children elsewhere.
A-level results over time
Average points per entry by year (2020 and 2021 exams were cancelled)
| Result | School | England (approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| Average points per entry | 33.8 | 35 |
| Average grade | C+ | — |
| AAB or better (2 facilitating) | 9.6% | 17% |
| A-level students | 76 | — |
Results by subject
Official DfE exam results for summer 2025. Green, amber and red compare against typical results in England; subjects with fewer than 5 entries aren't rated.
GCSE
Grade 4 is a standard pass, 5 a strong pass, 7 equals the old A.
| Subject | Entries | Grade 7+ | Grade 5+ | Grade 4+ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mathematics | 142 | 20% | 85% | 95% | |
| English Language | 142 | 38% | 90% | 98% | |
| English Literature | 139 | 40% | 94% | 98% | |
| History | 102 | 49% | 90% | 94% | |
| Social Studies | 95 | 38% | 84% | 93% | |
| Combined Science | 89 | 15% | 83% | 93% | |
| German | 74 | 12% | 50% | 66% | |
| French | 66 | 29% | 67% | 77% | |
| Business | 61 | 36% | 87% | 98% | |
| Geography | 55 | 53% | 93% | 96% | |
| Biology | 53 | 53% | 98% | 98% | |
| Physics | 53 | 38% | 98% | 100% |
A level
| Subject | Entries | A* | A*–A | A*–B | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Psychology | 30 | 0% | 13% | 47% | |
| History | 27 | 11% | 26% | 67% | |
| Sociology | 25 | 4% | 44% | 84% | |
| English Literature | 23 | 22% | 39% | 70% | |
| Mathematics | 22 | 0% | 18% | 32% | |
| Business Studies | 18 | 6% | 11% | 33% | |
| Economics | 16 | 0% | 13% | 44% | |
| Biology | 15 | 0% | 7% | 47% | |
| Chemistry | 15 | 0% | 0% | 20% | |
| Photography | 15 | 0% | 0% | 47% | |
| Film Studies | 11 | 0% | 27% | 82% | |
| Art and Design | 11 | 18% | 27% | 91% |
Oxbridge
Cambridge offers by year
Ranked #160 of 1,018 UK schools with Cambridge offers2
UCAS apply centre 11362: Highsted Grammar School
| Cambridge admissions1 | 2025 |
|---|---|
| Applications | ≤5 |
| Offers | ≤5 |
| Success rate | — |
| Accepted offers | ≤5 |
1 Source: University of Cambridge, applications, offers and acceptances by UCAS apply centre. To protect privacy small counts are hidden: "<3" means 0–2 (up to 2023); "≤5" means 1–5 (from 2024). Success rate is only shown when exact numbers are published (England average is about 20%).
2 Schools ranked by number of offers; this doesn't account for school size. Oxford doesn't publish per-school figures, so they aren't shown.
Where students go next
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Higher education (university) | 71% | — | — |
| Apprenticeships | 8% | — | — |
| Any education or training | 71% | — | — |
Oxford/Cambridge application numbers aren't published per school in official data, so university progression is shown instead.
House prices near the school
Typical sold prices (Land Registry) within 1 km, last 12 months.
Loading prices…
Key application dates
National deadlines in England. Apply through Kent council, not the school.
| Entry | Deadline | Offer day |
|---|---|---|
| Year 7 (secondary) | 31 October | 1 March (or next working day) |
Admissions policy: Selective. Check the school's own admissions rules on its website.
Source: Get Information About Schools and the DfE school and college performance tables (2023-2024); Oxbridge figures from the University of Cambridge's admissions by UCAS apply centre (Oxford doesn't publish per-school figures). Read the method.