Schools around here

Valley Park School

Secondary · Academy converter · Mixed · Kent

Huntsman Lane, Maidstone, ME14 5DT

Website 01622679421

56

headline score

Ranking (England)

—

No ranked results

Ofsted

Not judged

Graded 28/01/2025

Application demand

82%

1st preference success · Not oversubscribed

Attendance

92.4%

23.4% persistently absent

Above averageAround averageBelow averagecompared with the England average for state-funded schools.

At a glance

Pupils on roll

1,555

Capacity used

Over capacity

134%

1,157 places

GCSE rank (England)

—

KS2 rank (England)

—

Application demand

Secondary entry · official council applications and offers

Not oversubscribed

82%

1st preference success rate

168 of 205 families who put it first got an offer

235

Places offered

920

Total applications

3.9

Applications per place

Preference (Sept 2025 entry)ApplicationsOffersSuccess
1st preference205168● 82%
2nd preference28953● 18%
3rd preference2338● 3%
4th preference1936● 3%
Total92023526%

1st preference success by year

58%
2020
77%
2021
75%
2022
74%
2023
90%
2024
82%
2025

Kent lets families list 4 preferences. 7 applications came from outside the council area (1 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
Mixed
Religious character
None
Admissions policy
Non-selective
Sixth form
Yes
Boarding
No boarders
Headteacher
D Jones
Address
Huntsman Lane, Maidstone, ME14 5DT
Phone
01622679421
Local authority
Kent
Ward / constituency
Grove Green & Vinters Park · Faversham and Mid Kent
Area
Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
URN
136581

Pupils

MeasureSchoolLAEngland
Free school meals23%——
English as additional language18%——
SEN support11%——
44% boys (687)56% girls (868)

Local deprivation (IDACI quintile 2 of 5)

1 = least deprived area, 5 = most deprived. Context only.

Academy trust: VALLEY INVICTA ACADEMIES TRUST

1,555 pupils · 1,157 places. Intake figures describe the school's community — they aren't good or bad.

Ofsted inspections

  1. 25

    28 January 2025

    Full graded inspection

    Not judged overall effectiveness
    Sixth formGood
    Personal developmentGood
    Quality of educationGood
    Safeguarding effectiveYes
    Behaviour and attitudesGood
    Leadership and managementGood
View all Ofsted reports

Attendance

2024/2025 school year · 1,345 pupils

Attendance

92.4%

Share of sessions attended · England 91.1%

Overall absence

7.6%

Sessions missed, any reason · England 8.9%

Persistent absence

23.4%

Pupils missing 10%+ of school · England 26.7%

Severe absence

2.8%

Pupils missing 50%+ of school · England 2.3%

Unauthorised absence

2.1%

Absences the school didn't approve

Persistent absence by year

10%
20/21
25%
21/22
24%
22/23
25%
23/24
23%
24/25

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

MeasureSchoolLAEngland
Attainment 8 score39.2——
Progress 8 score-0.60—0.00
Grade 5+ in English & maths28%——
Grade 4+ in English & maths55%——
EBacc average point score3.36——

Progress 8 band

Well below
5% of schools
Below
26% of schools
Average
43% of schools
Above
21% of schools
Well above
5% of schools

A-level results

MeasureSchoolLAEngland
Average points per entry24.18——

Average grade: D+ (England B-)

GCSE results over time

45.1201942.4202238.9202339.2202437.62025

Attainment 8 by year (2020 and 2021 exams were cancelled)

ResultSchoolEngland (approx.)
Attainment 837.646
Grade 5+ English & maths24.7%46%
Grade 4+ English & maths55.9%65%
Entering EBacc35%40%
EBacc average point score3.24.1
Pupils in cohort263—

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.

Disadvantaged pupils
-1.02
Other pupils
-0.54
Low prior attainers
-0.08
Middle prior attainers
-0.57
High prior attainers
-1.52
Girls
-0.57
Boys
-0.62

A-level results over time

32.88201931.07202229.79202324.18202422.42025

Average points per entry by year (2020 and 2021 exams were cancelled)

ResultSchoolEngland (approx.)
Average points per entry22.435
Average gradeD+—
AAB or better (2 facilitating)4.8%17%
A-level students118—

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.

SubjectEntriesGrade 7+Grade 5+Grade 4+
Mathematics2626%30%59%
English Language2623%31%58%
English Literature2587%42%62%
Combined Science2574%21%44%
Geography2041%20%42%
History1683%24%39%
Art and Design12017%69%89%
French891%8%12%
Business580%22%52%
Social Studies420%12%21%
Design & Technology383%16%34%
Food Preparation & Nutrition349%35%56%

A level

SubjectEntriesA*A*–AA*–B
Psychology450%0%2%
English Literature260%4%12%
Religious Studies220%0%0%
Geography170%0%24%
Government and Politics170%6%18%
Graphics1613%25%81%
History150%0%13%
Photography1217%17%25%
Art and Design80%0%13%
Computer Science80%0%0%
Mathematics40%0%0%
Spanish30%0%0%

Oxbridge

<32021<32022

Cambridge offers by year

Ranked #324 of 1,897 UK schools with Cambridge offers2

UCAS apply centre 16970: Valley Park Community School, Maidstone

Cambridge admissions12022
Applications<3
Offers<3
Success rate—
Accepted offers<3

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

MeasureSchoolLAEngland
Higher education (university)46%——
Apprenticeships11%——
Any education or training47%——

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.

EntryDeadlineOffer day
Year 7 (secondary)31 October1 March (or next working day)

Admissions policy: Non-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.