Holcombe Grammar School
Secondary · Academy converter · Boys · Medway
Holcombe, Chatham, ME4 6JB
86
headline score
Ranking (England)
—
No ranked results
Ofsted
School remains Good
No graded inspection
Application demand
59%
1st preference success · Not oversubscribed
Attendance
94.6%
14.1% persistently absent
At a glance
Pupils on roll
1,060
Capacity used
Over capacity106%
1,000 places
GCSE rank (England)
—
KS2 rank (England)
—
Application demand
Secondary entry · official council applications and offers
59%
1st preference success rate
81 of 137 families who put it first got an offer
179
Places offered
733
Total applications
4.1
Applications per place
| Preference (Sept 2025 entry) | Applications | Offers | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st preference | 137 | 81 | ● 59% |
| 2nd preference | 295 | 62 | ● 21% |
| 3rd preference | 178 | 26 | ● 15% |
| Later preferences (4th–6th) | 123 | 10 | ● 8% |
| Total | 733 | 179 | 24% |
1st preference success by year
Medway lets families list 6 preferences. 178 applications came from outside the council area (46 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
- Boys
- Admissions policy
- Selective
- Sixth form
- Yes
- Boarding
- No boarders
- Headteacher
- Lee Preston
- Address
- Holcombe, Maidstone Road, Chatham, ME4 6JB
- Phone
- 03333602130
- Local authority
- Medway
- Ward / constituency
- Fort Pitt · Chatham and Aylesford
- Area
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- URN
- 136594
Pupils
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free school meals | 13% | — | — |
| English as additional language | 13% | — | — |
| SEN support | 1% | — | — |
Local deprivation (IDACI quintile 3 of 5)
1 = least deprived area, 5 = most deprived. Context only.
Academy trust: THE THINKING SCHOOLS ACADEMY TRUST
1,060 pupils · 1,000 places. Intake figures describe the school's community — they aren't good or bad.
Ofsted inspections
- 24
13 March 2024
Ungraded inspection
School remains Good
Attendance
2024/2025 school year · 759 pupils
Attendance
94.6%
Share of sessions attended · England 91.1%
Overall absence
5.4%
Sessions missed, any reason · England 8.9%
Persistent absence
14.1%
Pupils missing 10%+ of school · England 26.7%
Severe absence
0.1%
Pupils missing 50%+ of school · England 2.3%
Unauthorised absence
0.7%
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 | 59.9 | — | — |
| Progress 8 score | 0.15 | — | 0.00 |
| Grade 5+ in English & maths | 86% | — | — |
| Grade 4+ in English & maths | 98% | — | — |
| EBacc average point score | 5.67 | — | — |
Progress 8 band
A-level results
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average points per entry | 31.15 | — | — |
Average grade: C (England B-)
GCSE results over time
Attainment 8 by year (2020 and 2021 exams were cancelled)
| Result | School | England (approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 | 62.4 | 46 |
| Grade 5+ English & maths | 84.7% | 46% |
| Grade 4+ English & maths | 96.7% | 65% |
| Entering EBacc | 96.7% | 40% |
| EBacc average point score | 5.97 | 4.1 |
| Pupils in cohort | 150 | — |
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 | 33.55 | 35 |
| Average grade | C+ | — |
| AAB or better (2 facilitating) | 9.7% | 17% |
| A-level students | 124 | — |
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 | 150 | 56% | 89% | 99% | |
| English Language | 150 | 35% | 91% | 96% | |
| English Literature | 150 | 33% | 82% | 96% | |
| Spanish | 129 | 12% | 45% | 64% | |
| Combined Science | 93 | 30% | 78% | 96% | |
| History | 88 | 41% | 78% | 86% | |
| Geography | 60 | 30% | 77% | 95% | |
| Biology | 57 | 40% | 91% | 95% | |
| Physics | 57 | 70% | 95% | 96% | |
| Chemistry | 57 | 65% | 93% | 98% | |
| Social Studies | 48 | 25% | 73% | 88% | |
| Business | 43 | 51% | 95% | 100% |
A level
| Subject | Entries | A* | A*–A | A*–B | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mathematics | 43 | 7% | 44% | 53% | |
| Chemistry | 35 | 0% | 23% | 40% | |
| Business Studies | 35 | 9% | 23% | 63% | |
| Psychology | 34 | 6% | 21% | 56% | |
| Biology | 28 | 4% | 11% | 32% | |
| English Language and Literature | 24 | 0% | 0% | 8% | |
| Economics | 22 | 0% | 18% | 64% | |
| Design and Technology (Product Design) | 18 | 0% | 11% | 33% | |
| Computer Science | 17 | 6% | 35% | 41% | |
| Law | 16 | 13% | 19% | 44% | |
| History | 16 | 0% | 0% | 31% | |
| Physics | 14 | 7% | 21% | 64% |
Oxbridge
Cambridge offers by year
No Cambridge offers this year
UCAS apply centre 11276: Holcombe Grammar School
| Cambridge admissions1 | 2025 |
|---|---|
| Applications | ≤5 |
| Offers | 0 |
| Success rate | — |
| Accepted offers | 0 |
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) | 57% | — | — |
| Apprenticeships | 10% | — | — |
| Any education or training | 58% | — | — |
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 Medway 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.