The Norton Knatchbull School
Secondary · Academy converter · Boys · Kent
Hythe Road, Ashford, TN24 0QJ
92
headline score
Ranking (England)
—
No ranked results
Ofsted
Good
Graded 13/12/2023
Application demand
75%
1st preference success · Oversubscribed
Attendance
96.0%
6.7% persistently absent
At a glance
Pupils on roll
1,348
Capacity used
Over capacity102%
1,316 places
GCSE rank (England)
—
KS2 rank (England)
—
Application demand
Secondary entry · official council applications and offers
75%
1st preference success rate
153 of 203 families who put it first got an offer
173
Places offered
376
Total applications
2.2
Applications per place
| Preference (Sept 2025 entry) | Applications | Offers | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st preference | 203 | 153 | ● 75% |
| 2nd preference | 84 | 11 | ● 13% |
| 3rd preference | 53 | 6 | ● 11% |
| 4th preference | 36 | 3 | ● 8% |
| Total | 376 | 173 | 46% |
1st preference success by year
Kent lets families list 4 preferences. 14 applications came from outside the council area (6 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
- Religious character
- None
- Admissions policy
- Selective
- Sixth form
- Yes
- Nursery
- No Nursery Classes
- Boarding
- No boarders
- Headteacher
- Jamie Maclean
- Address
- Hythe Road, Ashford, TN24 0QJ
- Phone
- 01233620045
- Local authority
- Kent
- Ward / constituency
- Furley · Ashford
- Area
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- URN
- 138019
Pupils
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free school meals | 9% | — | — |
| English as additional language | 19% | — | — |
| SEN support | 2% | — | — |
Local deprivation (IDACI quintile 2 of 5)
1 = least deprived area, 5 = most deprived. Context only.
Academy trust: THE NORTON KNATCHBULL SCHOOL
1,348 pupils · 1,316 places. Intake figures describe the school's community — they aren't good or bad.
Ofsted inspections
- 23
13 December 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 - 22
20 October 2022
Ungraded inspection
School remains Good (Concerns) - S5 Next
Attendance
2024/2025 school year · 1,036 pupils
Attendance
96.0%
Share of sessions attended · England 91.1%
Overall absence
4.0%
Sessions missed, any reason · England 8.9%
Persistent absence
6.7%
Pupils missing 10%+ of school · England 26.7%
Severe absence
0.7%
Pupils missing 50%+ of school · England 2.3%
Unauthorised absence
0.5%
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 | 64.2 | — | — |
| Progress 8 score | 0.32 | — | 0.00 |
| Grade 5+ in English & maths | 86% | — | — |
| Grade 4+ in English & maths | 97% | — | — |
| EBacc average point score | 6.19 | — | — |
Progress 8 band
A-level results
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average points per entry | 32.43 | — | — |
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 | 67.3 | 46 |
| Grade 5+ English & maths | 90.9% | 46% |
| Grade 4+ English & maths | 97.1% | 65% |
| Entering EBacc | 98.6% | 40% |
| EBacc average point score | 6.52 | 4.1 |
| Pupils in cohort | 208 | — |
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 | 34.6 | 35 |
| Average grade | C+ | — |
| AAB or better (2 facilitating) | 11.5% | 17% |
| A-level students | 130 | — |
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 | 208 | 63% | 97% | 99% | |
| English Language | 208 | 42% | 90% | 97% | |
| English Literature | 208 | 36% | 86% | 95% | |
| History | 133 | 45% | 85% | 93% | |
| Geography | 133 | 54% | 86% | 99% | |
| Biology | 121 | 62% | 97% | 99% | |
| Physics | 121 | 70% | 99% | 100% | |
| Chemistry | 121 | 73% | 98% | 99% | |
| Design & Technology | 116 | 61% | 96% | 98% | |
| Spanish | 115 | 26% | 67% | 78% | |
| French | 90 | 18% | 70% | 78% | |
| Computer Science | 88 | 49% | 86% | 92% |
A level
| Subject | Entries | A* | A*–A | A*–B | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mathematics | 48 | 13% | 35% | 50% | |
| Physics | 32 | 6% | 19% | 50% | |
| Chemistry | 30 | 7% | 20% | 60% | |
| Business Studies | 28 | 0% | 0% | 57% | |
| Psychology | 26 | 4% | 19% | 62% | |
| Biology | 25 | 0% | 20% | 32% | |
| Geography | 25 | 0% | 4% | 52% | |
| History | 22 | 0% | 27% | 55% | |
| English Language and Literature | 20 | 0% | 10% | 55% | |
| Economics | 19 | 0% | 0% | 21% | |
| Computer Science | 18 | 6% | 44% | 67% | |
| Sociology | 17 | 0% | 0% | 41% |
Oxbridge
Cambridge offers by year
Ranked #160 of 1,018 UK schools with Cambridge offers2
UCAS apply centre 11233: The Norton Knatchbull School
| Cambridge admissions1 | 2025 |
|---|---|
| Applications | 6 |
| Offers | ≤5 |
| 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) | 62% | — | — |
| Apprenticeships | 6% | — | — |
| Any education or training | 66% | — | — |
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.