Highworth Grammar School

Ashford · TN24 8UD

General information Secondary School · 11-18 years Who goes here 1553 pupils, 9.1% FSM

Educational attainment Ofsted and results

Parent score Rate this school No reviews yet - be the first SEN 8% on SEN support Behaviour 4.8% absence rate Staff 9.9% turnover Financials £6,363 per pupil Environment Buildings and facilities

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Highworth Grammar School

General Information

Address: Maidstone Road, Ashford, TN24 8UD – View on map
Phone: 01233624910
Website: Visit school website
Headteacher: Mr Duncan Beer
Age range: 11-18 years
Demand for places (Year 7, September 2026): 267 families put it first for 214 places – 12 for every 10 places. 75% of them were offered a place. 7 of the 214 places went to families living outside the council area. Children putting it first, for every 10 places: 2023 12 · 2024 14 · 2025 13 · 2026 12
Sixth form: Yes
Intake: Girls
Religious character: Does not apply
Nursery provision: No

Who goes here

1553 pupils out of 1520 places At or near capacity

Pupils eligible for free school meals: 99
% eligible for free school meals: 9.1%
Pupil mix: 7 in 10 (more mixed than the Ashford average)
English as an additional language: 29% (England 22%)

Staff

Teachers leaving each year

Teacher turnover: 9.9% a year (Ashford 13.4%, typical in England 15.5%) Low turnover
Where they went: about 27% moved to another school, 73% left state schools altogether (retirement, other careers, independent schools, abroad)
Data years: 2022/23 to 2024/25 (average of 3 years, DfE school workforce census)

Teachers who moved school or left state schools in the year after each November, as a share of all the school's teachers. Some turnover is healthy – retirements, promotions, moving house. "Low turnover" means it's among the quarter of similar schools in England where teachers are most likely to stay.

Behaviour

Awaiting Data

About this Behaviour status

We've asked this school for real behaviour figures under Freedom of Information and haven't had a response yet.

Across Kent: suspensions by reason

Suspensions for sexual misconduct: 155 (1.3 per 1,000 pupils; England 1.7)
Permanent exclusions for sexual misconduct: 0
Suspensions for bullying: 189 (1.6 per 1,000 pupils; England 1.9)
Suspensions for abuse against sexual orientation or gender identity: 83 (0.7 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.8)
Data year: 2024/25 (DfE suspensions and exclusions statistics)

These are figures for all state secondary schools in Kent (the council area this school is in), not this school's own – the government doesn't publish them school by school. A suspension can have up to three reasons. Most sexual harassment between pupils never leads to a suspension, so these figures show only part of the picture.

Attendance

Overall absence: 4.8%
Persistently absent pupils: 9.6%
Data year: 2024/25

About persistent absence

A pupil is counted as "persistently absent" if they miss 10% or more of their possible school sessions - roughly one day in every two weeks. Schools and Ofsted both pay close attention to this figure specifically, since it can highlight a pattern the overall absence rate alone might hide.

SEN

No dedicated Unit or Resourced Provision

SEN Unit and Resourced Provision

Most mainstream schools don't have a dedicated SEN Unit or Resourced Provision - it isn't a mark against a school that doesn't, just a different kind of setup than one that does.

Pupils on SEN Support: 8.0%
Pupils with an EHC Plan: 0.3%
Data year: 2025/26

Most common needs - SEN Support

Autistic spectrum disorder: 36 pupils
Social, emotional and mental health: 25 pupils
SEN support but no specialist assessment of type of need: 24 pupils
Specific learning difficulty: 22 pupils
Other difficulty or disability: 5 pupils

Most common needs - EHC Plan

Social, emotional and mental health: 2 pupils
Specific learning difficulty: 1 pupil
Physical disability: 1 pupil
Autistic spectrum disorder: 1 pupil

These figures show the makeup of the school.

About these SEND figures

These figures give a sense of the makeup of the school - they aren't a judgement on the quality of support provided.

Parent score - no reviews yet –

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Behaviour

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Openness

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Teaching Quality

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School Ethos

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Ability to Deal with Problems

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Headteacher Approval

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SafeguardingSafeguarding (parent rating)How parents rate the school on keeping children safe - how safe their child feels, and how well concerns are listened to and acted on. It's parents' experience, not an inspection result; Ofsted checks safeguarding separately.

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Would recommend –

Educational Attainment

No overall grade given 2025 report

About this Ofsted rating

Ofsted stopped giving single overall grades for a period between September 2024 and November 2025 - this school's most recent inspection falls in that window, so there's no single rating to show, even though it was inspected. The full report (linked below) still has the detail.

Attainment 8 score: 70.8
Compared with the area: 23.9 points above the Ashford average (46.9)
Compared with schools with similar pupils: not compared – selective (grammar) school - chooses pupils by ability
Grade 4+ in English and maths: 100% (Ashford 66%, England 65%) Broadly steady
Data year: 2024/25

View the School Context Comparator – how this school's results compare with schools teaching similar pupils.

GCSE results over time

This schoolAshford averageEngland→ Broadly steady No clear rise or fall since 2022/23 (changes this small are normal from one year group to the next). In 2024/25 this school was 23.9 points above the Ashford average (46.9).

About the Attainment 8 score

Attainment 8 measures a pupil's average result across 8 GCSE-equivalent qualifications (English and maths count double). It shows how pupils performed, not how much progress they made getting there - a school with a higher score doesn't necessarily add more value, since pupils often arrive with different starting points. Progress 8 is the measure designed to account for that, but it currently can't be calculated for any school for the two most recent academic years, due to a nationwide gap in the data caused by COVID-19 disruption to Key Stage 2 testing.

1st of 7 secondary schools in Ashford for Attainment 8

#1Highworth Grammar School70.8
#2The Norton Knatchbull School67.3
#3Wye School46.6

Click to see the full ranking

Attainment 8 ranking

Illustrative MVP scores - not based on verified data yet.

Rank School Score

#1Highworth Grammar School70.8
#2The Norton Knatchbull School67.3
#3Wye School46.6
#4The North School41.1
#5Towers School and Sixth Form Centre40.6
#6Homewood School and Sixth Form Centre39.7
#7The John Wallis Church of England Academy30.6

GCSE Subjects Offered

English Literature
English Language
Maths (General)
Religious Studies
Physics (General)
Chemistry (General)
Biology
History
Geography
German
Spanish
Science Double Award
Media Studies
Art & Design
Business Studies
French Language
D & T
Economics
Dance: General
Music Studies (General)
Speech & Drama
Computer Science
Food Technology
Sports Studies
Polish

About this subject list

This isn't the school's own description of its curriculum - it's real DfE exam entry data, showing which GCSE subjects this school's pupils were actually entered for in 2024/25. A subject not appearing here may still be taught but had no pupils entered that year, so treat this as a helpful guide rather than a complete guarantee - it's worth confirming directly with the school for the year your child would actually study.

View full Ofsted inspection report

Financials

Spending per pupil: £6,363 (2024-25)

About this spending figure

A higher or lower position here isn't a sign of a better or worse school - schools have different needs and circumstances - but it can help reassure you that a school has sufficient funding behind your child's education.

8th of 8 secondary schools in Ashford for spending per pupil

#6Towers School and Sixth Form Centre£7,281
#7The Norton Knatchbull School£6,710
#8Highworth Grammar School£6,363

Click to see the full ranking

Spending Per Pupil ranking

Based on official DfE financial return data (Consistent Financial Reporting / Academies Accounts Return) - not a ranking of school quality.

Rank School Score

#1Wye School£9,184
#2The North School£8,799
#3Chilmington Green School£8,393
#4Homewood School and Sixth Form Centre£7,684
#5The John Wallis Church of England Academy£7,342
#6Towers School and Sixth Form Centre£7,281
#7The Norton Knatchbull School£6,710
#8Highworth Grammar School£6,363

View on the Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool (GOV.UK)

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General Information

Who goes here

Staff

Teachers leaving each year

Behaviour

Across Kent: suspensions by reason

Attendance

SEN

Most common needs - SEN Support

Most common needs - EHC Plan

Educational Attainment

Attainment 8 ranking

GCSE Subjects Offered ?

Financials

Spending Per Pupil ranking

GCSE Subjects Offered