SF School Facts UK

Boys selective secondary school in Sittingbourne, Kent

Borden Grammar School

Avenue of Remembrance, Sittingbourne, Kent, ME10 4DB

Selective Sixth form Boys
School website 01795424192
Ofsted Report card May 2026
Attainment 8 63.2 in the top 10% nationally
Chance of a place 83% of first choices offered
Local deprivation 5/10 mid-range

Ofsted

Report card12 May 2026

Ofsted report card published, on 12 May 2026.

The report card grades separate areas of the school's work. Ofsted does not combine them into one overall judgement.

Read the Ofsted report

Current published outcome
Report card — no overall grade
Last overall grade in this dataset
Not stored — this dataset keeps the latest inspection, which has no overall grade
Days since inspection
143 days
Framework era
Current framework (no overall grade)

These four fields describe the latest published inspection on this record. The dataset does not keep a previous inspection row, so a school inspected under the current framework will usually have no overall grade to show as “prior”.

Safeguarding
Met
Inclusion
Strong standard
Curriculum and teaching
Expected standard
Achievement
Strong standard
Attendance and behaviour
Strong standard
Personal development and wellbeing
Strong standard
Post-16 provision
Expected standard
Leadership and governance
Strong standard

The report-card scale is Exceptional, Strong standard, Expected standard, Needs attention and Urgent improvement. Safeguarding is graded Met or Not met. These are separate judgements, not a league table or an overall score. How Ofsted's current grades work.

GCSE results 2024/25

Attainment 8 score

63.2 England 47

The average grade across eight GCSEs, doubling English and maths. 50 is roughly a grade 5 average.

Grade 5+ in English & maths

83% England 46.2%

Grade 4+ in English & maths

94% England 66.2%

EBacc average point score

5.8 England 4.2

Entered the EBacc

65% England 40.8%

On Attainment 8 this school is in the top 10% of state-funded secondaries in England.

Compared with the fifth of schools whose intake is least disadvantaged, which is where this one sits, it is in the top quarter.

Progress 8 2023/24

0.26confidence interval 0.01 to 0.51

Taking that range into account, pupils made more progress than similar pupils nationally. DfE bands this as above average.

Progress 8 measures how far pupils moved between the end of primary and their GCSEs, which makes it far fairer than raw attainment. It is shown for 2023/24 because it could not be calculated for 2024/25: that year group would have sat their key stage 2 tests in summer 2020, when the tests were cancelled, so there is no starting point to measure from. Every school in England is affected, not just this one.

A levels 2024/25

Average grade per entry
C+
Average points per entry
34.1

England average 32.3

A level students
117

Getting a place 2026/27 entry

Slightly oversubscribed. Of the 138 families who named this school as their first choice, 83% were offered a place.

Places offered
123

for entry into Year 7

Named it first choice
138
First choices per place
1.12

England average 1.00

First choices offered a place
83%

England 88.5%

Demand has been broadly steady over three years.

These are offers made on national offer day for 2026/27 entry, from the local authority's co-ordinated admissions round. They exclude later movement — waiting lists, appeals and in-year admissions — so a school shown as oversubscribed may still have places by September.

Oversubscription measures popularity, not quality, and the two are not the same thing: a school can be heavily oversubscribed because of its intake, its faith designation or simply because the nearest alternative is further away. We do not publish catchment maps, because catchments are not published: each admissions authority applies its own criteria afresh every year, and the distance that got a child in last year is not a boundary. Read the school's own admissions arrangements for the rules that will actually apply.

Pupils

Pupils on roll
938
Places
949
How full
Nearly full — 938 of 949 places taken
Girls / boys
24 / 914
Overall absence
4%

secondary schools average 8.6%

Persistently absent
7%

secondary schools average 23.9% — pupils missing 10% or more of sessions

Free school meals, last 6 years
12%

England 25.7%

English as an additional language
10%

England 18.7%

With an EHC plan
1%

England 3.5%

On SEN support
2%

England 15%

School funding 2025-26 financial year

Not found for this URN in the 2025-26 release.

Evidence found
Not found for this URN in the 2025-26 release; this is not represented as £0.
Source coverage
DfE mainstream-school allocations for running costs for pupils aged 5-16, importer snapshot 23 August 2026.
What this means
The official mainstream allocation release does not provide a publishable row for this establishment.
What this does not mean
The school received no public funding or has no budget; other establishment types and funding streams use different publications.

Allocation is not expenditure. DfE says this release combines the schools block with several other revenue grants and excludes capital spending. Funding is shown for context and is never used in School Facts ordering, peer groups or quality claims. Source, licence and coverage.

Roads and getting there

Road casualties within 500m

Child pedestrian casualties
5

England average 1.6 — pedestrians under 16, over five years

All reported collisions
52

England average 24.2 over five years

Of those, serious or fatal
11

Public transport

Bus stops within 500m
16

England average 11.9

Nearest station
Sittingbourne Rail Station

0.5 km away — railway station

Every collision reported to the police within 500m of the school over the five years to 2024, from the Department for Transport's road casualty statistics. A high count usually says the school sits on or near a busy road, not that the school is unsafe — counts rise with traffic and with how built up an area is, and a rural school on a fast road may have fewer collisions but a worse one. Distances are straight-line from the school's recorded position.

What pupils do next

After GCSEs

In education, work or training
98%

England 91.4%

Stayed in education
94%

England 85.4%

Started an apprenticeship
2%

England 3.5%

Stayed at this school's sixth form
79%
No sustained destination
2%

England 5.8%

Pupils in the cohort
126

After sixth form

Went to university
60%

England 50%

In education, work or training
84%

England 84.4%

Started an apprenticeship
8%

England 6.5%

Students in the cohort
109

Going on to university 2021/22 leavers

Went to a top third university

10% England 20.9%

The third of higher education providers whose entrants hold the highest average entry qualifications. It is the closest thing in the public data to "did they get into a competitive university", and it separates schools far more sharply than the headline progression rate does.

Went on to a degree
67%

England 65.3%

Students in the cohort
107

These follow an earlier group of leavers than the figures above, and count anyone reaching higher education within two years rather than the term after leaving, so they are not directly comparable with them.

A destination counts only if it lasted at least six months, which is why these figures lag the exam results by a year, and why the university figures track leavers from 2021/22. Small cohorts move these percentages a long way — check the cohort size before reading much into a gap.

The area around the school

5/10 Deprivation decile

Among around the middle for England.

7/10 Child poverty decile

Among the less deprived half of England for children in low-income families.

Indices of Deprivation 2019, for the small area the school stands in. 1 means the most deprived tenth of England, 10 the least. The second measure counts only children living in low-income families, which is the one that describes the intake a school is likely to draw on.

What homes cost nearby

Median sale price
£292,500

postcode sector ME10 4 · 309 sales

Typical range
£249,500 to £357,500

middle half of sales

Detached
£398,000
Semi-detached
£325,000
Terraced
£270,000
Flat
£169,500

Homes around this school are close to the England average.

Every residential sale registered in this postcode sector since January 2024, from HM Land Registry. A sector covers roughly 2,500 addresses. England's median over the same period was £293,000.

Who lives there

Adults with a degree
28%

England 33.8%

Adults with no qualifications
15%

England 18.3%

In professional or managerial work
15%

England 13.4%

Households deprived in 2+ ways
12%

England 17.8%

Residents in very good health
50%

England 48.4%

Housing

Owned by the occupier
75%

England 62.7%

Social housing
6%

England 17%

Privately rented
18%

England 19.2%

Detached homes
41%

England 38.2%

Four or more bedrooms
35%

England 22.5%

No car
17%

England 21.9%

Census 2021, for Swale 013A and the wider neighbourhood around it. These figures describe the area, not the pupils — children may travel in from much further away, and for selective, faith and independent schools they usually do.

School details

Type
Academy converter
Phase
Secondary
Ages
Ages 11–18
Gender
Boys
Admissions
Selective (entrance test)
Religious character
None
Sixth form
Yes
Nursery
No
Boarding
Day school
Trust
Borden Grammar School Trust
Headteacher
Headteacher: Ashley Tomlin
Opened as this establishment
1 January 2012
Register status
Open
Local authority
Kent
Ward
Homewood
Constituency
Sittingbourne and Sheppey
URN
137800

The unique reference number used in all official school data.

Official DfE record
Open the register entry

The source record for this establishment and URN.

The URN identifies this registered establishment. If a school converts or is replaced, DfE may issue a new URN; this page does not stitch different establishments together by a similar name.

Admissions history

The official school-level admissions releases contain up to 13 national-offer-day observations, from 2014/15 to 2026/27. The chart shows first choices per place; the table keeps the underlying counts.

Year 7

1.90 2014/15: 1.35 first choices per place2015/16: 1.32 first choices per place2016/17: 1.27 first choices per place2017/18: 1.24 first choices per place2018/19: 1.07 first choices per place2019/20: 1.15 first choices per place2020/21: 1.20 first choices per place2021/22: 1.73 first choices per place2022/23: 1.05 first choices per place2023/24: 1.12 first choices per place2024/25: 1.26 first choices per place2025/26: 1.10 first choices per place2026/27: 1.12 first choices per place2014201620182020202220242026
All 13 annual observations
Entry yearPlacesFirst choicesPer placeFirst choices offered
2014/15 86 116 1.35 72%
2015/16 111 146 1.32 72%
2016/17 104 132 1.27 75%
2017/18 120 149 1.24 78%
2018/19 118 126 1.07 81%
2019/20 104 120 1.15 78%
2020/21 115 138 1.20 75%
2021/22 110 190 1.73 47%
2022/23 126 132 1.05 83%
2023/24 148 166 1.12 83%
2024/25 149 187 1.26 75%
2025/26 126 139 1.10 80%
2026/27 123 138 1.12 83%

These are annual observations, not forecasts. They exclude waiting lists, appeals and in-year admissions. Each series follows this exact URN only, so academy conversions and missing releases remain visible as gaps rather than being joined by name.

Nearest secondary schools

SchoolOfstedAttainment 8Progress 8DistanceCompare
Highsted Grammar SchoolAcademy converter Good 2023 61.1 -0.04-0.27 to 0.19 · not a win 0.3 mi
Fulston Manor SchoolAcademy converter Requires improvement 2023 35.3 -0.70-0.90 to -0.51 0.3 mi
VTC Independent SchoolOther independent school No overall grade — — 0.5 mi
The Sittingbourne SchoolAcademy sponsor led Good 2023 34.1 -0.70-0.88 to -0.52 1 mi
Westlands SchoolAcademy converter Good 2024 40.6 -0.38-0.54 to -0.22 1.1 mi
Leigh Academy RainhamFree schools Good 2024 — — 5.1 mi
Leigh Academy MinsterAcademy sponsor led No overall grade 28.4 — 6.1 mi
Rainham School for GirlsAcademy converter Report card 2026 44.3 0.330.16 to 0.49 6.4 mi

Schools like this

The 12 state schools in England whose intake most closely matches this one — same phase and sector, and as near as the data allows on size, disadvantage, SEN, English as an additional language and the deprivation of the surrounding area. These are the schools it can fairly be judged against.

This school 63.2
Median of its 12 closest peers 66.4
Kent average 38.1
England average 47

Attainment 8 score. This school is behind the schools that teach a comparable intake.

SchoolAreaOfstedAttainment 8Progress 8Compare
Highsted Grammar SchoolAcademy converter Sittingbourne Good 2023 61.1 -0.04-0.27 to 0.19 · not a win
Fort Pitt Grammar SchoolAcademy converter Chatham Outstanding 2022 65.9 0.640.41 to 0.87
St Anselm's CollegeAcademy converter Prenton No overall grade 57.2 0.03-0.20 to 0.26 · not a win
Brentwood Ursuline Convent High SchoolAcademy converter Brentwood Good 2023 61 1.010.79 to 1.23
Plymouth High School for GirlsAcademy converter Plymouth Good 2024 65.5 0.24-0.03 to 0.50 · not a win
Oakwood Park Grammar SchoolAcademy converter Maidstone Good 2024 68.9 0.620.39 to 0.85
Devonport High School for GirlsAcademy converter Plymouth No overall grade 73.8 0.780.52 to 1.03
Cranbrook SchoolAcademy converter Cranbrook Report card 2026 66.9 —
Urmston Grammar AcademyAcademy converter Manchester Good 2022 71.7 0.880.64 to 1.11
Churston Ferrers Grammar School AcademyAcademy converter Brixham Good 2022 71.2 0.17-0.06 to 0.40 · not a win
Maidstone Grammar School for GirlsFoundation school Maidstone Outstanding 2023 66.4 0.570.36 to 0.77
Kesteven and Sleaford High School Selective AcademyAcademy converter Sleaford No overall grade 61.8 0.670.43 to 0.91

Matching uses only characteristics a school does not choose. It is not a ranking, and a close match on intake does not make two schools interchangeable — sixth form, faith character, admissions rules and simple geography all matter and are not in the calculation.

Evidence ledger

Reference dates and join methods are kept separate because the figures do not all describe the same year or geography.

EvidencePublisherReference dateHow it reaches this page
School identityGet Information About Schools23 August 2026Exact URN 137800; unified importer snapshot
Inspection evidenceOfsted management information31 July 2026Exact URN; inspection 12 May 2026
AttainmentDfE performance tables2024/25Exact URN; phase-specific definitions
Progress 8DfE performance tables2023/24Exact URN; confidence interval retained
AdmissionsDfE school applications and offers2026/27 plus history to 2014/15Exact URN and entry point; national offer day
Pupil intakeDfE school census2024/25Exact URN; suppressed values remain missing
Funding allocationDfE school funding statistics2025-26 financial yearNo row for this URN in the mainstream-school release; not represented as zero
Roads and transportDfT road casualties, traffic and NaPTANFive-year road window; access-node snapshotCoordinate join within the stated radius
NeighbourhoodONS Census2021LSOA/MSOA containing the school, not pupil homes
DeprivationEnglish Indices of Deprivation2019LSOA containing the school
Home pricesHM Land Registry Price Paid DataSales since January 2024School postcode sector, not a catchment

These sources are published for reuse under the Open Government Licence v3.0, including the Crown database-right notice that accompanies Price Paid Data. Definitions and source notes. If something here looks wrong, the school's own website is the authority on admissions and open days.

Questions this school record can answer

Which exact school is this?

Match the DfE URN, school name and address; names and structures can change while the URN remains the stable identifier.

What does the latest inspection evidence say?

Use the inspection date and framework shown. Do not compare a legacy overall grade directly with the newer report-card judgements.

How should I compare nearby schools?

Compare the same phase, cohort and academic year, then keep intake context and confidence intervals beside performance measures.

What must a parent verify?

Check current admissions rules, travel practicality, support for the child’s needs and the school’s latest official information before deciding.