Selective secondary school in Cranbrook, Kent
Cranbrook School
Waterloo Road, Cranbrook, Kent, TN17 3JD
Ofsted
Ofsted report card published, on 6 May 2026.
The report card grades separate areas of the school's work. Ofsted does not combine them into one overall judgement.
- 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
- 149 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
- Expected standard
- Curriculum and teaching
- Expected standard
- Achievement
- Strong standard
- Attendance and behaviour
- Strong standard
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Expected standard
- Post-16 provision
- Strong standard
- Leadership and governance
- Expected 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
The average grade across eight GCSEs, doubling English and maths. 50 is roughly a grade 5 average.
Grade 5+ in English & maths
Grade 4+ in English & maths
EBacc average point score
Entered the EBacc
On Attainment 8 this school is in the top 5% 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
No Progress 8 score published for this school.
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
- B
- Average points per entry
- 40.6
- A level students
- 152
England average 32.3
Getting a place 2026/27 entry
Oversubscribed. Of the 143 families who named this school as their first choice, 60% were offered a place.
- Places offered
- 88
- Named it first choice
- 143
- First choices per place
- 1.62
- First choices offered a place
- 60%
for entry into Year 7
England average 1.00
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
- 958
- Places
- 954
- How full
- Full — 958 pupils against 954 places
- Girls / boys
- 457 / 501
- Overall absence
- 5%
- Persistently absent
- 11%
secondary schools average 8.6%
secondary schools average 23.9% — pupils missing 10% or more of sessions
- Free school meals, last 6 years
- 6%
- English as an additional language
- 7%
- With an EHC plan
- 0%
- On SEN support
- 1%
England 25.7%
England 18.7%
England 3.5%
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
- 3
- All reported collisions
- 11
- Of those, serious or fatal
- 2
- Busiest road nearby
- C
England average 1.6 — pedestrians under 16, over five years
England average 24.2 over five years
3,525 vehicles a day (2025)
Public transport
- Bus stops within 500m
- 6
- Nearest station
- Not published
England average 11.9
No station within 5km
Traffic volume is the context the collision count needs: a school beside a major road will record more collisions than one on a quiet street without being any less well run.
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
- 97%
- Stayed in education
- 97%
- Started an apprenticeship
- 1%
- Stayed at this school's sixth form
- 86%
- No sustained destination
- 1%
- Pupils in the cohort
- 153
England 91.4%
England 85.4%
England 3.5%
England 5.8%
After sixth form
- Went to university
- 52%
- In education, work or training
- 83%
- Started an apprenticeship
- 1%
- Students in the cohort
- 150
England 50%
England 84.4%
England 6.5%
Going on to university 2021/22 leavers
Went to a top third university
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
- 89%
- Students in the cohort
- 140
England 65.3%
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
Among around the middle for England.
Among around the middle for 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
- £410,000
- Typical range
- £310,000 to £573,750
- Detached
- £580,000
- Semi-detached
- £392,500
- Terraced
- £300,000
- Flat
- £238,500
postcode sector TN17 3 · 160 sales
middle half of sales
Homes around this school are dearer than most of England.
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
- 29%
- Adults with no qualifications
- 21%
- In professional or managerial work
- 16%
- Households deprived in 2+ ways
- 14%
- Residents in very good health
- 50%
England 33.8%
England 18.3%
England 13.4%
England 17.8%
England 48.4%
Housing
- Owned by the occupier
- 44%
- Social housing
- 32%
- Privately rented
- 24%
- Detached homes
- 37%
- Four or more bedrooms
- 33%
- No car
- 23%
England 62.7%
England 17%
England 19.2%
England 38.2%
England 22.5%
England 21.9%
Census 2021, for Tunbridge Wells 013C 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
- Mixed
- Admissions
- Selective (entrance test)
- Religious character
- Christian
- Sixth form
- Yes
- Nursery
- No
- Boarding
- Boarding school
- Trust
- Cranbrook School Academy Trust
- Headteacher
- Headteacher: David Clark
- Opened as this establishment
- 1 December 2011
- Register status
- Open
- Local authority
- Kent
- Ward
- Cranbrook, Sissinghurst & Frittenden
- Constituency
- Weald of Kent
- URN
- 137739
The unique reference number used in all official school data.
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
All 10 annual observations
| Entry year | Places | First choices | Per place | First choices offered |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017/18 | 30 | 52 | 1.73 | 54% |
| 2018/19 | 59 | 93 | 1.58 | 62% |
| 2019/20 | 60 | 92 | 1.53 | 60% |
| 2020/21 | 58 | 94 | 1.62 | 51% |
| 2021/22 | 57 | 157 | 2.75 | 35% |
| 2022/23 | 59 | 118 | 2.00 | 47% |
| 2023/24 | 90 | 147 | 1.63 | 59% |
| 2024/25 | 90 | 133 | 1.48 | 65% |
| 2025/26 | 89 | 140 | 1.57 | 62% |
| 2026/27 | 88 | 143 | 1.62 | 60% |
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
| School | Ofsted | Attainment 8 | Progress 8 | Distance | Compare |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Dulwich School CranbrookOther independent school | No overall grade | — | — | 0.9 mi | |
| Benenden SchoolOther independent school | No overall grade | — | — | 2.1 mi | |
| Bethany SchoolOther independent school | No overall grade | — | — | 3.6 mi | |
| Homewood School and Sixth Form CentreAcademy converter | Good 2023 | 39.7 | -0.35-0.51 to -0.19 | 6.9 mi | |
| Leigh Academy MascallsAcademy converter | Report card 2026 | 40.4 | -0.17-0.36 to 0.02 · not a win | 8.2 mi | |
| Robertsbridge Community CollegeAcademy sponsor led | Inadequate 2024 | — | — | 8.3 mi | |
| Sutton Valence SchoolOther independent school | No overall grade | — | — | 8.5 mi | |
| Darvell SchoolOther independent school | No overall grade | — | — | 8.5 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.
Attainment 8 score. This school is behind the schools that teach a comparable intake.
| School | Area | Ofsted | Attainment 8 | Progress 8 | Compare |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oakwood Park Grammar SchoolAcademy converter | Maidstone | Good 2024 | 68.9 | 0.620.39 to 0.85 | |
| Torquay Boys' Grammar SchoolAcademy converter | Torquay | Report card 2026 | 70.8 | 0.340.11 to 0.57 | |
| Bishop Wordsworth's Church of England Grammar SchoolAcademy converter | Salisbury | Outstanding 2022 | 73.1 | 0.550.30 to 0.79 | |
| King Edward VI Grammar School, ChelmsfordAcademy converter | Chelmsford | Report card 2026 | 83.3 | 1.110.87 to 1.34 | |
| Marling SchoolAcademy converter | Stroud | No overall grade | 73.9 | 0.640.40 to 0.87 | |
| Stroud High SchoolAcademy converter | Stroud | Outstanding 2023 | 76.9 | 0.850.62 to 1.08 | |
| Borden Grammar SchoolAcademy converter | Sittingbourne | Report card 2026 | 63.2 | 0.260.01 to 0.51 | |
| Wilmington Grammar School for GirlsAcademy converter | Dartford | Good 2022 | 66.7 | 0.760.53 to 0.99 | |
| Churston Ferrers Grammar School AcademyAcademy converter | Brixham | Good 2022 | 71.2 | 0.17-0.06 to 0.40 · not a win | |
| Queen Elizabeth's Grammar SchoolAcademy converter | Faversham | Good 2023 | 65.1 | 0.15-0.08 to 0.37 · not a win | |
| Southend High School for BoysAcademy converter | Southend-on-Sea | Outstanding 2024 | 73.8 | 0.740.53 to 0.95 | |
| Maidstone Grammar School for GirlsFoundation school | Maidstone | Outstanding 2023 | 66.4 | 0.570.36 to 0.77 |
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.
| Evidence | Publisher | Reference date | How it reaches this page |
|---|---|---|---|
| School identity | Get Information About Schools | 23 August 2026 | Exact URN 137739; unified importer snapshot |
| Inspection evidence | Ofsted management information | 31 July 2026 | Exact URN; inspection 6 May 2026 |
| Attainment | DfE performance tables | 2024/25 | Exact URN; phase-specific definitions |
| Admissions | DfE school applications and offers | 2026/27 plus history to 2014/15 | Exact URN and entry point; national offer day |
| Pupil intake | DfE school census | 2024/25 | Exact URN; suppressed values remain missing |
| Funding allocation | DfE school funding statistics | 2025-26 financial year | No row for this URN in the mainstream-school release; not represented as zero |
| Roads and transport | DfT road casualties, traffic and NaPTAN | Five-year road window; access-node snapshot | Coordinate join within the stated radius |
| Neighbourhood | ONS Census | 2021 | LSOA/MSOA containing the school, not pupil homes |
| Deprivation | English Indices of Deprivation | 2019 | LSOA containing the school |
| Home prices | HM Land Registry Price Paid Data | Sales since January 2024 | School 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.