Secondary school in Faversham, Kent
The Abbey School
London Road, Faversham, Kent, ME13 8RZ
Ofsted
Inspected under the current framework, which gives no overall grade, on 13 January 2026.
Inspections since September 2024 do not give an overall grade, so there is no one-word judgement to report. The full report sets out what inspectors found.
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 bottom 10% of state-funded secondaries in England.
Compared with the fifth of schools whose intake is second most disadvantaged, which is where this one sits, it is in the bottom quarter.
Progress 8 2023/24
Taking that range into account, pupils made less progress than similar pupils nationally. DfE bands this as well below 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
- D+
- Average points per entry
- 24.6
- A level students
- 37
England average 32.3
Pupils
- Pupils on roll
- 1061
- Places
- 1226
- How full
- 87% full — 1061 of 1226 places taken
- Girls / boys
- 517 / 544
- Overall absence
- 13%
- Persistently absent
- 38%
secondary schools average 8.6%
secondary schools average 23.9% — pupils missing 10% or more of sessions
- Free school meals, last 6 years
- 39%
- English as an additional language
- 9%
- With an EHC plan
- 6%
- On SEN support
- 8%
England 25.7%
England 18.7%
England 3.5%
England 15%
The neighbourhood around the school
Census 2021 figures for Swale 014E, the statistical neighbourhood the school sits in — roughly 1,500 residents. It describes the area, not the pupils, who may travel in from further away.
- Adults with a degree
- 44%
- Adults with no qualifications
- 13%
- Households owning their home
- 80%
- Households in social housing
- 9%
- Households with no car
- 11%
- Adults economically inactive
- 37%
England 33.8%
England 18.3%
England 62.7%
England 17%
England 21.9%
England 39.9%
School details
- Type
- Academy converter
- Phase
- Secondary
- Ages
- Ages 11–19
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Sixth form
- Yes
- Nursery
- No
- Boarding
- Day school
- Trust
- THE HOWARD ACADEMY TRUST
- Headteacher
- Headteacher: Rowland Speller
- Local authority
- Kent
- Ward
- Watling
- Constituency
- Faversham and Mid Kent
- URN
- 149893
The unique reference number used in all official school data.
Nearest secondary schools
| School | Ofsted | Attainment 8 | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Queen Elizabeth's Grammar SchoolAcademy converter | Good 2023 | 65.1 | 0.9 mi |
| The Sittingbourne SchoolAcademy sponsor led | Good 2023 | 34.1 | 5.9 mi |
| VTC Independent SchoolOther independent school | No grade | — | 6.5 mi |
| Highsted Grammar SchoolAcademy converter | Good 2023 | 61.1 | 6.7 mi |
| Fulston Manor SchoolAcademy converter | Requires improvement 2023 | 35.3 | 6.7 mi |
| Borden Grammar SchoolAcademy converter | Good 2021 | 63.2 | 6.9 mi |
| The Whitstable SchoolAcademy converter | Good 2024 | 39.3 | 7.2 mi |
| Kent College (Canterbury)Other independent school | No grade | — | 7.4 mi |
Schools with a similar intake
State-funded secondary schools nationally whose share of disadvantaged pupils is closest to this school's. This is the fairest like-for-like comparison the published data supports.
| School | Ofsted | Attainment 8 |
|---|---|---|
| Whitmore High SchoolCommunity school | No grade | 55 |
| De Aston SchoolAcademy converter | Good 2022 | 42.5 |
| Haven High AcademyAcademy converter | Inadequate 2024 | 31.7 |
| Woodchurch High SchoolAcademy converter | No grade | 37.9 |
| Hall Park AcademyAcademy sponsor led | Good 2024 | 43 |
| Sir Thomas Boteler Church of England High SchoolAcademy sponsor led | No grade | 46.1 |
| Greenacre SchoolAcademy converter | Inadequate 2023 | 29.8 |
| All Saints Academy DunstableAcademy sponsor led | No grade | 36.9 |
Where these figures come from
- School details, address and pupil numbers — Get Information About Schools, the DfE register, as at 14 August 2026.
- Exam results — DfE performance tables, 2024/25, and 2023/24 for Progress 8.
- Free school meals, EAL and SEN — school census, 2024/25.
- Ofsted — Ofsted management information, latest inspections as at 30 June 2026.
- Neighbourhood figures — ONS Census 2021, lower layer super output area.
All published under the Open Government Licence v3.0. If something here looks wrong, the school's own website is the authority on admissions and open days.