SF School Facts UK

Boys selective secondary school in Tunbridge Wells, Kent

Tunbridge Wells Grammar School for Boys

St John's Road, Tunbridge Wells, Kent, TN4 9XB

Selective Sixth form Boys Full
School website 01892529551

Ofsted

Inspected under the current framework, which gives no overall grade, on 17 March 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.

Read the Ofsted report

GCSE results 2024/25

Attainment 8 score

63.7 England 47

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

Grade 5+ in English & maths

91% England 46.2%

Grade 4+ in English & maths

96% England 66.2%

EBacc average point score

5.9 England 4.2

Entered the EBacc

81% England 40.8%

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

0.46confidence interval 0.27 to 0.66

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
B-
Average points per entry
38.2

England average 32.3

A level students
165

Pupils

Pupils on roll
1875
Places
1308
How full
Full — 1875 pupils against 1308 places
Girls / boys
64 / 1811
Overall absence
5%

secondary schools average 8.6%

Persistently absent
11%

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

Free school meals, last 6 years
6%

England 25.7%

English as an additional language
15%

England 18.7%

With an EHC plan
0%

England 3.5%

On SEN support
3%

England 15%

What pupils do next

After GCSEs

In education, work or training
96%

England 91.4%

Stayed in education
93%

England 85.4%

Started an apprenticeship
2%

England 3.5%

Stayed at this school's sixth form
80%
No sustained destination
3%

England 5.8%

Pupils in the cohort
227

After sixth form

Went to university
73%

England 50%

In education, work or training
88%

England 84.3%

Started an apprenticeship
2%

England 6.5%

Students in the cohort
169

Going on to university 2021/22 leavers

Went to a top third university

46% 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
82%

England 65.3%

Students in the cohort
147

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 neighbourhood around the school

Census 2021 figures for Tunbridge Wells 002A, 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
43%

England 33.8%

Adults with no qualifications
11%

England 18.3%

Households owning their home
81%

England 62.7%

Households in social housing
10%

England 17%

Households with no car
9%

England 21.9%

Adults economically inactive
32%

England 39.9%

School details

Type
Community school
Phase
Secondary
Ages
Ages 11–18
Gender
Boys
Admissions
Selective (entrance test)
Religious character
None
Sixth form
Yes
Nursery
No
Boarding
Day school
Headteacher
Headteacher: Amanda Simpson
Local authority
Kent
Ward
Culverden
Constituency
Tunbridge Wells
URN
118790

The unique reference number used in all official school data.

Nearest secondary schools

SchoolOfstedAttainment 8Distance
St Gregory's Catholic SchoolAcademy converter No grade 43.8 0.1 mi
Tunbridge Wells Girls' Grammar SchoolFoundation school Outstanding 2023 73.4 0.4 mi
The Skinners' SchoolAcademy converter No grade 70.8 0.6 mi
Bennett Memorial Diocesan SchoolAcademy converter Outstanding 2023 54 0.8 mi
Beechwood SchoolOther independent school No grade 1.5 mi
Skinners' Kent AcademyAcademy sponsor led Good 2023 38.4 1.5 mi
Tonbridge Grammar SchoolAcademy converter No grade 77.2 2.4 mi
Weald of Kent Grammar SchoolAcademy converter No grade 70 2.4 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.

SchoolOfstedAttainment 8
Tonbridge Grammar SchoolAcademy converter No grade 77.2
Denmark Road High SchoolAcademy converter No grade 72.9
Poole Grammar SchoolAcademy converter No grade 70.2
The Five Islands AcademyAcademy sponsor led Good 2023 48.7
Kendrick SchoolAcademy converter Outstanding 2022 84
St Clement Danes SchoolAcademy converter Outstanding 2024 65.1
Colchester County High School for GirlsAcademy converter Outstanding 2023 80.6
Dr Challoner's Grammar SchoolAcademy converter No grade 73.9

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.