The Archbishop's School
St Stephens Hill, Canterbury, CT2 7AP
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Foundation school
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- Church of England
- Headteacher
- Mr David Elliott
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Diocese
- Diocese of Canterbury
- SEN provision
- SpLD - Specific Learning Difficulty
- Constituency
- Canterbury
- Setting
- Urban: Further from a major town or city
- Capacity
- 900
- Pupils on roll
- 770
- URN
- 118898
- Local authority
- Kent
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01227765805
About this school
The Archbishop's School is a Church of England foundation secondary school in Canterbury. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 770 pupils on roll.
You can read Ofsted's latest judgement for the school below. Where the Department for Education has published them, its results and pupil characteristics appear below. Seeing a school for yourself shows what no page can, so arrange a visit before you apply.
Ofsted judgement
Overall judgement at the last full inspection
This inspection took place under the previous framework, which gave a single overall grade. Ofsted now publishes report cards instead, so newer inspections of other schools will look different. How Ofsted report cards work
- Quality of education
- Good
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Good
- Personal development
- Good
- Leadership and management
- Good
- Sixth form
- Requires improvement
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 116 | 110 | 126 |
| Attainment 8 score | 37.8 | 36.6 | 35.2 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.43 -0.70 to -0.15 | -0.79 -1.09 to -0.48 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 23% | 30.9% | 21.4% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 44% | 49.1% | 44.4% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 16% | 6.4% | 13.5% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.1 | 3.1 | 2.9 |
Progress 8 is paused nationally for the 2024/25 and 2025/26 school years. Those pupils sat no key stage 2 tests during the Covid pandemic, so there is no starting point to measure progress from. A blank figure here is not missing school data.
Trends over time
How The Archbishop's School has moved over recent years against the local and national picture. Every figure is shown in the table beneath its chart.
| Year | This school | Kent average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 37.8 | 37.6 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 36.6 | 37.1 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 35.2 | 37.7 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 13.3% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 15.6% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 15.4% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 722 |
| 2023/24 | 731 |
| 2024/25 | 791 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How The Archbishop's School compares
The Archbishop's School ranked 88th of 100 secondary schools in Kent for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 27% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 2% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 35.2 | 15.4% | 55.3% | 770 | — |
| The Canterbury Academy | 39 | 10.9% | 34% | 1,984 | 1.2 miles |
| Barton Court Grammar School | 66.4 | 4.6% | 11.4% | 995 | 1.4 miles |
| Barton Manor School | — | 6.9% | 44.3% | 596 | 1.8 miles |
| Simon Langton Girls' Grammar School | 67.7 | 6.5% | 8% | 1,258 | 2.2 miles |
| Simon Langton Grammar School for Boys | 66.8 | 6% | 7.9% | 1,226 | 2.3 miles |
Results reflect each school's cohort as much as its teaching, and free school meals share is context, not a judgement. Small gaps between neighbouring schools are rarely meaningful on their own.
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 55.32%
- English as an additional language
- 27.3%
- Overall absence
- 15.35%
- Persistent absence
- 44.26%
Location
Nearby schools
-
The Canterbury Academy1.2 miles
Secondary · Canterbury
-
Barton Court Grammar School1.4 miles
Secondary · Canterbury
-
Barton Manor School1.8 miles
Secondary · Canterbury
-
Simon Langton Girls' Grammar School2.2 miles
Secondary · Canterbury
-
Simon Langton Grammar School for Boys2.3 miles
Secondary · Canterbury
Other schools in Canterbury
The Archbishop's School ranks 7th of the 7 ranked secondary schools in Canterbury.
- Barton Court Grammar School Secondary
- Barton Manor School Secondary
- Orion Spires Secondary
- Simon Langton Girls' Grammar School Secondary
- Simon Langton Grammar School for Boys Secondary
- St Anselm's Catholic School, Canterbury Secondary
- The Canterbury Academy Secondary
- Adisham Church of England Primary School Primary
- Ash Cartwright and Kelsey Church of England Primary School Primary
- Aylesham Primary School Primary
- Barham Church of England Primary School Primary
- Blean Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does The Archbishop's School teach?
- The Archbishop's School teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Canterbury.
- Who is the headteacher of The Archbishop's School?
- The headteacher of The Archbishop's School is Mr David Elliott, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was The Archbishop's School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected The Archbishop's School, and its latest judgement is set out in the inspection section on this page, with the framework and the date it was made.
- How big is The Archbishop's School?
- The Archbishop's School has 770 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is The Archbishop's School full?
- The Archbishop's School has capacity for 900 pupils and 770 on roll (86%), so it has space against its published capacity. Places are allocated through the local authority's admissions process, so capacity alone does not tell you whether a place is available.
- Is The Archbishop's School a faith school?
- Yes. The Archbishop's School is designated Church of England, in the Diocese of Canterbury.
- Is The Archbishop's School a selective school?
- No. The Archbishop's School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- What SEN provision does The Archbishop's School have?
- The schools register lists The Archbishop's School's special educational needs provision as: SpLD - Specific Learning Difficulty. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have The Archbishop's School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 37.8 in 2022/23 and 35.2 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does The Archbishop's School rank locally?
- The Archbishop's School ranked 88th of 100 secondary schools in Kent for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 27% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 2% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is The Archbishop's School's absence rate?
- The Archbishop's School's overall absence rate is 15.4% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are The Archbishop's School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, The Archbishop's School's key stage results are shown in the results section on this page, with the last three years so you can see the trend rather than a single year.
School details come from the Department for Education's Get Information About Schools register. Inspection outcomes come from Ofsted, and exam results from the Department for Education's school performance service. This page was last updated on 30 June 2026.