The Marsh Academy
Station Road, New Romney, TN28 8BB
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy sponsor led
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- SKINNERS' ACADEMIES TRUST
- Principal
- Mr Shaun Simmons
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Religious ethos
- None
- Sponsor
- The Skinners' Company
- SEN provision
- ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder
- Constituency
- Folkestone and Hythe
- Setting
- Larger rural: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,110
- Pupils on roll
- 1,019
- URN
- 135290
- Local authority
- Kent
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01797364593
About this school
The Marsh Academy is a secondary academy in New Romney. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 1,019 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
- Good
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 174 | 152 | 170 |
| Attainment 8 score | 37.6 | 36.6 | 37.7 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.10 -0.31 to +0.12 | -0.25 -0.47 to -0.02 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 23% | 20.4% | 25.3% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 51% | 46.1% | 47.6% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 6% | 13.2% | 32.9% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.3 |
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 Marsh Academy 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 | 37.6 | 37.6 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 36.6 | 37.1 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 37.7 | 37.7 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 12.7% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 11.6% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 9.8% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,064 |
| 2023/24 | 1,027 |
| 2024/25 | 1,017 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How The Marsh Academy compares
The Marsh Academy ranked 71st of 100 secondary schools in Kent for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 32% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 8% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 37.7 | 9.8% | 40.2% | 1,019 | — |
| Brockhill Park Performing Arts College | 37.4 | 9.6% | 33.6% | 1,314 | 8.3 miles |
| Rye College | 36.8 | 12.9% | 36.4% | 645 | 9.7 miles |
| The Folkestone School for Girls | 57.9 | 7.1% | 15.7% | 1,145 | 10.8 miles |
| Turner Free School | 37.6 | 7.9% | 44.7% | 997 | 11.3 miles |
| The Harvey Grammar School | 61.8 | 4.9% | 13.8% | 1,005 | 11.4 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)
- 40.18%
- English as an additional language
- 3.3%
- Overall absence
- 9.81%
- Persistent absence
- 31.75%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Brockhill Park Performing Arts College8.3 miles
Secondary · Hythe
-
Rye College9.7 miles
Secondary · Rye
-
The Folkestone School for Girls10.8 miles
Secondary · Folkestone
-
Turner Free School11.3 miles
Secondary · Folkestone
-
The Harvey Grammar School11.4 miles
Secondary · Folkestone
Other schools in New Romney
Common questions
- What year groups does The Marsh Academy teach?
- The Marsh Academy teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in New Romney.
- Who is the principal of The Marsh Academy?
- The principal of The Marsh Academy is Mr Shaun Simmons, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was The Marsh Academy last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected The Marsh Academy, 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 Marsh Academy?
- The Marsh Academy has 1,019 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is The Marsh Academy full?
- The Marsh Academy has capacity for 1,110 pupils and 1,019 on roll (92%), 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 Marsh Academy a faith school?
- No. The Marsh Academy has no designated religious character.
- Is The Marsh Academy a selective school?
- No. The Marsh Academy is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs The Marsh Academy?
- The Marsh Academy is part of SKINNERS' ACADEMIES TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- What SEN provision does The Marsh Academy have?
- The schools register lists The Marsh Academy's special educational needs provision as: ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have The Marsh Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 37.6 in 2022/23 and 37.7 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 Marsh Academy rank locally?
- The Marsh Academy ranked 71st of 100 secondary schools in Kent for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 32% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 8% 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 Marsh Academy's absence rate?
- The Marsh Academy's overall absence rate is 9.8% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are The Marsh Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, The Marsh Academy'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 1 July 2026.