Cornwallis Academy
Hubbards Lane, Linton, Maidstone, ME17 4HX
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy sponsor led
- Ages
- 11 to 19
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- FUTURE SCHOOLS TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mr Joe Sutton
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Religious ethos
- None
- Sponsor
- Future Schools Trust
- Constituency
- Weald of Kent
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,825
- Pupils on roll
- 1,402
- URN
- 135371
- Local authority
- Kent
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01622743152
About this school
Cornwallis Academy is a secondary academy in Maidstone. It teaches children aged 11 to 19 and has 1,402 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
Confirmed by a short inspection, not a full one
Ofsted's most recent visit was a short inspection on 12 January 2023, where inspectors confirmed the school remains Good. The school's last full inspection took place before September 2019, so its area grades are not part of Ofsted's current published data. Older reports are on the school's Ofsted page.
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 217 | 218 | 179 |
| Attainment 8 score | 38.7 | 37.9 | 38.6 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.46 -0.66 to -0.26 | -0.33 -0.52 to -0.13 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 30% | 29.8% | 35.8% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 57% | 56.9% | 61.5% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 18% | 19.3% | 18.4% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.3 | 3.3 | 3.2 |
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 Cornwallis 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 | 38.7 | 37.6 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 37.9 | 37.1 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 38.6 | 37.7 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 9.9% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 10% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 9.7% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,337 |
| 2023/24 | 1,321 |
| 2024/25 | 1,328 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Cornwallis Academy compares
Cornwallis Academy ranked 69th of 100 secondary schools in Kent for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 34% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 9% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 38.6 | 9.7% | 35.4% | 1,402 | — |
| New Line Learning Academy | 32.2 | 13.1% | 48.7% | 826 | 1.4 miles |
| Maidstone Grammar School | 68.4 | 4.7% | 7.9% | 1,443 | 2.4 miles |
| Oakwood Park Grammar School | 68.9 | 5% | 7.6% | 1,100 | 2.8 miles |
| St Augustine Academy | 35.1 | 9.1% | 34.2% | 673 | 2.9 miles |
| St Simon Stock Catholic School | 46.6 | 8.6% | 16.5% | 1,148 | 3.1 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)
- 35.37%
- English as an additional language
- 11%
- Overall absence
- 9.66%
- Persistent absence
- 33.14%
Location
Nearby schools
-
New Line Learning Academy1.4 miles
Secondary · Maidstone
-
Maidstone Grammar School2.4 miles
Secondary · Maidstone
-
Oakwood Park Grammar School2.8 miles
Secondary · Maidstone
-
St Augustine Academy2.9 miles
Secondary · Maidstone
-
St Simon Stock Catholic School3.1 miles
Secondary · Maidstone
Other schools in Maidstone
Cornwallis Academy ranks 8th of the 12 ranked secondary schools in Maidstone.
- Invicta Grammar School Secondary
- Maidstone Grammar School Secondary
- Maidstone Grammar School for Girls Secondary
- New Line Learning Academy Secondary
- Oakwood Park Grammar School Secondary
- School of Science and Technology Maidstone Secondary
- St Augustine Academy Secondary
- St Simon Stock Catholic School Secondary
- The Lenham School Secondary
- The Maplesden Noakes School Secondary
- Valley Park School Secondary
- Allington Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Cornwallis Academy teach?
- Cornwallis Academy teaches children aged 11 to 19. It is a secondary school in Maidstone.
- Who is the headteacher of Cornwallis Academy?
- The headteacher of Cornwallis Academy is Mr Joe Sutton, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Cornwallis Academy last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Cornwallis 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 Cornwallis Academy?
- Cornwallis Academy has 1,402 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 19.
- Is Cornwallis Academy full?
- Cornwallis Academy has capacity for 1,825 pupils and 1,402 on roll (77%), 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 Cornwallis Academy a faith school?
- No. Cornwallis Academy has no designated religious character.
- Is Cornwallis Academy a selective school?
- No. Cornwallis Academy is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs Cornwallis Academy?
- Cornwallis Academy is part of FUTURE SCHOOLS TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Cornwallis Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 38.7 in 2022/23 and 38.6 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Cornwallis Academy rank locally?
- Cornwallis Academy ranked 69th of 100 secondary schools in Kent for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 34% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 9% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Cornwallis Academy's absence rate?
- Cornwallis Academy's overall absence rate is 9.7% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Cornwallis Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Cornwallis 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.