Skinners' Kent Academy
Sandown Park, Tunbridge Wells, TN2 4PY
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy sponsor led
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- SKINNERS' ACADEMIES TRUST
- Executive Principal
- Miss Hannah Knowles
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Religious ethos
- None
- Sponsor
- The Skinners' Company
- Constituency
- Tunbridge Wells
- Setting
- Urban: Further from a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,150
- Pupils on roll
- 1,017
- URN
- 135888
- Local authority
- Kent
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01892534377
About this school
Skinners' Kent Academy is a secondary academy in Tunbridge Wells. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 1,017 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 | 189 | 194 | 176 |
| Attainment 8 score | 39.5 | 44.8 | 38.4 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.24 -0.45 to -0.03 | 0.00 -0.21 to +0.21 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 33% | 47.9% | 25% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 58% | 68.6% | 50.6% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 88% | 92.8% | 87.5% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.6 | 4.2 | 3.6 |
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 Skinners' Kent 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 | 39.5 | 37.6 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 44.8 | 37.1 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 38.4 | 37.7 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 10% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 8.6% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 8% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,084 |
| 2023/24 | 1,036 |
| 2024/25 | 1,035 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Skinners' Kent Academy compares
Skinners' Kent Academy ranked 70th 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 16% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 38.4 | 8% | 31.1% | 1,017 | — |
| The Skinners' School | 70.8 | 3.4% | 5.8% | 1,149 | 1.4 miles |
| Tunbridge Wells Girls' Grammar School | 73.4 | 5.1% | 3.5% | 1,123 | 1.5 miles |
| Tunbridge Wells Grammar School for Boys | 63.7 | 5.1% | 5.9% | 1,875 | 1.5 miles |
| St Gregory's Catholic School | 43.8 | 8.6% | 20.6% | 1,093 | 1.6 miles |
| Bennett Memorial Diocesan School | 54 | 5.1% | 10.1% | 1,913 | 1.9 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.
Inspection history
- 10 May 2023
-
Ungraded inspection report23 February 2022
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 31.14%
- English as an additional language
- 10.8%
- Overall absence
- 8.01%
- Persistent absence
- 22.79%
Location
Nearby schools
-
The Skinners' School1.4 miles
Secondary · Tunbridge Wells
-
Tunbridge Wells Girls' Grammar School1.5 miles
Secondary · Tunbridge Wells
-
Tunbridge Wells Grammar School for Boys1.5 miles
Secondary · Tunbridge Wells
-
St Gregory's Catholic School1.6 miles
Secondary · Tunbridge Wells
-
Bennett Memorial Diocesan School1.9 miles
Secondary · Tunbridge Wells
Other schools in Tunbridge Wells
Skinners' Kent Academy ranks 6th of the 6 ranked secondary schools in Tunbridge Wells.
- Bennett Memorial Diocesan School Secondary
- St Gregory's Catholic School Secondary
- The Skinners' School Secondary
- Tunbridge Wells Girls' Grammar School Secondary
- Tunbridge Wells Grammar School for Boys Secondary
- Bidborough Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School Primary
- Bishops Down Primary and Nursery School Primary
- Broadwater Down Primary School Primary
- Claremont Primary School Primary
- Fordcombe Church of England Primary School Primary
- Frant Church of England Primary School Primary
- Groombridge St Thomas' Church of England Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Skinners' Kent Academy teach?
- Skinners' Kent Academy teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Tunbridge Wells.
- Who is the executive principal of Skinners' Kent Academy?
- The executive principal of Skinners' Kent Academy is Miss Hannah Knowles, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Skinners' Kent Academy last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Skinners' Kent 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 Skinners' Kent Academy?
- Skinners' Kent Academy has 1,017 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is Skinners' Kent Academy full?
- Skinners' Kent Academy has capacity for 1,150 pupils and 1,017 on roll (88%), 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 Skinners' Kent Academy a faith school?
- No. Skinners' Kent Academy has no designated religious character.
- Is Skinners' Kent Academy a selective school?
- No. Skinners' Kent Academy is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs Skinners' Kent Academy?
- Skinners' Kent 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.
- How have Skinners' Kent Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 39.5 in 2022/23 and 38.4 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Skinners' Kent Academy rank locally?
- Skinners' Kent Academy ranked 70th 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 16% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Skinners' Kent Academy's absence rate?
- Skinners' Kent Academy's overall absence rate is 8% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Skinners' Kent Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Skinners' Kent 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.