Highsted Grammar School
Highsted Road, Sittingbourne, ME10 4PT
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Girls
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- HIGHSTED ACADEMY TRUST
- Headteacher
- Ms Anne Kelly
- Admissions policy
- Selective
- Constituency
- Sittingbourne and Sheppey
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 830
- Pupils on roll
- 793
- URN
- 136305
- Local authority
- Kent
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01795424223
About this school
Highsted Grammar School is a girls' secondary academy in Sittingbourne. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 793 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. Numbers and a report only go so far, so visit in person 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 | 143 | 148 | 142 |
| Attainment 8 score | 57.7 | 60.6 | 61.1 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.25 -0.48 to -0.01 | -0.04 -0.27 to +0.19 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 64% | 76.4% | 82.4% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 90% | 91.9% | 94.4% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 97% | 98.6% | 97.2% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 5.4 | 5.8 | 5.9 |
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 Highsted Grammar 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 | 57.7 | 37.6 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 60.6 | 37.1 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 61.1 | 37.7 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 6.5% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 6.1% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 6% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 889 |
| 2023/24 | 837 |
| 2024/25 | 832 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Highsted Grammar School compares
Highsted Grammar School ranked 30th of 100 secondary schools in Kent for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 94% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 40% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 61.1 | 6% | 12.5% | 793 | — |
| Fulston Manor School | 35.3 | 11.8% | 25.3% | 1,314 | 0.1 miles |
| Borden Grammar School | 63.2 | 4.1% | 12.3% | 938 | 0.3 miles |
| The Sittingbourne School | 34.1 | 10.8% | 40.9% | 1,556 | 0.8 miles |
| Westlands School | 40.6 | 9% | 29.9% | 1,690 | 1.3 miles |
| Leigh Academy Rainham | — | 6.2% | 24.6% | 964 | 5.3 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)
- 12.52%
- English as an additional language
- 8.2%
- Overall absence
- 5.96%
- Persistent absence
- 16.05%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Fulston Manor School0.1 miles
Secondary · Sittingbourne
-
Borden Grammar School0.3 miles
Secondary · Sittingbourne
-
The Sittingbourne School0.8 miles
Secondary · Sittingbourne
-
Westlands School1.3 miles
Secondary · Sittingbourne
-
Leigh Academy Rainham5.3 miles
Secondary · Gillingham
Other schools in Sittingbourne
Highsted Grammar School ranks 2nd of the 5 ranked secondary schools in Sittingbourne.
- Borden Grammar School Secondary
- Fulston Manor School Secondary
- The Sittingbourne School Secondary
- Westlands School Secondary
- Bapchild and Tonge Church of England Primary School and Nursery Primary
- Bobbing Village School Primary
- Borden Church of England Primary School Primary
- Bredgar Church of England Primary School Primary
- Canterbury Road Primary School Primary
- Grove Park Primary School Primary
- Hartlip Endowed Church of England Primary School Primary
- Holywell Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Highsted Grammar School teach?
- Highsted Grammar School teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Sittingbourne.
- Who is the headteacher of Highsted Grammar School?
- The headteacher of Highsted Grammar School is Ms Anne Kelly, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Highsted Grammar School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Highsted Grammar 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 Highsted Grammar School?
- Highsted Grammar School has 793 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is Highsted Grammar School full?
- Highsted Grammar School has capacity for 830 pupils and 793 on roll (96%), so it is close to full. Places are allocated through the local authority's admissions process, so capacity alone does not tell you whether a place is available.
- Is Highsted Grammar School a faith school?
- No. Highsted Grammar School has no designated religious character.
- Is Highsted Grammar School a selective school?
- Yes. Highsted Grammar School is recorded as Selective in the schools register, so entry involves selection.
- Who runs Highsted Grammar School?
- Highsted Grammar School is part of HIGHSTED ACADEMY TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Highsted Grammar School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 57.7 in 2022/23 and 61.1 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Highsted Grammar School rank locally?
- Highsted Grammar School ranked 30th of 100 secondary schools in Kent for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 94% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 40% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Highsted Grammar School's absence rate?
- Highsted Grammar School's overall absence rate is 6% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Highsted Grammar School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Highsted Grammar 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 1 July 2026.