Highworth Grammar School
Maidstone Road, Ashford, TN24 8UD
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Girls
- Trust
- HIGHWORTH GRAMMAR SCHOOL TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mr Duncan Beer
- Admissions policy
- Selective
- Constituency
- Ashford
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,520
- Pupils on roll
- 1,553
- URN
- 136379
- Local authority
- Kent
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01233624910
About this school
Highworth Grammar School is a girls' secondary academy in Ashford. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 1,553 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Highworth Grammar School, and its latest judgement is set out 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
Ofsted did not give an overall grade. Between September 2024 and September 2025 inspections graded each area of a school's work without a single overall judgement, ahead of the move to report cards. How Ofsted report cards work
- Quality of education
- Outstanding
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Outstanding
- Personal development
- Outstanding
- Leadership and management
- Outstanding
- Sixth form
- Outstanding
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 222 | 217 | 214 |
| Attainment 8 score | 69.7 | 68.8 | 70.8 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.71 +0.52 to +0.90 | +0.65 +0.46 to +0.85 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 91% | 89.4% | 95.3% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 99% | 98.2% | 99.5% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 95% | 95.9% | 95.8% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 6.6 | 6.5 | 6.7 |
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 Highworth 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 | 69.7 | 37.6 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 68.8 | 37.1 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 70.8 | 37.7 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 6% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 5.6% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 4.8% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,542 |
| 2023/24 | 1,536 |
| 2024/25 | 1,543 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Highworth Grammar School compares
Highworth Grammar School ranked 6th of 100 secondary schools in Kent for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 98% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 64% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 70.8 | 4.8% | 8.4% | 1,553 | — |
| The North School | 41.1 | 9.8% | 32.9% | 1,237 | 1.2 miles |
| The Norton Knatchbull School | 67.3 | 4% | 10.4% | 1,348 | 1.3 miles |
| Towers School and Sixth Form Centre | 40.6 | 9.6% | 30.2% | 1,538 | 1.6 miles |
| Chilmington Green School | — | 4.4% | 27.7% | 449 | 2.6 miles |
| Wye School | 46.6 | 6.4% | 24.3% | 557 | 3.9 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.
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 8.35%
- English as an additional language
- 29.5%
- Overall absence
- 4.83%
- Persistent absence
- 9.63%
Location
Nearby schools
-
The North School1.2 miles
Secondary · Ashford
-
The Norton Knatchbull School1.3 miles
Secondary · Ashford
-
Towers School and Sixth Form Centre1.6 miles
Secondary · Ashford
-
Chilmington Green School2.6 miles
Secondary · Great Chart
-
Wye School3.9 miles
Secondary · Wye
Other schools in Ashford
Highworth Grammar School ranks 1st of the 5 ranked secondary schools in Ashford.
- The North School Secondary
- The Norton Knatchbull School Secondary
- Towers School and Sixth Form Centre Secondary
- Aldington Primary School Primary
- Ashford Oaks Community Primary School Primary
- Ashford, St Mary's Church of England Primary School Primary
- Beaver Green Primary School Primary
- Bethersden Primary School Primary
- Bodsham Church of England Primary School Primary
- Brabourne Church of England Primary School Primary
- Brook Community Primary School Primary
- Challock Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What ages does Highworth Grammar School teach?
- Highworth Grammar School teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Ashford.
- Who is the headteacher of Highworth Grammar School?
- The headteacher of Highworth Grammar School is Mr Duncan Beer, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Highworth Grammar School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Highworth 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 many pupils are at Highworth Grammar School?
- Highworth Grammar School has 1,553 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is Highworth Grammar School full?
- Highworth Grammar School has capacity for 1,520 pupils and 1,553 on roll (102%), so it is at or above 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 Highworth Grammar School a faith school?
- No. Highworth Grammar School has no designated religious character.
- Is Highworth Grammar School a selective school?
- Yes. Highworth Grammar School is recorded as Selective in the schools register, so entry involves selection.
- Is Highworth Grammar School part of an academy trust?
- Highworth Grammar School is part of HIGHWORTH GRAMMAR SCHOOL TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Highworth Grammar School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 69.7 in 2022/23 and 70.8 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Highworth Grammar School compare with other schools in Kent?
- Highworth Grammar School ranked 6th of 100 secondary schools in Kent for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 98% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 64% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Highworth Grammar School's absence rate?
- Highworth Grammar School's overall absence rate is 4.8% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Highworth Grammar School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Highworth 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.