Valley Park School
Huntsman Lane, Maidstone, ME14 5DT
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- VALLEY INVICTA ACADEMIES TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mr D Jones
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- Valley Invicta Academies Trust
- Constituency
- Faversham and Mid Kent
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,157
- Pupils on roll
- 1,555
- URN
- 136581
- Local authority
- Kent
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01622679421
About this school
Valley Park School is a secondary academy in Maidstone. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 1,555 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
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
- 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 | 265 | 266 | 263 |
| Attainment 8 score | 38.9 | 39.2 | 37.6 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.42 -0.59 to -0.24 | -0.60 -0.77 to -0.42 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 26% | 27.8% | 24.7% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 52% | 54.5% | 55.9% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 43% | 39.5% | 35% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.3 | 3.4 | 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 Valley Park 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 | 38.9 | 37.6 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 39.2 | 37.1 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 37.6 | 37.7 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 8.5% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 8.1% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 7.6% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,655 |
| 2023/24 | 1,651 |
| 2024/25 | 1,595 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Valley Park School compares
Valley Park School ranked 73rd 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 20% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 37.6 | 7.6% | 22.8% | 1,555 | — |
| Invicta Grammar School | 70.8 | 3.8% | 7.3% | 1,670 | 0.1 miles |
| School of Science and Technology Maidstone | 48 | 6.6% | 14% | 1,056 | 0.2 miles |
| Maidstone Grammar School | 68.4 | 4.7% | 7.9% | 1,443 | 0.7 miles |
| Maidstone Grammar School for Girls | 66.4 | 5.3% | 9.9% | 1,254 | 1.3 miles |
| The Maplesden Noakes School | 39.6 | 9.1% | 25.6% | 1,418 | 1.4 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)
- 22.77%
- English as an additional language
- 20.3%
- Overall absence
- 7.58%
- Persistent absence
- 23.35%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Invicta Grammar School0.1 miles
Secondary · Maidstone
-
School of Science and Technology Maidstone0.2 miles
Secondary · Maidstone
-
Maidstone Grammar School0.7 miles
Secondary · Maidstone
-
Maidstone Grammar School for Girls1.3 miles
Secondary · Maidstone
-
The Maplesden Noakes School1.4 miles
Secondary · Maidstone
Other schools in Maidstone
Valley Park School ranks 9th of the 12 ranked secondary schools in Maidstone.
- Cornwallis Academy Secondary
- 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
- Allington Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Valley Park School teach?
- Valley Park School teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Maidstone.
- Who is the headteacher of Valley Park School?
- The headteacher of Valley Park School is Mr D Jones, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Valley Park School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Valley Park 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 Valley Park School?
- Valley Park School has 1,555 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is Valley Park School full?
- Valley Park School has capacity for 1,157 pupils and 1,555 on roll (134%), 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 Valley Park School a faith school?
- No. Valley Park School has no designated religious character.
- Is Valley Park School a selective school?
- No. Valley Park School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs Valley Park School?
- Valley Park School is part of VALLEY INVICTA ACADEMIES TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Valley Park School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 38.9 in 2022/23 and 37.6 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Valley Park School rank locally?
- Valley Park School ranked 73rd 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 20% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Valley Park School's absence rate?
- Valley Park School's overall absence rate is 7.6% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Valley Park School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Valley Park 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.