The Sittingbourne School
Swanstree Avenue, Sittingbourne, ME10 4NL
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy sponsor led
- Ages
- 11 to 19
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- SWALE ACADEMIES TRUST
- Trust Principal
- Mr Nick Smith
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- Swale Academies Trust
- SEN provision
- HI - Hearing Impairment, SLCN - Speech, language and Communication
- Constituency
- Sittingbourne and Sheppey
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,350
- Pupils on roll
- 1,556
- URN
- 137687
- Local authority
- Kent
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01795472449
About this school
The Sittingbourne School is a secondary academy in Sittingbourne. It teaches children aged 11 to 19 and has 1,556 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected The Sittingbourne School, and its latest judgement is set out 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 | 264 | 257 | 271 |
| Attainment 8 score | 36.6 | 33.2 | 34.1 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.53 -0.70 to -0.35 | -0.70 -0.88 to -0.52 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 22% | 20.6% | 23.6% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 48% | 40.9% | 48% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 5% | 9.3% | 7.7% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 2.9 | 2.7 | 2.7 |
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 The Sittingbourne 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 | 36.6 | 37.6 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 33.2 | 37.1 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 34.1 | 37.7 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 11.4% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 11.1% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 10.8% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,589 |
| 2023/24 | 1,609 |
| 2024/25 | 1,587 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How The Sittingbourne School compares
The Sittingbourne School ranked 91st of 100 secondary schools in Kent for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 26% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 6% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 34.1 | 10.8% | 40.9% | 1,556 | — |
| Highsted Grammar School | 61.1 | 6% | 12.5% | 793 | 0.8 miles |
| Fulston Manor School | 35.3 | 11.8% | 25.3% | 1,314 | 0.9 miles |
| Borden Grammar School | 63.2 | 4.1% | 12.3% | 938 | 1.0 miles |
| Westlands School | 40.6 | 9% | 29.9% | 1,690 | 2.1 miles |
| The Abbey School | 35.5 | 13.1% | 38.8% | 1,061 | 5.9 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)
- 40.85%
- English as an additional language
- 7%
- Overall absence
- 10.76%
- Persistent absence
- 31.29%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Highsted Grammar School0.8 miles
Secondary · Sittingbourne
-
Fulston Manor School0.9 miles
Secondary · Sittingbourne
-
Borden Grammar School1.0 miles
Secondary · Sittingbourne
-
Westlands School2.1 miles
Secondary · Sittingbourne
-
The Abbey School5.9 miles
Secondary · Faversham
Other schools in Sittingbourne
The Sittingbourne School ranks 5th of the 5 ranked secondary schools in Sittingbourne.
- Borden Grammar School Secondary
- Fulston Manor School Secondary
- Highsted Grammar 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 ages does The Sittingbourne School teach?
- The Sittingbourne School teaches children aged 11 to 19. It is a secondary school in Sittingbourne.
- Who is the trust principal of The Sittingbourne School?
- The trust principal of The Sittingbourne School is Mr Nick Smith, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has The Sittingbourne School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected The Sittingbourne 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 The Sittingbourne School?
- The Sittingbourne School has 1,556 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 19.
- Is The Sittingbourne School full?
- The Sittingbourne School has capacity for 1,350 pupils and 1,556 on roll (115%), 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 The Sittingbourne School a faith school?
- No. The Sittingbourne School has no designated religious character.
- Is The Sittingbourne School a selective school?
- No. The Sittingbourne School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Is The Sittingbourne School part of an academy trust?
- The Sittingbourne School is part of SWALE ACADEMIES TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- What SEN provision does The Sittingbourne School have?
- The schools register lists The Sittingbourne School's special educational needs provision as: HI - Hearing Impairment; SLCN - Speech, language and Communication. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have The Sittingbourne School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 36.6 in 2022/23 and 34.1 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does The Sittingbourne School compare with other schools in Kent?
- The Sittingbourne School ranked 91st of 100 secondary schools in Kent for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 26% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 6% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is The Sittingbourne School's absence rate?
- The Sittingbourne School's overall absence rate is 10.8% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are The Sittingbourne School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, The Sittingbourne 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.