The Skinners' School
St John's Road, Tunbridge Wells, TN4 9PG
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Boys
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- SKINNERS' ACADEMIES TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mr Edward Wesson
- Admissions policy
- Selective
- Sponsor
- The Skinners' Company
- SEN provision
- VI - Visual Impairment, ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder
- Constituency
- Tunbridge Wells
- Setting
- Urban: Further from a major town or city
- Capacity
- 945
- Pupils on roll
- 1,149
- URN
- 140595
- Local authority
- Kent
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01892520732
About this school
The Skinners' School is a boys' secondary academy in Tunbridge Wells. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 1,149 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 no longer gives schools a single overall grade. Each area of the school's work is graded on a five-point scale, and safeguarding is judged separately.
- Inclusion
- Expected standard
- Curriculum and teaching
- Strong standard
- Achievement
- Strong standard
- Attendance and behaviour
- Strong standard
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Strong standard
- Leadership and governance
- Strong standard
- Post-16 provision
- Strong standard
- Safeguarding
- Met
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 161 | 159 | 167 |
| Attainment 8 score | 72.7 | 74.1 | 70.8 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.71 +0.46 to +0.96 | +0.99 +0.75 to +1.23 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 97% | 98.7% | 93.4% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 100% | 100% | 96.4% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 78% | 87.4% | 72.5% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 6.8 | 7.2 | 6.8 |
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 Skinners' 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 | 72.7 | 37.6 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 74.1 | 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 | 4.4% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 4% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 3.4% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,118 |
| 2023/24 | 1,118 |
| 2024/25 | 1,141 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How The Skinners' School compares
The Skinners' School ranked 7th 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 94% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 70.8 | 3.4% | 5.8% | 1,149 | — |
| Tunbridge Wells Girls' Grammar School | 73.4 | 5.1% | 3.5% | 1,123 | 0.2 miles |
| Tunbridge Wells Grammar School for Boys | 63.7 | 5.1% | 5.9% | 1,875 | 0.6 miles |
| Bennett Memorial Diocesan School | 54 | 5.1% | 10.1% | 1,913 | 0.6 miles |
| St Gregory's Catholic School | 43.8 | 8.6% | 20.6% | 1,093 | 0.6 miles |
| Skinners' Kent Academy | 38.4 | 8% | 31.1% | 1,017 | 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.
Inspection history
-
Graded inspection report27 January 2026
- 16 November 2021
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 5.81%
- English as an additional language
- 18.3%
- Overall absence
- 3.42%
- Persistent absence
- 5.06%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Tunbridge Wells Girls' Grammar School0.2 miles
Secondary · Tunbridge Wells
-
Tunbridge Wells Grammar School for Boys0.6 miles
Secondary · Tunbridge Wells
-
Bennett Memorial Diocesan School0.6 miles
Secondary · Tunbridge Wells
-
St Gregory's Catholic School0.6 miles
Secondary · Tunbridge Wells
-
Skinners' Kent Academy1.4 miles
Secondary · Tunbridge Wells
Other schools in Tunbridge Wells
The Skinners' School ranks 2nd of the 6 ranked secondary schools in Tunbridge Wells.
- Bennett Memorial Diocesan School Secondary
- Skinners' Kent Academy Secondary
- St Gregory's Catholic 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 The Skinners' School teach?
- The Skinners' School teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Tunbridge Wells.
- Who is the headteacher of The Skinners' School?
- The headteacher of The Skinners' School is Mr Edward Wesson, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was The Skinners' School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected The Skinners' 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 The Skinners' School?
- The Skinners' School has 1,149 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is The Skinners' School full?
- The Skinners' School has capacity for 945 pupils and 1,149 on roll (122%), 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 Skinners' School a faith school?
- No. The Skinners' School has no designated religious character.
- Is The Skinners' School a selective school?
- Yes. The Skinners' School is recorded as Selective in the schools register, so entry involves selection.
- Who runs The Skinners' School?
- The Skinners' School 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.
- What SEN provision does The Skinners' School have?
- The schools register lists The Skinners' School's special educational needs provision as: VI - Visual Impairment; ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have The Skinners' School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 72.7 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 The Skinners' School rank locally?
- The Skinners' School ranked 7th 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 94% 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 Skinners' School's absence rate?
- The Skinners' School's overall absence rate is 3.4% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are The Skinners' School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, The Skinners' 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.