Folkestone Academy
Academy Lane, Folkestone, CT19 5FP
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy sponsor led
- Ages
- 11 to 19
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- TURNER SCHOOLS
- Headteacher
- Mr Benjamin WILLIAMS
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- Turner Schools
- SEN provision
- ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder
- Constituency
- Folkestone and Hythe
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,720
- Pupils on roll
- 936
- URN
- 145420
- Local authority
- Kent
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01303842400
About this school
Folkestone Academy is a secondary academy in Folkestone. It teaches children aged 11 to 19 and has 936 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
- Strong standard
- Curriculum and teaching
- Expected standard
- Achievement
- Needs attention
- Attendance and behaviour
- Expected standard
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Expected standard
- Leadership and governance
- Expected standard
- Post-16 provision
- Expected standard
- Safeguarding
- Met
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 183 | 184 | 166 |
| Attainment 8 score | 30.2 | 31.0 | 33.7 |
| Progress 8 score | -1.05 -1.26 to -0.84 | -1.11 -1.33 to -0.89 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 13% | 13.6% | 15.1% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 31% | 32.1% | 36.1% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 6% | 11.4% | 14.5% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 2.2 | 2.5 | 2.6 |
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 Folkestone Academy 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 | 30.2 | 37.6 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 31 | 37.1 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 33.7 | 37.7 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 13.4% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 13.9% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 9.7% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,080 |
| 2023/24 | 1,046 |
| 2024/25 | 915 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Folkestone Academy compares
Folkestone Academy ranked 92nd of 100 secondary schools in Kent for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 25% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 9% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 33.7 | 9.7% | 52% | 936 | — |
| The Harvey Grammar School | 61.8 | 4.9% | 13.8% | 1,005 | 0.6 miles |
| Turner Free School | 37.6 | 7.9% | 44.7% | 997 | 0.8 miles |
| The Folkestone School for Girls | 57.9 | 7.1% | 15.7% | 1,145 | 1.3 miles |
| Brockhill Park Performing Arts College | 37.4 | 9.6% | 33.6% | 1,314 | 4.5 miles |
| Astor Secondary School | 27.9 | 13.3% | 62% | 732 | 5.8 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 report19 May 2026
- 20 April 2022
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 52%
- English as an additional language
- 20%
- Overall absence
- 9.7%
- Persistent absence
- 30.33%
Location
Nearby schools
-
The Harvey Grammar School0.6 miles
Secondary · Folkestone
-
Turner Free School0.8 miles
Secondary · Folkestone
-
The Folkestone School for Girls1.3 miles
Secondary · Folkestone
-
Brockhill Park Performing Arts College4.5 miles
Secondary · Hythe
-
Astor Secondary School5.8 miles
Secondary · Dover
Other schools in Folkestone
- The Folkestone School for Girls Secondary
- The Harvey Grammar School Secondary
- Turner Free School Secondary
- All Soul's Church of England Primary School Primary
- Capel-le-Ferne Primary School Primary
- Castle Hill Community Primary School Primary
- Cheriton Primary School Primary
- Christ Church Cep Academy, Folkestone Primary
- Folkestone Primary Primary
- Folkestone St. Mary's Church of England Primary Academy Primary
- Folkestone, St Martin's Church of England Primary School Primary
- Folkestone, St Peter's Church of England Primary School Primary
Recorded changes at this school
Previous headteacher: Mr Matthew Tate (until September 2026).
- Headteacher changed from Mr Matthew Tate to Mr Benjamin WILLIAMS recorded 3 Sep 2026
Common questions
- What year groups does Folkestone Academy teach?
- Folkestone Academy teaches children aged 11 to 19. It is a secondary school in Folkestone.
- Who is the headteacher of Folkestone Academy?
- The headteacher of Folkestone Academy is Mr Benjamin WILLIAMS, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Folkestone Academy last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Folkestone Academy, 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 Folkestone Academy?
- Folkestone Academy has 936 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 19.
- Is Folkestone Academy full?
- Folkestone Academy has capacity for 1,720 pupils and 936 on roll (54%), so it has space against 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 Folkestone Academy a faith school?
- No. Folkestone Academy has no designated religious character.
- Is Folkestone Academy a selective school?
- No. Folkestone Academy is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs Folkestone Academy?
- Folkestone Academy is part of TURNER SCHOOLS. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- What SEN provision does Folkestone Academy have?
- The schools register lists Folkestone Academy's special educational needs provision as: ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have Folkestone Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 30.2 in 2022/23 and 33.7 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Folkestone Academy rank locally?
- Folkestone Academy ranked 92nd of 100 secondary schools in Kent for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 25% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 9% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Folkestone Academy's absence rate?
- Folkestone Academy's overall absence rate is 9.7% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Folkestone Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Folkestone Academy'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 3 September 2026.