The Holmesdale School
Malling Road, Snodland, ME6 5HS
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy sponsor led
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- SWALE ACADEMIES TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mr Glenn Prebble
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- Swale Academies Trust
- SEN provision
- ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder
- Constituency
- Chatham and Aylesford
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 959
- Pupils on roll
- 606
- URN
- 147897
- Local authority
- Kent
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01634240416
About this school
The Holmesdale School is a secondary academy in Snodland. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 606 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected The Holmesdale 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
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 | 99 | 82 | 80 |
| Attainment 8 score | 38.6 | 35.7 | 41.6 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.06 -0.35 to +0.22 | -0.52 -0.83 to -0.20 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 29% | 22% | 35% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 48% | 48.8% | 56.3% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 6% | 23.2% | 10% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.2 | 3.1 | 3.4 |
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 Holmesdale 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 | 38.6 | 37.6 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 35.7 | 37.1 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 41.6 | 37.7 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 9.6% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 9.2% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 9% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 509 |
| 2023/24 | 562 |
| 2024/25 | 597 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How The Holmesdale School compares
The Holmesdale School ranked 51st of 100 secondary schools in Kent for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 44% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 11% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 41.6 | 9% | 36.5% | 606 | — |
| Aylesford School | 37.6 | 6.7% | 25.4% | 916 | 2.1 miles |
| The Malling School | 41 | 8.4% | 30.6% | 1,051 | 2.3 miles |
| The Thomas Aveling School | 41.3 | 9.4% | 33.4% | 1,201 | 3.9 miles |
| Sir Joseph Williamson's Mathematical School | 69.5 | 3.7% | 10.8% | 1,555 | 4.1 miles |
| Walderslade School | 29.9 | 12.6% | 39.9% | 697 | 4.2 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)
- 36.51%
- English as an additional language
- 3%
- Overall absence
- 9.01%
- Persistent absence
- 26.17%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Aylesford School2.1 miles
Secondary · Aylesford
-
The Malling School2.3 miles
Secondary · West Malling
-
The Thomas Aveling School3.9 miles
Secondary · Rochester
-
Sir Joseph Williamson's Mathematical School4.1 miles
Secondary · Rochester
-
Walderslade School4.2 miles
Secondary · Chatham
Other schools in Snodland
- Snodland CofE Primary School Primary
- St Katherine's School & Nursery Primary
- Valley Invicta Primary School at Holborough Lakes Primary
- Grow 19 LTD Other types
Common questions
- What ages does The Holmesdale School teach?
- The Holmesdale School teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Snodland.
- Who is the headteacher of The Holmesdale School?
- The headteacher of The Holmesdale School is Mr Glenn Prebble, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has The Holmesdale School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected The Holmesdale 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 Holmesdale School?
- The Holmesdale School has 606 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is The Holmesdale School full?
- The Holmesdale School has capacity for 959 pupils and 606 on roll (63%), 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 The Holmesdale School a faith school?
- No. The Holmesdale School has no designated religious character.
- Is The Holmesdale School a selective school?
- No. The Holmesdale School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Is The Holmesdale School part of an academy trust?
- The Holmesdale 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 Holmesdale School have?
- The schools register lists The Holmesdale School's special educational needs provision as: ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have The Holmesdale School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 38.6 in 2022/23 and 41.6 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does The Holmesdale School compare with other schools in Kent?
- The Holmesdale School ranked 51st of 100 secondary schools in Kent for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 44% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 11% 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 Holmesdale School's absence rate?
- The Holmesdale School's overall absence rate is 9% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are The Holmesdale School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, The Holmesdale 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 10 July 2026.