The Abbey School
London Road, Faversham, ME13 8RZ
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 19
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- THE HOWARD ACADEMY TRUST
- Headteacher
- Dr Rowland Speller
- Sponsor
- The Howard Academy Trust
- SEN provision
- ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder
- Constituency
- Faversham and Mid Kent
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,226
- Pupils on roll
- 1,061
- URN
- 149893
- Local authority
- Kent
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01795532633
About this school
The Abbey School is a secondary academy in Faversham. It teaches children aged 11 to 19 and has 1,061 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected The Abbey 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 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
- Expected standard
- Achievement
- Needs attention
- Attendance and behaviour
- Expected standard
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Strong standard
- Leadership and governance
- Expected standard
- Post-16 provision
- Strong standard
- Safeguarding
- Met
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 195 | 203 |
| Attainment 8 score | 37.2 | 35.5 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.56 -0.76 to -0.36 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 26.7% | 32.5% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 48.2% | 50.7% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 47.7% | 44.8% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.3 | 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 The Abbey 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 | — | 37.6 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 37.2 | 37.1 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 35.5 | 37.7 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 15.2% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 13% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 13.1% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2023/24 | 1,111 |
| 2024/25 | 1,110 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How The Abbey School compares
The Abbey School ranked 85th of 100 secondary schools in Kent for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 28% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 3% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 35.5 | 13.1% | 38.8% | 1,061 | — |
| Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School | 65.1 | 5.7% | 8.3% | 1,156 | 0.9 miles |
| The Sittingbourne School | 34.1 | 10.8% | 40.9% | 1,556 | 5.9 miles |
| Highsted Grammar School | 61.1 | 6% | 12.5% | 793 | 6.7 miles |
| Fulston Manor School | 35.3 | 11.8% | 25.3% | 1,314 | 6.7 miles |
| Borden Grammar School | 63.2 | 4.1% | 12.3% | 938 | 6.9 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.
Inspection history
-
Graded inspection report13 January 2026
- 11 May 2022
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 38.8%
- English as an additional language
- 9%
- Overall absence
- 13.11%
- Persistent absence
- 38.02%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School0.9 miles
Secondary · Faversham
-
The Sittingbourne School5.9 miles
Secondary · Sittingbourne
-
Highsted Grammar School6.7 miles
Secondary · Sittingbourne
-
Fulston Manor School6.7 miles
Secondary · Sittingbourne
-
Borden Grammar School6.9 miles
Secondary · Sittingbourne
Other schools in Faversham
- Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School Secondary
- Boughton-under-Blean and Dunkirk Primary School Primary
- Bysing Wood Primary School Primary
- Davington Primary School Primary
- Eastling Primary School Primary
- Ethelbert Road Primary School Primary
- Graveney Primary School Primary
- Hernhill Church of England Primary School Primary
- Luddenham School Primary
- Ospringe Church of England Primary School Primary
- Selling Church of England Primary School Primary
- Sheldwich Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What ages does The Abbey School teach?
- The Abbey School teaches children aged 11 to 19. It is a secondary school in Faversham.
- Who is the headteacher of The Abbey School?
- The headteacher of The Abbey School is Dr Rowland Speller, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has The Abbey School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected The Abbey 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 Abbey School?
- The Abbey School has 1,061 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 19.
- Is The Abbey School full?
- The Abbey School has capacity for 1,226 pupils and 1,061 on roll (87%), 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 Abbey School a faith school?
- No. The Abbey School has no designated religious character.
- Is The Abbey School part of an academy trust?
- The Abbey School is part of THE HOWARD ACADEMY 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 Abbey School have?
- The schools register lists The Abbey 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 Abbey School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 37.2 in 2023/24 and 35.5 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 Abbey School compare with other schools in Kent?
- The Abbey School ranked 85th of 100 secondary schools in Kent for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 28% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 3% 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 Abbey School's absence rate?
- The Abbey School's overall absence rate is 13.1% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are The Abbey School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, The Abbey 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.