The Archbishop's School

The Archbishop’s School demonstrates a good overall performance, providing a supportive environment for pupils who often come from challenging backgrounds. The school has effectively responded to past underachievement, with a focused curriculum that meets the needs of students in key stages 3 and 4. However, the sixth-form provision requires improvement as it does not fully cater to all students' needs. With an increasing number of pupils from refugee families and those with special educational needs, the school is adapting well but must continue refining its strategies to enhance student outcomes, particularly in the sixth form.

Strengths

• Strong support for diverse pupil backgrounds, including refugees.
• Effective curriculum addressing past underachievement.
• Good subject expertise among teachers.
• Positive behaviour and attitudes among the majority of pupils.
• Effective personal, social, and health education programs.

Areas for Improvement

• Sixth-form curriculum does not meet all students' needs adequately.
• Inconsistent assessment of pupils' learning retention.
• Insufficient analysis of attendance strategies' effectiveness.

Admissions: local authority offers data from the Department for Education. A school is oversubscribed when at least 5% of the families who put it first were not offered a place, and undersubscribed when everyone who put it first got in but 10% or more of its places were unfilled in the Department's school capacity survey (the latest survey is used for entry years it does not cover). Places: Department for Education, School capacity, from local authorities' annual survey as at 1 May. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024–25); the survey was not run in 2020. Places include sixth form places. Forecasts are the local authority's own for the school's planning area, an area it uses to plan places that is not the school's catchment area. The forecast starts from a head count in 2025; the dashed line is the Department's estimate of places in that area, including those the authority has firm plans for. Planned places are cumulative, and only those with firm plans are counted.

In 2024–25 pupils at The Archbishop's School attended 84.7% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 44.3% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 23.4%).

Sessions missed

Pupils persistently absent

Source: Department for Education, Pupil absence in schools in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Persistent absence means missing 10% or more of sessions; severe absence means 50% or more. No figures were published for 2019/20.

In 2024–25, 13.5% of pupils at The Archbishop's School were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). No pupils were permanently excluded.

Pupils suspended at least once

Source: Department for Education, Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). A pupil can be suspended more than once, so suspensions per 100 pupils can be higher than the share of pupils suspended. Very small numbers are hidden by the DfE. Exclusion figures dropped in 2020 and 2021 because of school closures.

In 2025–26 The Archbishop's School had 15.9 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 20.7% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 14.1%).

Pupils per teacher

Teachers who left the school within a year

Source: Department for Education, School workforce in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Pupils per teacher counts full-time-equivalent pupils and teachers. Turnover is the share of a year's teachers (full-time equivalent) who were not at the school the following year, whether they moved to another school or left state-funded teaching. Turnover and sickness figures run one year behind the ratios. Sick leave is the share of teachers who took at least one day in the year, so it swings widely at small schools, where a few teachers can make it 0% or 100%. The national figures are for all state schools of the same type.

In 2025–26, 15.1% of pupils at The Archbishop's School were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 4.7% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 3.5%).

The school has resourced provision with 5 pupils.

Pupils by main type of need

Source: Department for Education, Special educational needs in England (the 2025–26 school census). SEN support is extra help in school without an EHC plan. National figures are for all state-funded secondary schools. Counts are as published, with small numbers not hidden.

In 2025–26 The Archbishop's School received £9,672 and spent £9,263 for each of its 776 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £322,000 (£414 per pupil).

Income per pupil

Spending per pupil

Source: Department for Education, Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool. Each year is the one the financial year ends in (2024 is 2023–24).

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Canterbury · Kent local authority: places and applications

What is The Archbishop's School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for The Archbishop's School is Good, from an inspection in January 2024.

When was The Archbishop's School last inspected by Ofsted?

The Archbishop's School was last inspected in January 2024.

How many pupils does The Archbishop's School have?

The Archbishop's School has 770 pupils on roll.

What age range does The Archbishop's School cover?

The Archbishop's School for pupils aged 11 to 18.

What are The Archbishop's School's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 32.1, and 19% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is The Archbishop's School?

The Archbishop's School is at St Stephens Hill, Canterbury, Kent, CT2 7AP.