Kemnal Technology College

Kemnal Technology College remains a school that requires improvement. Inspectors judged the quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and leadership and management all to require improvement, while safeguarding is effective. The school is an academy converter within The Kemnal Academies Trust and was previously judged to require improvement; under the current inspection framework it receives no single overall effectiveness grade. The school has some clear foundations to build on. Leaders have raised expectations and introduced a broad, ambitious curriculum designed to build knowledge over time, including for pupils with SEND. Pupils benefit from strong pastoral support in the ACE provision, staff know them well, and wider opportunities such as sport, music and clubs are growing. Careers guidance is purposeful, and trustees and governors understand the school's priorities. However, pupils do not routinely achieve well because teaching does not consistently check understanding or address gaps and misconceptions, and support for pupils with SEND is not applied consistently. Reading and vocabulary development are uneven beyond the weakest readers. Behaviour and attendance remain significant concerns. Staff do not consistently apply the school's behaviour systems, so learning is sometimes disrupted and negative behaviour occurs around the site. Suspensions are reducing but remain high, and pupil absence is still high despite clear procedures and work with parents. Some pupils also do not value the personal development programme enough to develop a deep understanding of modern Britain. Leaders need to ensure staff consistently implement agreed policies for behaviour, assessment, SEND support and reading so that the curriculum translates into stronger outcomes.

Strengths

• Safeguarding arrangements are effective.
• Pupils benefit from strong pastoral support through the ACE provision.
• Staff know pupils well and build positive relationships that help pupils feel safe.
• Leaders have introduced a broad, ambitious curriculum that builds knowledge progressively, including for pupils with SEND.
• Geography curriculum has been developed positively to build pupils' knowledge and skills over time.
• Weak readers are identified and supported through an appropriate phonics-based programme that improves confidence.
• Pupils have access to a growing range of wider opportunities, including sports, music and clubs.
• Careers advice and guidance are purposeful, with careers interviews and university trips.
• Trustees and the local governing body bring experience and understand the school's strengths and priorities.
• Staff appreciate leaders' consideration for their workload and well-being.

Areas for Improvement

• Pupils do not routinely achieve well in national outcomes or develop in-depth understanding.
• Teachers do not consistently check understanding or identify and address misconceptions and gaps in learning.
• Support for pupils with SEND is not consistently followed, and their work is not always of high quality.
• Reading fluency and vocabulary development are not structured consistently for all pupils.
• Staff do not routinely have high expectations of pupils' behaviour and attitudes to learning.
• New behaviour systems are not applied consistently, leading to disruption and negative behaviour around the school.
• Suspensions remain high, although reducing, and pupil absence remains high.
• Some pupils do not recognise the importance of personal development sessions, limiting their understanding of life in modern Britain.

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 Kemnal Technology College attended 84.9% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 43.4% 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, 29.3% of pupils at Kemnal Technology College were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). 4 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 Kemnal Technology College had 14.4 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 37.8% 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, 28.0% of pupils at Kemnal Technology College were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 7.1% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 3.5%).

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 2024–25 Kemnal Technology College received £10,583 and spent £10,777 for each of its 509 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £228,000 (£449 per pupil).

Across all 45 schools of The Kemnal Academies Trust, income was £8,501 and spending £8,452 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). Academy figures include a share of the trust's central services, shared out by pupil numbers, and are rounded to the nearest £1,000. Premises costs were defined differently from 2024, so compare them across that gap with care.

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Bromley · Bromley local authority: places and applications

Kemnal Technology College is part of The Kemnal Academies Trust, which runs 45 schools. The nearest others:

• Gray's Farm Primary Academy Orpington
• Cleeve Park School Sidcup
• Cleeve Meadow School Sidcup
• Royal Park Primary Academy Sidcup
• Horizon Primary Academy Swanley
• Orchards Academy Swanley
• Welling School Welling
• Shenstone School Crayford
• East Wickham Primary Academy Welling
• Stapleford Abbotts Primary Academy Romford

What is Kemnal Technology College's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Kemnal Technology College is Requires Improvement, from an inspection in March 2025.

When was Kemnal Technology College last inspected by Ofsted?

Kemnal Technology College was last inspected in March 2025.

How many pupils does Kemnal Technology College have?

Kemnal Technology College has 439 pupils on roll.

What age range does Kemnal Technology College cover?

Kemnal Technology College for pupils aged 11 to 18.

What are Kemnal Technology College's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 30.6, and 23% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Kemnal Technology College?

Kemnal Technology College is at Sevenoaks Way, Sidcup, Kent, DA14 5AA.