The Rochester Grammar School

The Rochester Grammar School has been rated as good overall in its first inspection since becoming an academy. The school sets high standards and promotes a positive environment where pupils value their education and personal development. Strong management and a well-designed curriculum contribute to the school's effectiveness, ensuring that students develop necessary skills and knowledge. However, consistency in support for disadvantaged pupils remains a concern, as does enhancing pupil engagement in decision-making processes.

Strengths

• Strong safeguarding culture and effective arrangements to keep pupils safe.
• Well-designed and ambitious curriculum that supports academic achievement.
• High standards of behaviour and respectful interactions among pupils.
• Comprehensive offer for personal development and extracurricular activities.
• High level of subject knowledge and effective teaching strategies.

Areas for Improvement

• Inconsistent implementation of support for disadvantaged pupils.
• Limited pupil involvement in decision-making within the school.

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 Rochester Grammar School attended 95.6% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 10.5% 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, 2.7% of pupils at The Rochester Grammar School were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). 2 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 Rochester Grammar School had 17.0 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 9.2% 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, 1.5% of pupils at The Rochester Grammar School were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 0.2% 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 The Rochester Grammar School received £7,373 and spent £7,437 for each of its 1,171 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £21,000 (£18 per pupil).

Across all 19 schools of The Thinking Schools Academy Trust, income was £8,363 and spending £8,363 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 Rochester · Medway local authority: places and applications

The Rochester Grammar School is part of The Thinking Schools Academy Trust, which runs 25 schools. The nearest others:

• Holcombe Grammar School Chatham
• New Horizons Children's Academy Chatham
• The Victory Academy Chatham
• Cedar Children's Academy Rochester
• All Faiths Children's Academy Rochester
• Gordons Children's Academy, Junior Rochester
• Gordons Children's Academy, Infant Rochester
• Maritime Academy Rochester
• Colchester Royal Grammar School Colchester
• Goodwin Academy Deal

What is The Rochester Grammar School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for The Rochester Grammar School is Good, from an inspection in March 2023.

When was The Rochester Grammar School last inspected by Ofsted?

The Rochester Grammar School was last inspected in March 2023.

How many pupils does The Rochester Grammar School have?

The Rochester Grammar School has 1,206 pupils on roll.

What age range does The Rochester Grammar School cover?

The Rochester Grammar School for pupils aged 11 to 18.

What are The Rochester Grammar School's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 67.5, and 93% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is The Rochester Grammar School?

The Rochester Grammar School is at Maidstone Road, Rochester, Kent, ME1 3BY.