Highworth Grammar School

Highworth Grammar School is a highly effective and inclusive school where a culture of academic excellence is matched by strong pastoral care. Pupils, including those with SEND and disadvantaged pupils, achieve exceptionally well because the curriculum is ambitious and carefully sequenced, teaching is highly skilled, and gaps in learning are identified and addressed quickly. Sixth-form students also benefit from strong support and achieve very well. Pupils’ behaviour is impeccable, attendance has improved significantly, and pupils feel very safe. Personal development is a notable strength: pupils engage in a rich range of clubs, trips, debates and international exchanges, and they are given meaningful opportunities to influence school decisions. Careers education is well integrated and provides unbiased guidance about future pathways. Leadership is strong at all levels, trustees know the school well, and safeguarding arrangements are effective. This was the school’s first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic and its first section 5 inspection since 2013, when it was exempt from routine inspection after being judged outstanding. The school is a single academy trust. Inspectors identified no areas of concern in this report.

Strengths

• An ambitious, meticulously designed curriculum enables pupils to achieve exceptionally well.
• Teachers use probing questions and precise feedback to check understanding and address gaps swiftly.
• Pupils with SEND and disadvantaged pupils achieve very well through forensic monitoring and timely support.
• Targeted reading support develops fluency and confidence, particularly benefiting pupils who speak English as an additional language.
• Pupils’ behaviour is impeccable, with fair and consistent high expectations from staff.
• Attendance has improved significantly because staff provide responsive support to remove barriers.
• Pupils feel very safe and staff expertly address any worries.
• The school is exemplary in empowering pupil voice, including through student governors and peer mentorship.
• Personal development is rich, with abundant clubs, trips, debates, international exchanges and seminar programmes.
• Careers education is threaded through the curriculum and provides unbiased guidance on future pathways.
• Sixth-form students receive a welcoming induction, academic support and effective university application mentoring.
• Leadership at all levels is outward facing, improvement-focused and well supported by trustees.
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective.

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 Highworth Grammar School attended 95.2% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 9.6% 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, 0.1% of pupils at Highworth Grammar 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 Highworth Grammar School had 17.7 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 8.8% 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, 8.0% of pupils at Highworth Grammar School were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 0.3% 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 Highworth Grammar School received £6,384 and spent £6,363 for each of its 1,543 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £1,868,000 (£1,211 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 Ashford · Kent local authority: places and applications

What is Highworth Grammar School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Highworth Grammar School is Outstanding, from an inspection in February 2025.

When was Highworth Grammar School last inspected by Ofsted?

Highworth Grammar School was last inspected in February 2025.

How many pupils does Highworth Grammar School have?

Highworth Grammar School has 1,553 pupils on roll.

What age range does Highworth Grammar School cover?

Highworth Grammar School for pupils aged 11 to 18.

What are Highworth Grammar School's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 69.2, and 93% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Highworth Grammar School?

Highworth Grammar School is at Maidstone Road, Ashford, Kent, TN24 8UD.