Barton Court Grammar School

Barton Court Grammar School has been judged as good overall in its recent inspection, with notable strengths in leadership, personal development, and behaviour among students. The school's commitment to a broad and ambitious academic curriculum has resulted in students achieving well above national averages. The respectful and harmonious environment fosters a strong community spirit, and pupils demonstrate a keen interest in learning and personal growth. However, concerns have been raised regarding the support for some pupils, particularly those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), as they sometimes struggle to grasp and retain the taught material effectively. Additionally, the school has not been inspected in nearly six years, and this is the first inspection under the current evaluation framework since its previous outstanding rating in 2014.

Strengths

• Outstanding behaviour and attitudes among pupils
• High expectations and ambition for all students
• Strong personal development and enrichment activities
• Effective planning and execution of the academic curriculum
• Teachers demonstrate excellent subject knowledge
• High student engagement and minimal disruption in lessons
• Significant improvement in sixth-form courses and teaching

Areas for Improvement

• Inconsistent support for students with special educational needs
• Some pupils do not always retain knowledge effectively
• Lack of systematic promotion of non-qualification activities in the sixth form

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 Barton Court Grammar School attended 95.4% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 7.2% 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, 1.2% of pupils at Barton Court 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 Barton Court Grammar School had 18.8 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 17.3% 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, 5.5% of pupils at Barton Court Grammar School were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 0.6% 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 Barton Court Grammar School received £6,560 and spent £6,515 for each of its 1,005 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £881,000 (£876 per pupil).

Across all 3 schools of Barton Court Academy Trust, income was £7,698 and spending £7,427 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 Canterbury · Kent local authority: places and applications

Barton Court Grammar School is part of Barton Court Academy Trust, which runs 3 schools. The nearest others:

• Barton Manor School Canterbury
• The Charles Dickens School Broadstairs

What is Barton Court Grammar School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Barton Court Grammar School is Good, from an inspection in December 2024.

When was Barton Court Grammar School last inspected by Ofsted?

Barton Court Grammar School was last inspected in December 2024.

How many pupils does Barton Court Grammar School have?

Barton Court Grammar School has 995 pupils on roll.

What age range does Barton Court Grammar School cover?

Barton Court Grammar School for pupils aged 11 to 18.

What are Barton Court Grammar School's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 66.1, and 86% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Barton Court Grammar School?

Barton Court Grammar School is at Longport, Canterbury, Kent, CT1 1PH.