Astor Secondary School

Astor Secondary School demonstrates a strong commitment to personal development and wellbeing, offering tailored support and a wide range of enrichment activities that help pupils build confidence and social skills. Currently, leadership has shifted towards a more effective approach, focusing on improving academic outcomes, particularly for disadvantaged pupils and those with SEND. However, there are still notable challenges in achieving better performance in national examinations and attendance rates, which remain a concern. Overall, efforts are being made to enhance the educational experience and results for all students.

Strengths

• Safeguarding standards are met, contributing to a safe environment.
• Strong pastoral care tailored to individual pupil needs.
• Effective personal, social, and health education curriculum.
• Wide range of enrichment activities available to all pupils.
• Inclusive post-16 provision that meets diverse student needs.
• Leadership actions are beginning to positively impact pupil confidence and skills.

Areas for Improvement

• Historically low achievement in national examinations.
• High rates of persistent absenteeism affecting pupil achievement.
• Inconsistencies in curriculum delivery and teacher assessment.
• Disadvantaged pupils are not achieving as well as they should.
• Leadership did not respond quickly enough to key priorities for improvement until recently.

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 Astor Secondary School attended 86.7% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 47.7% 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, 20.9% of pupils at Astor Secondary 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 Astor Secondary School had 14.4 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 28.2% 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, 21.7% of pupils at Astor Secondary School were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 1.6% 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 Astor Secondary School received £8,947 and spent £9,508 for each of its 772 pupils. It ended the year with a deficit of £253,000 (-£327 per pupil).

Across all 4 schools of Samphire Star Education Trust, income was £8,517 and spending £9,007 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 Dover · Kent local authority: places and applications

Astor Secondary School is part of Samphire Star Education Trust, which runs 4 schools. The nearest others:

• White Cliffs Primary and Nursery School Dover
• Barton Junior School Dover
• Shatterlocks Infant and Nursery School Dover

What is Astor Secondary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Astor Secondary School is Needs attention, from an inspection in May 2026.

When was Astor Secondary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Astor Secondary School was last inspected in May 2026.

How many pupils does Astor Secondary School have?

Astor Secondary School has 732 pupils on roll.

What age range does Astor Secondary School cover?

Astor Secondary School for pupils aged 11 to 18.

What are Astor Secondary School's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 30.3, and 12% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Astor Secondary School?

Astor Secondary School is at Astor Avenue, Dover, Kent, CT17 0AS.