Map shows all the Kent secondary schools set to be stripped of 'Outstanding' title in Ofsted overhaul

Richard Ault & Chloe Holmwood

4 September 2024 at 2:27 pm·3-min read

-Credit: (Image: SOL STOCK LTD / GettyImages)

Nearly 20 top-performing Kent secondary schools are set to lose their 'Outstanding' titles - after Ofsted introduced a new system for grading schools. The practice of issuing an overall one or two-word grade - either Outstanding, Good, Requires Improvement, or Inadequate has been scrapped with immediate effect.

Ofsted will continue to inspect schools, but will now only issue gradings related to individual aspects of a school’s performance. As of July 31, 495 schools in England had achieved the highest possible rating of “Outstanding” at their last Ofsted inspection.

That includes 19 schools in Kent - two in Medway and 17 across the rest of the county. Four of those schools were graded Outstanding at inspections carried out during the last school year.

It means 17 per cent of schools in Kent and 11 per cent in Medway had been graded Outstanding. However, all those Outstanding gradings will now be lost after the schools' next inspections.

You can see the schools near you that were rated Outstanding at their last inspection using our interactive map below:

For future inspections this academic year, parents will see grades across the existing sub-categories: quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and leadership and management. Ofsted will continue to inspect schools against the same standards, but will now only issue gradings related to individual aspects of a school's performance.

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said: “The need for Ofsted reform to drive high and rising standards for all our children in every school is overwhelmingly clear. The removal of headline grades is a generational reform and a landmark moment for children, parents and teachers.

“Single-headline grades are low information for parents and high stakes for schools. Parents deserve a much clearer, much broader picture of how schools are performing - that’s what our report cards will provide.

“This Government will make inspection a more powerful, more transparent tool for driving school improvement. We promised change and now we are delivering.”

The changes come after several years of debate within education about whether one overall grade can sum up the complexity of a school. That debate intensified after an inquest in 2023 found an inspection contributed to the death of head teacher Ruth Perry, who took her own life after learning her school was set to be graded Inadequate.

The Department for Education said the old system did not give a fair assessment of schools and was only supported “by a minority of parents and teachers”. Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the National Association of Headteachers, said: “We have been clear that simplistic one-word judgments are harmful and we are pleased the Government has taken swift action to remove them.

“We are equally pleased that the Government intends to place a stronger emphasis on supporting schools to improve where they need help, rather than defaulting to heavy-handed intervention or knee-jerk changes of governance structures.”

The Kent schools rated Outstanding

Inspections during the last school year:

Tunbridge Wells Girls' Grammar School - 19/9/2023 Invicta Grammar School, Maidstone - 16/4/2024 Bennett Memorial Diocesan School, Tunbridge Wells - 13/12/2023 Mayfield Grammar School, Gravesend - 30/4/2024

Inspections earlier than September 2023:

Dover Grammar School for Girls - 14/11/2013
Maidstone Grammar School for Girls - 7/3/2023
The Judd School, Tonbridge - 6/5/2015
Simon Langton Grammar School for Boys, Canterbury - 13/11/2013
Wilmington Academy, Wilmington - 4/5/2023
Dartford Grammar School - 6/12/2022
Highworth Grammar School, Ashford - 13/6/2013
Tonbridge Grammar School - 16/10/2019
Gravesend Grammar School - 25/6/2015
The Harvey Grammar School, Folkestone - 16/3/2016
St Gregory's Catholic School, Tunbridge Wells - 15/10/2013
Dartford Grammar School for Girls - 21/6/2016
School of Science and Technology Maidstone - 24/1/2023
Fort Pitt Grammar School, Chatham - 4/10/2022
Sir Joseph Williamson's Mathematical School, Rochester - 21/3/2023

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The Kent schools rated Outstanding

Inspections during the last school year:

Inspections earlier than September 2023:

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