Dartford, Kent · Kent
Dartford Grammar School
Requires most of its intake to score 40 points above Kent's standard grammar threshold — one of the county's genuinely higher bars, not just a reputation.
Dartford Grammar dates to 1576 and teaches boys from 11 to 18, with an International Baccalaureate Diploma sixth form rather than standard A-levels. It sits within Kent's county-wide 11+ system — the Kent Test sets the general grammar-eligible bar — but Dartford's own admissions arrangements require boys competing for most of its places to clear a score well above that standard threshold, which is documented, not just reputational.
Key facts
- Gender
- boys
- Age range
- 11-18
- Region
- South East
- Local authority
- Kent
- Established
- 1576
- DfE URN
- 136359
- Website
- https://www.dartfordgrammarschool.org.uk/
Admissions
- Admissions authority
- The school sets its own test and criteria
- Entrance test board
- The Kent Test (formally the Procedure for Entry to Secondary Education), commissioned and run county-wide by Kent County Council. Tutoring-sector sources consistently attribute production and marking to GL Assessment, though no accessible KCC page names the provider explicitly for the current cycle.partly verified
No accessible Kent County Council primary page explicitly names the current test provider. Tutoring-sector sources consistently name GL Assessment; KCC's own December 2025 procurement notice covers a new contract from March 2027 and doesn't name the current incumbent.
- Test format
- Tests in Mathematics, English, and Reasoning (Verbal, Spatial & Non-Verbal), sat Kent-wide by Year 6 pupils in early September, with results issued in mid-October. Only applicants achieving the Kent-wide 'grammar' classification are eligible to be considered further.
- Qualifying / pass mark
- No school-specific pass mark is pre-published. Applicants must first reach the Kent-wide 'grammar' classification — a total of 332 points with no component below 108, for the most recently completed September 2026 cycle (the September 2027 figure isn't published until October 2026). Beyond that, Dartford's own admissions arrangements require boys competing for its 130 Priority Area places to score at least 40 points above the Kent Test threshold (Pupil Premium applicants: at least 20 points above); its remaining 50 places go to all other eligible boys by rank order with no extra margin required.
- Superselective?
- Yes
Dartford's own determined admissions arrangements require boys competing for its 130 Priority Area places — most of the year's intake — to score at least 40 points above the Kent-wide grammar threshold, a materially higher bar than many other Kent grammar schools apply. KentOnline independently reports that Dartford 'demands the highest scores in the Kent Test for new applicants' among Kent's grammar schools.
Catchment & priority criteria
A Priority Area covers Dartford's electoral wards plus the named parishes of Ash-cum-Ridley, Crockenhill, Eynsford, Farningham, Fawkham, Hartley, Hextable, Horton Kirby and South Darenth, Swanley, and West Kingsdown. 130 of the school's 180 places go to Priority Area applicants (gated by the 40-point margin above); the remaining 50 are open to all eligible boys regardless of address. Ties are broken by straight-line distance to the school.
- Priority Area (130 places): looked-after/previously looked-after children, then up to 13 Pupil Premium places (20+ points above threshold), then all other eligible boys scoring 40+ points above threshold
- All Applicants Regardless of Address (50 places): looked-after/previously looked-after children, then up to 5 Pupil Premium places (20+ points above threshold), then all remaining eligible boys by rank order
Results
| Year | Attainment 8 | GCSE 5+ Eng & Maths | Progress 8 | A*–A | A*–B |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 79.9 | 98.9% | Not calculated by DfE — no KS2 baseline data for this cohort | — | — |
| 16-18 'academic qualifications' cohort (307 students, includes the school's IB Diploma group): average grade B+ (43.45 points/entry), progress score +0.05 ('Average'). The narrower standalone A-level cohort was too small for DfE to publish separately. | |||||
| 2024 | — | — | +1.11 (school-reported; year attribution not independently confirmed against DfE data — see flags) | — | — |
Ofsted
- Rating
- Outstanding
- Date
- 6 December 2022
- Report
- Read the full report
Sources
- 1. DfE Get Information About Schools — URN, status, gender, LA, region — https://get-information-schools.service.gov.uk/Establishments/Establishment/Details/136359
- 2. Determined admissions arrangements for September 2027 entry — https://www.kent.gov.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0016/234331/Dartford-Grammar-School-admissions-criteria-2027-2028.pdf
- 3. Ofsted report, inspected 6 December 2022 — https://files.ofsted.gov.uk/v1/file/50206295
- 4. DfE Compare School Performance — 2025 GCSE results — https://www.compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk/school/136359/dartford-grammar-school/secondary
- 5. DfE Compare School Performance — 2025 16-18 results (IB/academic qualifications) — https://www.compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk/school/136359/dartford-grammar-school/16-to-18/advanced-level-qualifications
- 6. KentOnline league-table coverage — 'demands the highest scores' claim — https://www.kentonline.co.uk/kent/news/kent-s-secondary-schools-ranked-in-latest-league-tables-bu-335058/
- 7. Kent County Council — Kent Test qualifying threshold, September 2026 entry — https://www.kent.gov.uk/education-and-children/schools/school-places/kent-test/kent-test-results
- 8. Kent County Council procurement notice — Kent Test examination services contract — https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/079694-2025
- 9. School's own 2023/24 GCSE results announcement — https://www.dartfordgrammarschool.org.uk/News/Dartford-Grammar-School-GCSE-Results-August-2024/
Last updated 2026-08-30. Spotted something wrong? Tell us.