Tunbridge Wells, Kent · Kent
Tunbridge Wells Grammar School for Boys
The school itself says its Kent Test score 'is not relevant for admission' beyond qualifying — a genuine Community school where Kent County Council, not the school, is the admissions authority.
TWGSB is legally one school split across two teaching sites — Tunbridge Wells (210 places) and a Sevenoaks annexe opened in 2021 (90 places) — with pupils assigned to a site by distance after being offered a place, not by choice. As a Community school, Kent County Council itself is the admissions authority, unlike most other Kent grammar schools researched for this index, which are academies or foundation schools setting their own arrangements. Its own admissions FAQ states plainly that the Kent Test score itself 'is not relevant for admission' once a boy is grammar-assessed — places instead go by sibling link, medical need, then geography, the same pattern used at the companion girls' school, Tunbridge Wells Girls' Grammar School.
Key facts
- Gender
- boys
- Age range
- 11-18
- Region
- South East
- Local authority
- Kent
- DfE URN
- 118790
- Website
- https://www.twgsb.org.uk/
Admissions
- Admissions authority
- Local-authority coordinated test
- Entrance test board
- The Kent Test, commissioned by Kent County Council. GL Assessment is widely reported as the provider, though not confirmed on a directly-accessible council page.
- Test format
- A combined English and Maths paper, and a combined Verbal and Non-Verbal Reasoning paper, both externally marked and multiple-choice. A separate writing task is sat but used only for borderline or appeal decisions.
- Qualifying / pass mark
- The standard Kent-wide grammar-qualifying threshold (a recent cycle: 332 total, no component below 108). The school sets no requirement above this — its own FAQ states verbatim that the Kent Test score 'is not relevant for admission to TWGSB' once a boy is grammar-assessed; places among qualified applicants go by the priority criteria below, not by ranking scores further.sources conflict
The school's own FAQ states the minimum component score is 108; an independent tutoring site states 106. Both agree on the 332 total.
- Superselective?
- No
The school states directly that the Kent Test score plays no role in admission beyond qualifying — the defining opposite of a superselective policy, where a school sets a bar meaningfully above the county threshold and ranks by score. This mirrors the pattern at the companion girls' school, TWGGS.
Catchment & priority criteria
No single mapped catchment. After statutory priorities, places go first to boys within 3 miles of the Tunbridge Wells site or in one of around 33 named priority parishes, then by straight-line distance for anyone left. The average furthest distance actually offered over the last three years was reported as 18.81 miles, reflecting high demand. Unlike TWGGS, which has recently removed catchment, sibling and staff-child priority in successive policy revisions, this school's criteria show no equivalent recent narrowing.
- Children with an EHCP naming the school
- Looked-after and previously looked-after children
- A brother already attending TWGSB, at either site
- Documented medical or social need specific to this school
- Boys resident within 3 miles of the Tunbridge Wells site
- Boys resident in one of the named priority parishes
- All other qualifying boys, by distance
Results
| Year | Attainment 8 | GCSE 5+ Eng & Maths | Progress 8 | A*–A | A*–B |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 63.7 (England average 46.1, Kent average 46.7) — the school's own site separately states 63.9 for the same cohort | 91.2% (the school's own site separately states 91.7%) | Not calculated by DfE — no KS2 baseline data for this cohort nationally | 30.8% | 65.3% |
| EBacc entry 80.6%, EBacc average point score 5.88. A-level (165 students): 30.8% grades A*-A, 65.3% grades A*-B, average grade B-. | |||||
| 2024 | 64.07 (school-reported, not independently re-confirmed against DfE) | 87.7% (school-reported) | +0.47 — this cohort predates the COVID-era Progress 8 gap | 35.5% | 66.1% |
| A-level: 35.5% grades A*-A, 66.1% grades A*-B, average grade B. | |||||
Ofsted
- Rating
- Under Ofsted's post-2025 report-card framework: 'Strong standard' in Achievement, Attendance and Behaviour, Personal Development and Wellbeing, and Post-16 Provision; 'Expected standard' in Curriculum and Teaching, Inclusion, and Leadership and Governance. Safeguarding met. The prior inspection (2021, old framework) rated the school Good overall.
- Date
- 17 March 2026
- Report
- Read the full report
Sources
- 1. DfE Get Information About Schools — URN, status, gender, LA — https://get-information-schools.service.gov.uk/Establishments/Establishment/Details/118790
- 2. Ofsted report, inspected 17 March 2026 — https://files.ofsted.gov.uk/v1/file/50301955
- 3. School's own Year 7 admissions page — two-site structure, PAN — https://www.twgsb.org.uk/join-us/student-admissions/year-7-admissions
- 4. School's own admissions FAQ — full priority order, Kent Test score statement — https://www.twgsb.org.uk/join-us/student-admissions/year-7-admission-faqs
- 5. School's own performance data and results page — https://www.twgsb.org.uk/about-us/performance-data-and-exam-results
- 6. DfE Compare School Performance — 2025 GCSE results — https://www.compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk/school/118790/tunbridge-wells-grammar-school-for-boys/secondary
- 7. Kent County Council decision record — PAN expansion to 300 places from the Sevenoaks annexe, September 2021 — https://democracy.kent.gov.uk/ieDecisionDetails.aspx?ID=2372
Last updated 2026-08-30. Spotted something wrong? Tell us.