Some of west Kent's leading schools have been ranked among the very best in the UK, according to one of the country's top surveys.

Tonbridge Grammar School, The Judd School and Tunbridge Wells Girls' Grammar School have been listed among the south east's top ten state schools in Parent Power, The Sunday Times Schools Guide 2019.

The guide, published in The Sunday Times and online this weekend, identifies the 2,000 highest-achieving schools in the UK, ranked by their recent examination results.

Dartford Grammar School also appeared in the top five for the region, while Sevenoaks School was ranked sixth in a list of the best independents in the south east.

As well as assessment of all academic results on a school-by-school basis, Parent Power enables parents to compare the performance of a given school with other schools in the same town, local authority or nationally.

The rankings in the secondary school league tables are determined by the percentage of examination entries gaining A* to B grades at A-level this summer - which are given double weighting - and the percentage of entries returning A* and A grades, and those graded 9, 8 and 7, at GCSE.

Tonbridge Grammar was ranked second in the south east, and tenth nationally, with 91.2% of entries getting top A-level grades and 81.9% exceeding at GCSE.

Elsewhere, Dartford Grammar was fourth regionally and 21st nationally with 91% and 63.5% respectively, The Judd School fifth and 22nd with 85.3% and 73.3% and Tunbridge Wells Girls' Grammar seventh and 38th with 81.2% and 68.7%.

Sevenoaks School meanwhile - ranked 13th in a national list of independent schools, above the famous Eton College - had 95.8% of pupils scoring top A-level grades and 92.7% for GCSE.

The table comes just weeks after data surfaced about which of Kent's schools performed best in recent exams.

Tonbridge Grammar head Rosemary Joyce said last month the school judges itself on other factors as well as exam success.

"The teaching team prides itself on ensuring each student is ‘real world ready’," she said.

"When we see students become independent learners who are curious, creative and critical thinkers and are driven to make a difference in the world, we feel a great sense of accomplishment.”

However, Joanne Bartley, from the anti-grammar campaign, Kent Education Network, however, felt it was unfair to use the results as a definitive list of the county's 'best schools', believing those with a selective policy were always going to score higher.