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Kent school application numbers for September 2025 reveal struggle to attract pupils after poor Ofsted ratings

Damning Ofsted inspections have seen the number of children wanting to join some Kent schools almost halve this year, new figures reveal.

Data analysed by KentOnline lays bare the devastating impact a poor grading by the education watchdog can have on admission numbers.

Debra Liddicoat is the head teacher of Chatham and Clarendon Grammar School in Ramsgate and heavily contests the ‘inadequate’ rating it was given by Ofsted
Debra Liddicoat is the head teacher of Chatham and Clarendon Grammar School in Ramsgate and heavily contests the ‘inadequate’ rating it was given by Ofsted

One Thanet grammar school rated ‘inadequate’ based on evidence its head teacher claims was “unfounded” has seen a 47% drop in first-choice applications.

And another secondary in Sandwich awarded the bottom rating has only been selected as a top preference by 91 prospective pupils - despite having the capacity for almost 250.

It comes just months after the government scrapped a divisive grading system that previously saw schools given a one-word overall judgement by Ofsted.

SCROLL DOWN FOR A FULL TABLE OF SCHOOL APPLICATIONS IN KENT

Other Kent schools to have seen a sharp drop in first-choice applications include an oversubscribed grammar in Dartford that changed its entry criteria to offer more places to local children.

Meanwhile, more than 40 schools in Kent have enjoyed a rise in the number of applicants selecting them as their preferred option.

At the same time, the number of children wanting to be educated on the Isle of Sheppey has almost doubled following the closure of a troubled school and the launch of two new academies in its place.

Big decisions

Parents across Kent had until October 31 last year to apply for a secondary school place, listing their desired choices in order of preference.

Recently published figures reveal the number of children selecting each school as their first choice, and KentOnline has compared the applications to last year’s data.

Chatham and Clarendon Grammar School in Ramsgate has seen first-choice applications fall by 47%. Picture: Google
Chatham and Clarendon Grammar School in Ramsgate has seen first-choice applications fall by 47%. Picture: Google

The two to have suffered by far the biggest drop are both on the east Kent coast - Chatham and Clarendon Grammar School (CCGS) in Ramsgate and Sandwich Technology School.

Both were rated ‘inadequate’ by Ofsted - the lowest grade possible - following contentious inspections carried out in March and May last year, respectively.

CCGS was particularly aggrieved by its grading, which was sparked in part by its delivery of single-sex classes - a practice the watchdog described as “unlawful discrimination”. It was also found to have poor recruitment practices, with inspectors finding CCGS “does not know whether necessary checks have taken place when staff have joined the school”.

The school launched a legal battle to have the rating reconsidered but ultimately lost, so the damaging report was published in September - just weeks before the deadline for parents to select their preferred choices for this year’s intake.

Principal Debra Liddicoat believes Ofsted’s findings, which she strongly contests, are largely to blame for the number of children wanting to join CCGS falling from 200 last year to just 107.

“It is hard to battle against a one-word judgement, particularly when we firmly believe it is not a fair reflection of our school,” she said.

“Given the complexities of our most recent Ofsted inspection, we always anticipated that our Year 7 applications would reduce this year.

“That one word, for example, makes it easy to forget that in the summer we secured our best-ever set of results at GCSE.

“In addition, it doesn’t capture the strength of our enrichment programmes, the care we provide to our students or the high expectations we have for our pupils – all of which were raised positively by Ofsted in their inspection findings.”

Mrs Liddicoat says the ongoing support of parents has been “heartening”, adding: “The reality is that roughly the same percentage of people who came to our open days put down our school as their first choice as usual – we just had less people come through our doors.

Fewer pupils means less funding for schools, so those struggling to fill classrooms will receive less government money. Picture: Stock image/Thinkstock
Fewer pupils means less funding for schools, so those struggling to fill classrooms will receive less government money. Picture: Stock image/Thinkstock

“As disappointing as the application data is, it just further highlights that we have to work harder to showcase what our talented students and dedicated staff achieve.”

While CCGS - which has the capacity for 180 pupils in Year 7 - is likely to fill spare spaces with children failing to secure their first choice elsewhere, it says it expects a smaller intake this September.

With student headcount linked to funding, any school seeing a drop in admissions will receive less money from the government.

Fortunately, the funding is lagged, so it will be two years before CCGS feels the impact, but bosses say “it would be wrong for us not to at least start to prepare for this”.

It last week told staff it needed to cut jobs in a bid to save up to £560,000 - a plan it says was already being considered before the Ofsted inspection to tackle increased costs.

‘Radical change needed’

The school hit with the biggest slump in first-choice applications for this September’s intake is Sandwich Technology, which was also rated ‘inadequate’.

Inspectors had highlighted bullying, alongside poor behaviour and attendance, as significant issues, saying they created a “chaotic environment”.

The assessment was branded “narrow, disproportionate and unjustified” by the then-head teacher, Tracey Savage, but her comments appear to have done little to reassure parents.

The new head teacher of Sandwich Technology School, Simon Sharples admits ‘radical change’ is needed
The new head teacher of Sandwich Technology School, Simon Sharples admits ‘radical change’ is needed

Just 91 children have selected Sandwich Tech as their first preference for this September - a 48% drop from 175 last year.

New head Simon Sharples, who took up the post after Mrs Savage’s departure last month, admits “radical change and improvement is required”.

“My stance on the Ofsted inspection of 2024 is that while it was harsh in areas, there were also obvious lessons to be learned and improvements required,” he told parents.

“I believe that the school has reflected on those matters and has improved, but now my job is to improve the school significantly further.

“But it is important to be calm, logical and think carefully about the sequence of actions you are going to take.

“A wild flurry of improvement actions without careful thought may do more harm than good.”

Elsewhere, Folkestone School for Girls, which last June was stripped of its ‘outstanding’ rating after 12 years, has seen a 6% fall in first-choice applications.

But the grammar, which was rated ‘good’, remains oversubscribed, with 197 first-choice applicants vying for 180 spaces.

Following the grading, head teacher Mark Lester described Ofsted inspections as “tick-box exercises”, arguing the school was actually better than when last visited in 2012.

Elsewhere, two of Kent’s leading grammar schools each saw at least 100 fewer children select them as first-choice for this September.

But Dartford Grammar School for Girls and Dartford Grammar School needn’t worry as they remain the two most oversubscribed schools in Kent.

Each has 180 spaces, with the girls’ school still attracting 384 first-choice applications and the boys’ school 511.

Dartford Grammar - which admits a large number of pupils from outside of Kent - adjusted its admission criteria for the 2025 intake to offer 40 more places to children from the borough.

The moves appear to have deterred some prospective pupils - likely those from the outskirts of London - from selecting the school as their first choice this year.

Education on the Isle

The biggest jump in applications has been seen at new schools on the Isle of Sheppey, although it comes with a slight caveat.

EKC Sheppey Secondary in Sheerness and the Leigh Academy Minster opened in September in place of the long-troubled Oasis Academy, which previously operated across both sites before shutting for good at the end of the school year.

Leigh Academy Minster principal Mathieu Stevens says many more Sheppey parents are now choosing to see their children educated on the Island
Leigh Academy Minster principal Mathieu Stevens says many more Sheppey parents are now choosing to see their children educated on the Island

The Academy had been rated ‘inadequate’ by Ofsted in August 2022, with inspectors painting a shocking picture of bullies running riot and terrorising pupils and staff.

“Foul, homophobic, racist and sexist language” also went unchecked, while the report highlighted a lack of permanent teachers and more than half of pupils not turning up for lessons.

Despite slight improvements, the school failed to raise standards sufficiently by the time of a follow-up inspection in 2023.

In November of the same year, teachers and staff even went on strike following numerous incidents of pupil threats and violence.

A decision was later taken for the school to be taken over by two trusts, with the Leigh Academies Trust running a more academic school and EKC Schools Trust a site focusing on vocational and technical courses.

Former MP for Sittingbourne and Sheppey Gordon Henderson welcomed the “excellent” news at the time, but tempered expectations by saying the move would not “change secondary education on the Isle of Sheppey overnight”.

However, new figures show the overhaul has had an immediate impact, with the number of children wanting to be educated on the Island almost doubling.

Last year just 187 pupils selected the Oasis Academy as their first choice, while 344 have this year chosen either EKC Sheppey Secondary or Leigh Academy Minster (the previously mentioned caveat being that applications for these schools have been combined for the best comparison).

Mathieu Stevens is the head teacher at Leigh Academy Minster, which has 180 spaces and has received 222 top-preference applications.

“Families are increasingly choosing to stay on the Island and putting Leigh Academy Minster as the preferred option for their children, with students even transferring from Sittingbourne schools, including local grammars, to join our thriving academy,” he said.

EKC Sheppey Secondary head teacher January Lorman says she is pleased the local community is backing the new school
EKC Sheppey Secondary head teacher January Lorman says she is pleased the local community is backing the new school

“This reflects the trust and confidence the community places in the academy’s ability to deliver a top-tier education close to home.

“The academy is now working closely with Kent County Council to explore options for accommodating more students in Year 7 next year to ensure access to high-quality education.”

EKC Sheppey, which has 150 spaces, has been selected as first choice by 122 children.

Its head, January Lorman, said: “Obviously, the previous education offer on the Island had been judged inadequate by Ofsted, so most young people were looking to explore opportunities elsewhere.

“We’re really pleased that the local community are backing our new school, which will deliver an inspirational education offer for them.”

The school with the single biggest rise in first-choice applications is Valley Park in Maidstone, where the number has jumped 47% from 142 to 208.

Head teacher Dave Jones, who joined the school in 2023, says the increase reflects the “positive changes” made at the school.

“When I came to Valley Park 18 months ago, I had a clear vision of what I wanted to achieve, focusing on creating an inclusive environment for all students and ensuring a wealth of opportunities for everyone,” he said.

“It’s wonderful to see that parents and students see the value of this and want to join us.”

Kent’s biggest school, Homewood School in Tenterden, has also seen a significant rise in its popularity.

It will have to sift through 277 first-preference applications for September’s intake - 82 more than last year.

Elsewhere, and bucking the trend, Fulston Manor School in Sittingbourne has enjoyed a 7% jump in the number of children wanting to go there - despite being downgraded to ‘requires improvement’ by Ofsted last January.

‘Concealing information from parents’

The decision to scrap one-word Ofsted judgements was triggered largely by the death of Berkshire head teacher Ruth Perry, who took her own life in 2023.

She had been awaiting the outcome of a damning inspection that would eventually see her primary school rated ‘inadequate’.

A coroner ruled the visit “contributed” to Ms Perry’s suicide and described Ofsted’s system of one-word gradings as “dreadful in all respects.”

It was axed by the new Labour government in September, much to the dismay of Kent County Council’s education cabinet member, Cllr Rory Love, who said the move would “damage parents’ ability to choose schools for their children”.

He told fellow cabinet members: “In a nutshell, while local government is working towards transparency and data, the new Labour central government is concealing from parents information that helps shape their choices of school for their children and I think that it is deeply shameful.”

Presented with the data showing the impact of Ofsted gradings on application numbers at CCGS and Sandwich Technology, Cllr Love doubled down on his views that such a rating system should have been retained.

Kent County Council’s cabinet member for education, Rory Love, believes one-word Ofsted judgements gave parents the best overview of a school
Kent County Council’s cabinet member for education, Rory Love, believes one-word Ofsted judgements gave parents the best overview of a school

“The 'overall judgement' by Ofsted enables a professional judgement to be made available to parents which weighs up and balances four Ofsted individual topic judgements: The quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management,” he said.

“All these individual judgements are still provided, but it is now left to parents to try to balance these judgements.

“Ofsted inspectors are in a better position to make this overall judgement, informed by evidence gathered during their visit to the school.

“The government's removal of the overall judgement means that parents are denied a piece of professionally informed guidance which is one key contribution towards their understanding of the school's performance.”

Medway Council – which oversees education in the towns separately from KCC – has been asked to provide application figures for its schools.

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