Tunbridge Wells and Tonbridge schools ranked on GCSE results

Tonbridge Grammar School, The Judd School and Tunbridge Wells Girls’ Grammar School were shown by last week’s Department for Education data to be top of the class.

The Skinners’ School and Weald of Kent Grammar School finished in fourth and fifth position, in a rankings pattern familiar to previous years.

It is all calculated by the Attainment 8 measure – a method of providing an average grade for a student’s eight subjects, including mathematics and English.

Students leaving Year 11 [aged 15 and 16] received their results in August for the GCSEs, which for the first time were graded using the 9-1 measure, instead of A*-G.

And it was Tonbridge Grammar School, in Deakin Leas, that finished with an Attainment 8 average of 77.9 – far above the UK mean of 44.6.

Head Teacher Rosemary Joyce said: “When we see students become independent learners, who are driven to make a difference, we feel a sense of accomplishment.”

Last year Tonbridge Grammar School was also ranked top with The Judd School, another selective secondary in Tonbridge, finishing second.

Bennett Memorial Diocesan School in Tunbridge Wells and Hillview School for Girls in Tonbridge were among the top performing comprehensive secondaries in both towns this time around.

A spokesman for Bennett said: “Clearly, none of this is achieved without the hard work of our students and the dedicated staff team that we have here.

“We know too that parents play a pivotal part in encouraging and supporting such achievement.

“As a school whilst we are of course delighted by these very strong indications of the impact of our work, we are nonetheless committed to further improvement.”

How schools Attainment 8 results compared