Wilmington Grammar School for Girls

Dartford, DA2 7BB · Kent · Grammar school

Ofsted: Good · 2022 ★ Selective Girls Secondary
OfstedGood
Pupils1163
FSM5.9%
Progress 8+0.76
A-level avgC+
Qualifying score332.0 2026
Test boardConsortium: Kent Grammar School Consortium. No fixed score — rank-ordered; grammar schools take ~top 25% of ability range
AI summary of the Ofsted report Inspected 2023-02-01 · Tap to collapse

Generated by AI from the official inspection report — not written by Ofsted or SchoolsGPT staff. Always read the full Ofsted PDF before relying on this summary.

Overview: Wilmington Grammar School for Girls is a good school with outstanding behaviour and attitudes, and personal development. Pupils are proud of their school and enjoy a broad and rich curriculum that promotes diversity and equality.

Strengths:

  • Pupils are extremely proud of their school and model the school's 'REACH' values of respect and resilience, equality, achievement, community, honesty and integrity.
  • Behaviour is excellent, with bullying very rare and pupils confident that leaders would act quickly to stop any incidents.
  • Pupils achieve very well in most subjects, with leaders having raised their expectations of the quality of curriculum and teaching.
  • The overall curriculum is broad and rich, with pupils studying a wide range of subjects, including languages and technical subjects.
  • Reading is strongly prioritised, with most pupils reading voraciously and enjoying sharing their thoughts on their favourite books.
  • Careers information, education, advice and guidance is extremely well organised, with pupils receiving tailored advice to inform their choices.

Areas to improve:

  • In a small minority of subjects, including in the sixth form, the sequencing and progression of the curriculum is not as coherent as it could be, and there is some inconsistency in teachers' practice.
  • Senior leaders should ensure that they continue to support subject leaders to develop well-sequenced curriculums with clearly identified components that lead to ambitious end points.

Safeguarding: The arrangements for safeguarding are effective, with leaders and staff well trained in safeguarding, alert to the risks that pupils face, and knowing how to report concerns about pupils' safety.

Catchment / designated area

Children living in the school's designated area or linked primary school catchment

Source: LA admission policy PDF

Ofsted judgement breakdown (2022-11-16)

Overall effectiveness
Good
Quality of education
Good
Behaviour and attitudes
Outstanding
Personal development
Outstanding
Effectiveness of leadership and management
Good
Safeguarding is effective?
Yes
Sixth form provision (where applicable)
Good

Oversubscription criteria

  1. Looked after — Looked after children and previously looked after children
  2. Medical social — Children with exceptional medical/social needs, supported by professional evidence
  3. Catchment or linked — Children living in the school's designated area or linked primary school catchment
  4. Sibling — Siblings of children on roll at the school
  5. Other qualified — All other qualifying children — tiebreaker: distance (straight line, closest first)

What the entrance test covers

The Kent Test has two multiple-choice papers, each roughly an hour long: 1. English & Maths — split into two 30-minute sections: English (reading comprehension, grammar, punctuation, vocabulary) and Maths (Key Stage 2 curriculum up to the start of Year 6). 2. Reasoning — Verbal Reasoning (vocabulary, sequences, logic, analogies) and Non-Verbal/Spatial Reasoning (shapes, rotations, matrices, pattern recognition), combined into a single reasoning score. There is also an unmarked writing task (around 40 minutes including planning time). It isn't scored directly, but may be used by a local headteacher assessment panel for borderline cases. Note: the Kent Test is NOT the same as the Medway Test — Medway is a separate authority with its own different test (separate registration, different papers). Passing one does not qualify a child for the other area's schools (except Chatham Grammar, which accepts either).

University destinations

Oxbridge
0%
Russell Group
9%
Top-third university
12%
Any degree
74%

Of the 78-student 2019/20 leaver cohort, sustaining a higher-education destination the following year. This is the last cohort the Department for Education published with an Oxbridge/Russell Group breakdown — these categories were discontinued as official accountability measures after this release, so a more recent figure does not exist.

House prices nearby

Median price, Maypole & Leyton Cross ward (Year ending Mar 2023)
£500,000

Median price for the school's electoral ward, year ending March 2023 — a neighbourhood-level indicator, not the school's actual admissions catchment (catchments are often smaller than a ward or span parts of several).

Similar schools nearby

Same area, prioritising the same phase — useful for shortlisting alternatives.

Data sourced from GIAS, Ofsted and official Kent admissions publications. Figures can change year to year — always confirm with the school before applying.

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