Borden Grammar School vs Tunbridge Wells Girls' Grammar School

Side by side

	Borden Grammar School	Tunbridge Wells Girls' Grammar School
Phase	Secondary	Secondary
Gender	Boys	Girls
Pupils on roll	938	1,123
Free school meals	10.7%	3.8%
Ofsted rating	Not published	Outstanding
Attainment 8 — 2025/26	62.7	72.5
11+ test board	GL Assessment	GL Assessment
Admission system	pass/fail then criteria order (score doesn't give priority after passing)	pass/fail then criteria order (score doesn't give priority after passing)
Places offered — 202627	123	174
First preferences per place — higher means more competition for a first-preference place	1.12	1.31

Qualifying scores

Borden Grammar School

332 out of 423 (2026 entry)

Aggregate ≥332 with no single paper below 108. County-wide Kent Test threshold: reaching it earns a 'suitable for grammar school' assessment, NOT a place — each school then applies its own oversubscription criteria, and super-selective schools (The Judd School, Skinners', Tonbridge, Dartford) fill in score order well above the threshold.

Council source ↗

Tunbridge Wells Girls' Grammar School

332 out of 423 (2026 entry)

Aggregate ≥332 with no single paper below 108. County-wide Kent Test threshold: reaching it earns a 'suitable for grammar school' assessment, NOT a place — each school then applies its own oversubscription criteria, and super-selective schools (The Judd School, Skinners', Tonbridge, Dartford) fill in score order well above the threshold.

Council source ↗

Who gets priority

Where a school is oversubscribed, these are the first criteria applied, in order. This is usually what decides an application.

Borden Grammar School

Looked after and previously looked after children
Up to 15% of places for boys in ME9, ME10, ME11 or ME12 eligible for free school meals during Years 3–6
A brother attending the school when the child starts
Health and special access reasons
Traditional school areas: ME9, ME10, ME11 and ME12 first, then ME8 and ME13, then everywhere else — nearest first within each

Source: school admissions policy.

Tunbridge Wells Girls' Grammar School

Looked after and previously looked after children
Pupil Premium girls living in the school's area (criterion 6)
Girls in the school's area with a sister at the school
Health and special access reasons
Daughters of permanent staff (0.5 FTE+) with two years' service
Girls living within 4 miles of the school or in the named parishes (including Bidborough, Brenchley & Matfield, Capel, Sevenoaks, Tonbridge and others)

Source: school admissions policy.

Choosing between them

Borden Grammar School is a boys school and Tunbridge Wells Girls' Grammar School is a girls school, so for many families the starting point is which one can admit their child. The figures on this page are the published ones — they describe intakes and results, not what either school would be like for your child. The right choice depends on your family's own priorities and circumstances.

Other Kent comparisons

All grammar school comparisons →