Borden Grammar School vs Wilmington Grammar School for Boys

Side by side

	Borden Grammar School	Wilmington Grammar School for Boys
Phase	Secondary	Secondary
Gender	Boys	Boys
Pupils on roll	938	1,174
Free school meals	10.7%	10.1%
Ofsted rating	Not published	Good
Attainment 8 — 2025/26	62.7	67.6
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	180
First preferences per place — higher means more competition for a first-preference place	1.12	0.99

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 ↗

Wilmington Grammar School for Boys

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.

Wilmington Grammar School for Boys

Looked after and previously looked after children
A sibling at the school or at Wilmington Grammar School for Girls
Children of staff
Boys living within 1.5 miles or in the listed parishes
Boys living in the named parishes and wards (Pupil Premium boys first)
Other Pupil Premium boys living within 3 miles

Source: school admissions policy.

Choosing between them

Both schools admit boys, so the decision usually comes down to the admission criteria above and how far each one reaches. 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

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