Cranbrook School vs The Skinners' School

Side by side

	Cranbrook School	The Skinners' School
Phase	Secondary	Secondary
Gender	Mixed	Boys
Pupils on roll	958	1,149
Free school meals	4.7%	5%
Ofsted rating	Not published	Not published
Attainment 8 — 2025/26	68.3	72.7
11+ test board	GL Assessment	GL Assessment
Admission system	qualifying score is the minimum; places then go in score order (distance only breaks ties)	pass/fail then criteria order (score doesn't give priority after passing)
Places offered — 202627	88	160
First preferences per place — higher means more competition for a first-preference place	1.62	1.45

Qualifying scores

Cranbrook 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 ↗

The Skinners' 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.

Cranbrook School

Looked after and previously looked after children
Pupil Premium children in the Priority Area
Children in the Priority Area with a social need to attend as a day student
Children in the Priority Area with a sibling at the school
Children of teaching or support staff
Children living in the Priority Area (the civil parishes of Cranbrook and Sissinghurst, Goudhurst, Staplehurst, Frittenden, Benenden, Sandhurst and Hawkhurst, or within 8.5 km)

Source: school admissions policy.

The Skinners' School

Looked after and previously looked after children
Up to 16 places for Pupil Premium boys in the West Kent Area (3 miles plus named parishes including Tonbridge, Tunbridge Wells and Sevenoaks)
Up to 108 places for other boys in the West Kent Area — first those 40+ marks above the Kent threshold, then other qualified boys; siblings, then sons of staff, then nearest first
Up to 16 Governors' places for the highest Kent Test scorers in the West Kent Area not otherwise offered a place
Up to 20 places for boys from outside the West Kent Area — 40+ above the threshold first; siblings, sons of staff, then nearest

Source: school admissions policy.

Choosing between them

Cranbrook School is a mixed school and The Skinners' School is a boys 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 →