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Secondary school offers in Medway: offer day 2027

National Offer Day Monday 1 March 2027 · 19 secondary schools · first-choice odds, waiting lists and appeals

How likely is a first choice here?

For September 2026 entry, 80.4% of families living in Medway were offered their first-choice secondary school, against 83.6% across England. 113 families (3.2%) were offered none of the schools they named. Medway ranks 56 of 150 councils in England, hardest first (see every council).

10 of its 19 secondary schools had more first-choice applications than places.

The most sought-after, by first-choice applications per place offered: Brompton Academy (1.7 per place), Sir Joseph Williamson's Mathematical School (1.7 per place; grammar, 11+ needed), Fort Pitt Grammar School (1.6 per place; grammar, 11+ needed), Chatham Grammar (1.2 per place; grammar, 11+ needed), Rainham Mark Grammar School (1.2 per place; grammar, 11+ needed).

If you didn't get your first choice

  1. Accept the place you were offered by the date in your offer letter. Accepting it does not affect a waiting list or an appeal, and a place that isn't accepted can be withdrawn.
  2. Get on the waiting lists you want. Every school must keep one until at least 31 December of the year your child starts. It is ranked by the school's admission rules, not by when you joined, so a family moving closer can go above you. Some councils add you automatically for schools you ranked higher than the one offered; your offer letter says which.
  3. Decide whether to appeal. You can appeal for every school that refused your child. You get at least 20 school days from the offer to lodge it, and on-time appeals must be heard within 40 school days of that deadline. The figures below show how often appeals succeed here.
  4. Look at schools that took lower preferences. These are the likeliest to have room now.

Schools that took children who ranked them lower

For September 2026 entry these 8 schools offered more places than they had first-choice applications, so some went to families who put them second or lower. They are the likeliest to have room after offer day; ask Medway or the school.

Every secondary school: demand for 2026 entry

Sorted by first-choice applications per place, the most contested first.

SchoolPlaces offeredFirst choices per place First choices offered
Brompton Academy
Gillingham
205 1.7 53%
Sir Joseph Williamson's Mathematical School (grammar, 11+ needed)
Rochester
201 1.7 58%
Fort Pitt Grammar School (grammar, 11+ needed)
Chatham
149 1.6 57%
Chatham Grammar (grammar, 11+ needed)
Chatham
150 1.2 53%
Rainham Mark Grammar School (grammar, 11+ needed)
Gillingham
233 1.2 77%
The Rochester Grammar School (grammar, 11+ needed)
Rochester
204 1.2 70%
The Thomas Aveling School
Rochester
204 1.1 75%
Leigh Academy Rainham
Gillingham
174 1.0 89%
Maritime Academy
Rochester
172 1.0 82%
Rainham School for Girls
Gillingham
263 1.0 86%
The Howard School
Gillingham
243 0.9 92%
The Victory Academy
Chatham
222 0.9 87%
Leigh Academy Hundred of Hoo
Rochester
275 0.8 100%
Leigh Academy Strood
Rochester
246 0.8 100%
Holcombe Grammar School (grammar, 11+ needed)
Chatham
179 0.8 64%
Greenacre School
Chatham
128 0.7 100%
Walderslade School
Chatham
112 0.7 100%
St John Fisher Catholic Comprehensive School
Rochester
174 0.6 100%
The Robert Napier School
Gillingham
202 0.4 100%

Places offered is the number of offers made on national offer day, and first choices offered the share of families who put the school first and got it (Department for Education, September 2026 entry).

Appeals in Medway

YearAppeals lodgedHeard by a panel UpheldShare of heard appeals upheld
2025/26534 489 135 27.6%
2024/25433 395 86 21.8%
2023/24475 423 78 18.4%

Secondary school appeals across all of Medway, from the Department for Education. Appeals are not published school by school. Across England in 2025/26, 19.5% of 27,084 secondary appeals heard were upheld. How appeal odds differ between councils.

More for Medway

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