Sittingbourne, Kent · Kent
Borden Grammar School
One of the first Kent grammars in this index inspected under Ofsted's new report-card framework — five areas 'Strong standard,' two 'Expected standard,' no single overall word.
Borden runs a second-chance route for boys who sit the Kent Test but narrowly miss the standard — its own 'Borden Assessment Procedure', four separate papers held at the school. Tellingly, its target pass mark is explicitly set to the same national top-25% standard as the ordinary Kent Test, not a higher one, which is exactly why the school isn't superselective despite offering its own supplementary test. Borden was also inspected in May 2026 under Ofsted's newest report-card framework, replacing the old single-word grade with category-by-category standards: five areas rated Strong standard, two rated Expected standard.
Key facts
- Gender
- boys
- Age range
- 11-18
- Region
- South East
- Local authority
- Kent
- Established
- 1878
- DfE URN
- 137800
- Website
- https://www.bordengrammar.kent.sch.uk
Admissions
- Admissions authority
- The school sets its own test and criteria
- Entrance test board
- The Kent Test (PESE), commissioned county-wide by Kent County Council. GL Assessment is widely reported as the paper-setter but not confirmed directly on KCC's own pages. Separately, Borden itself runs an optional supplementary 'Borden Assessment Procedure' for boys who sit the Kent Test but don't meet the required standard.
- Test format
- Standard Kent Test format: an English & Maths paper and a Reasoning paper, multiple-choice/computer-marked, plus an unmarked writing task for borderline cases. The school's own Borden Assessment Procedure is different: four separate standardised papers — verbal ability, numerical/mathematical reasoning, non-verbal reasoning, and English — held at the school, with an anticipated pass mark set to the same top-25%-nationally standard as the ordinary Kent Test.
- Qualifying / pass mark
- The Kent-wide threshold (2025 cycle, governing Sept 2026 entry): aggregate 332 or more, no single component below 108, per Kent County Council's own official page. Several tutoring sites report the minimum component as 106 instead — KCC's own page is treated as authoritative. The school sets no higher requirement of its own.sources conflict
Kent County Council's own page states the minimum component score is 108; multiple tutoring sites consistently report 106 instead, appearing to be a commonly-copied error.
- Superselective?
- No
Confirmed directly from the school's own September 2026 admissions policy: no score-banding oversubscription criterion exists anywhere in the document. Places are allocated purely by category — EHCP, care status, postcode-restricted Free School Meal eligibility, sibling, health need, then tiered geographic areas — never by ranked test score. The supplementary Borden Assessment Procedure explicitly targets the same national standard as the Kent Test, not a higher one, reinforcing this isn't a superselective mechanism.
Catchment & priority criteria
A tiered 'Traditional School Areas' priority rather than a hard boundary: postcodes ME9, ME10, ME11 and ME12 first, then ME8 and ME13, then anywhere else — used as the lowest-priority oversubscription criterion, with straight-line distance as the tie-break within each band.
- Children with a Statement of SEN or EHCP naming the school
- Looked-after and previously looked-after children
- Free School Meal eligibility, restricted to boys resident in ME9/ME10/ME11/ME12 postcodes (up to 15% of places)
- Current family association — a sibling attending the school at the time of entry
- Health and Special Access Reasons, under the Equality Act 2010
- Traditional School Areas: ME9/ME10/ME11/ME12 first, then ME8/ME13, then anywhere else
- Tie-break within any category: nearness of home to school, then random ballot
Results
| Year | Attainment 8 | GCSE 5+ Eng & Maths | Progress 8 | A*–A | A*–B |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 63.1 (England average 45.9, Kent LA average 47.0) | 85.4% (England average 45.9%) | +0.26 ('Above average', England average -0.03) — this cohort predates the COVID-era gap | — | — |
| A specific A*-A/A*-B breakdown for this year's A-levels couldn't be located on the school's own site. | |||||
| 2025 | 63.2 (England average 46.1, Kent LA average 46.7) | 83.1% (England average 45.4%) | Not calculated — no KS2 baseline data for this cohort nationally | 24% (school-reported for 2025) | 52% (school-reported for 2025) |
| A-level (school-reported): average point score 34.11 (England average 35.00). DfE's own detailed value-added measure for this cohort is -0.14 (confidence interval -0.26 to -0.03), classified 'below average' since the interval sits entirely below zero — a genuine, statistically real signal that matches Ofsted's own improvement note about higher-attaining pupils and sixth-formers. Very recent (2026, not yet DfE-validated) school-reported results describe 'the best Post 16 results Borden has ever achieved': 31% A*/A, 64% A*-B. | |||||
Ofsted
- Rating
- Under Ofsted's new report-card framework (effective from September 2024, no single overall word): Strong standard in Achievement, Attendance and Behaviour, Inclusion, Leadership and Governance, and Personal Development and Wellbeing; Expected standard in Curriculum and Teaching and in Post-16 Provision. Safeguarding met. The previous inspection (November 2021) rated the school Good under the old single-word framework.
- Date
- 12 May 2026
- Report
- Read the full report
Sources
- 1. DfE Get Information About Schools — URN, status, gender, LA — https://get-information-schools.service.gov.uk/Establishments/Establishment/Details/137800
- 2. School's own Admission Policy September 2026 — https://www.kent.gov.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/201020/Borden-Grammar-School-admissions-criteria-2026-2027.pdf
- 3. Kent County Council — Kent Test qualifying threshold — https://www.kent.gov.uk/education-and-children/schools/school-places/kent-test/kent-test-results
- 4. Ofsted report, inspected 12 May 2026 (new report-card framework) — https://files.ofsted.gov.uk/v1/file/50306825
- 5. Ofsted report, inspected 23-24 November 2021 (prior Good rating, old framework) — https://files.ofsted.gov.uk/v1/file/50176297
- 6. DfE Compare School Performance — results over time — https://www.compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk/school/137800/borden-grammar-school/secondary/results-over-time
- 7. DfE Compare School Performance — Advanced level qualifications — https://www.compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk/school/137800/borden-grammar-school/16-to-18/advanced-level-qualifications
- 8. School's own A Level Results 2026 announcement — https://www.bordengrammar.kent.sch.uk/news-and-events/latest-news/a-level-results-2026
Last updated 2026-08-31. Spotted something wrong? Tell us.