Dover, Kent · Kent
Dover Grammar School for Girls
A genuine split from its sister school: Kent County Council, not the school itself, is the admissions authority here — the opposite arrangement from Dover Grammar School for Boys.
Despite sharing a co-educational sixth form with Dover Grammar School for Boys since 1991, the two Dover schools are governed completely differently: Dover Girls remains a Community school, meaning Kent County Council itself is the admissions authority, while Dover Boys is a Foundation school setting its own arrangements. Both schools do share one distinctive feature confirmed by a 2019 Schools Adjudicator ruling: girls can qualify either through the standard Kent Test or through a separate school-specific 'Dover Test' run by Quest Assessments — an alternative-route arrangement not seen at most other Kent grammars.
Key facts
- Gender
- girls
- Age range
- 11-18
- Region
- South East
- Local authority
- Kent
- DfE URN
- 118806
- Website
- https://www.dggs.kent.sch.uk
Admissions
- Admissions authority
- Local-authority coordinated test
- Entrance test board
- Either the Kent Test (commissioned by Kent County Council) or the school-specific 'Dover Test', run by Quest Assessments as an equally valid alternative — a dual-route arrangement confirmed by a 2019 Schools Adjudicator determination (ADA 3580). GL Assessment is reported as the Kent Test's paper-setter but not confirmed on any KCC page checked.partly verified
GL Assessment as the Kent Test's paper-setter is widely reported but wasn't found named on any KCC page checked. The Dover Test's provider (Quest Assessments) and mechanics come from the school's own site and secondary sources, not a KCC primary document.
- Test format
- Kent Test: an English & Maths paper (1 hour, multiple-choice), a Reasoning paper (verbal + non-verbal, about 1 hour), plus an unmarked 40-minute writing task for borderline cases. Dover Test: a separate English paper and Maths paper, normally sat on a Saturday in September — reported by the school's own site and secondary sources but not detailed on a Kent County Council primary page.
- Qualifying / pass mark
- For the Kent Test route (2025 cycle, governing September 2026 entry): confirmed directly from KCC's own page as an aggregate of 332 or more, with no component below 108. For the Dover Test route, no fixed numeric pass mark is published — the threshold is recalculated annually so that roughly the highest-scoring 25% of that year's sitters qualify, per secondary sources.
- Superselective?
- No
Kent County Council's own determined admissions arrangements for this school lay out a plain priority-order oversubscription policy with no score-banding mechanism — a girl either reaches the required standard on the Kent Test or Dover Test, or does not; there is no tiered allocation by score range above that. This is a genuine determined-policy fact, not an assumption based on reputation.
Catchment & priority criteria
None. Direct extraction of Kent County Council's own admissions arrangements document confirms no catchment-area criterion exists for this school, correcting an earlier automated summary that had incorrectly reported one.
- Children with an EHCP naming the school
- Looked-after and previously looked-after children
- Current family association — a sibling attending at time of entry
- Health and special access reasons, evidenced under the Equality Act 2010
- Children in receipt of Pupil Premium (FSM-eligible at any point in the last 6 years)
- Nearness of home to school, by straight-line distance; independently-supervised random allocation for the final place
Results
| Year | Attainment 8 | GCSE 5+ Eng & Maths | Progress 8 | A*–A | A*–B |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 59.3 | 71.8% | +0.17 ('Average', confidence interval -0.08 to +0.42) — the most recent year for which DfE could calculate Progress 8 for this school | — | — |
| EBacc entry 85.5%, EBacc average point score 5.67. A-level (89 students): average grade C+ (34.58 points), close to the Kent (34.22) and England (34.38) averages. | |||||
| 2025 | 59.9 (Kent LA average 46.7, England state-funded average 46.1) | 75.2% (Kent LA 47.0%, England 45.4%) | Not calculated — no KS2 baseline data for this cohort nationally | verify with school | verify with school |
| EBacc entry 84.2%, EBacc average point score 5.76. A-level (114 students): average grade B- (35.01 points), progress score -0.1 ('Average', confidence interval -0.21 to +0.01). DfE's current tables no longer publish an A*-A/A*-B breakdown for A-levels. | |||||
Ofsted
- Rating
- Good, in every category: quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and sixth-form provision. The previous inspection (2013) rated the school Outstanding.
- Date
- 4-5 March 2025
- 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/118806
- 2. Kent County Council — Determined Admissions Arrangements 2025/26 for Community and Voluntary Controlled Secondary Schools (confirms Dover Girls as a Community school) — https://www.kent.gov.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0018/189000/Secondary-Determined-Arrangements-for-2026-27.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. School's own admissions page — Dover Test details — https://www.dggs.kent.sch.uk/368/admissions-1
- 5. Ofsted report, inspected 4-5 March 2025 — https://files.ofsted.gov.uk/v1/file/50273773
- 6. DfE Compare School Performance — results over time — https://www.compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk/school/118806/dover-grammar-school-for-girls/secondary/results-over-time
- 7. DfE Compare School Performance — Progress 8, 2023 and 2024 — https://www.compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk/school/118806/dover-grammar-school-for-girls/secondary/progress-measures-for-2023-and-2024
Last updated 2026-08-31. Spotted something wrong? Tell us.