Sandwich, Kent · Kent

Sir Roger Manwood's School

Several sites still quote a stale 2023 Progress 8 figure as current — the real, most recent DfE figure is meaningfully better.

Founded in 1563, well predating most Kent grammars, Sir Roger Manwood's has been fully co-educational since the early 1980s. Its own admissions policy — unchanged through a 2027-28 consultation that proposed no revisions — sets no score requirement above the Kent-wide threshold, with a plain priority order ending in distance. Worth a specific correction: several sites currently in circulation quote a Progress 8 score of -0.24 as if it were current, but that figure is actually from 2023 — the real, most recently calculated score (2024) is +0.21, a meaningfully more positive picture, above the Kent average.

Key facts

Gender: co-ed
Age range: 11-18
Region: South East
Local authority: Kent
Established: 1563
DfE URN: 136501
Website: https://www.manwoods.co.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 wasn't named on any of the three KCC pages checked directly during this research.partly verified
GL Assessment is the commonly-cited setter but wasn't named on any of the three KCC primary pages checked directly.
Test format: Confirmed directly from KCC's own 'Prepare for the Kent Test' page: an English & Maths paper (1 hour, multiple-choice), a Reasoning paper (verbal + non-verbal, about 1 hour), plus an unmarked 40-minute writing task used only for borderline or appeal decisions. The school separately runs its own in-year admission test (four online papers, requiring a standardised score of 110+ in each) for late applicants outside the normal Kent Test window only — not part of the standard September Year 7 route.
Qualifying / pass mark: Confirmed directly from Kent County Council's own page, explicitly headed 'Grammar school threshold 2025' (test sat autumn 2025, governing September 2026 entry): aggregate score of 332 or more, with no single component below 108. The school sets no additional requirement of its own for the main Year 7 route.
Superselective?: No

Catchment & priority criteria

No general catchment — the final ranking criterion is pure nearest-first distance, with no defined boundary. A specific area (CT3/CT11/CT12/CT13/CT14/CT15/CT16 postcodes, within 8.5 miles of the school) is defined, but only for the Pupil Premium priority criterion, not as a general catchment.

Children with an EHCP naming the school
Looked-after or previously looked-after children
Siblings on roll at time of entry
Pupil Premium-eligible children living within a defined postcode area and 8.5 miles of the school
Children of staff employed 2+ years, or filling a skill-shortage vacancy
Nearness of home to school, by straight-line distance
Random allocation for equal-eligibility tie-breaks

Results

Year	Attainment 8	GCSE 5+ Eng & Maths	Progress 8	A*–A	A*–B
2024	63.2 (Kent LA average 47.0, England state-funded average 45.9)	86.2% (grade 4+ 97.5%)	+0.21 ('Average' banding, confidence interval -0.03 to +0.45; Kent LA average -0.14, England average -0.03) — this is the most recently calculated Progress 8 figure DfE has published for this school, and it improved from a 'Below average' -0.24 the year before (2023). Several secondary sites currently quote the stale -0.24 as if it were the current figure.	—	—
A-level (104 students): average grade B- (35.59-35.68 points), progress score +0.03 ('Average'), retention 94.6%.
2025	62.7 (Kent LA average 46.7, England state-funded average 46.1)	81.0% (grade 4+ 96.8%)	Not calculated — no KS2 baseline data for this cohort nationally	verify with school	verify with school
A-level (122 students): average grade B- (36.02 points), AAB+ with 2 facilitating subjects 14.8% (Kent 17.3%, England 17.5%), retention 97.6%. DfE's current tables no longer publish an A-A/A-B breakdown.

Ofsted

Rating: Good, in every category: quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and sixth-form provision. The previous inspection (2012) rated the school Outstanding.
Date: 27-28 September 2022
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/136501
2. Determined Admission Arrangements 2026-27 — https://www.kent.gov.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0012/201036/Sir-Roger-Manwood-School-admissions-criteria-2026-2027.pdf
3. Admissions Consultation 2027-2028 (confirms no proposed changes) — https://www.kent.gov.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/220497/Sir-Roger-Manwoods-School-admissions-consultation-criteria-2027-2028.pdf
4. Kent County Council — Kent Test results / grammar school threshold 2025 — https://www.kent.gov.uk/education-and-children/schools/school-places/kent-test/kent-test-results
5. Ofsted report, inspected 27-28 September 2022 — https://files.ofsted.gov.uk/v1/file/50198518
6. School's own history page — founded 1563 — https://www.manwoods.co.uk/page/?title=About+Us&pid=35
7. DfE Compare School Performance — Progress 8, 2023 and 2024 — https://www.compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk/school/136501/sir-roger-manwood-s-school/secondary/progress-measures-for-2023-and-2024
8. DfE Compare School Performance — Advanced level qualifications — https://www.compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk/school/136501/sir-roger-manwood-s-school/16-to-18/advanced-level-qualifications

Last updated 2026-08-31. Spotted something wrong? Tell us.