Dartford, Kent · Kent

Wilmington Grammar School for Boys

Mostly not superselective — but 18 of its 180 places are a genuine score-banded 'Governor Places' category, ranked purely by exceptional Kent Test performance.

Wilmington Boys runs on the standard priority-area-and-distance model for most of its intake, but a specific carve-out complicates a simple true/false superselective label: up to 10% of places (18 of 180) are reserved as 'Governor Places' for boys with exceptional performance in the English and Reasoning components of the Kent Test, ranked purely by score, for those living within 5 miles. The rest of the intake follows the ordinary priority order. The school shares a joint co-educational sixth form, WG6, with its sister school Wilmington Grammar School for Girls — both under the same trust since converting from Foundation status in 2011.

Key facts

Gender: boys
Age range: 11-18
Region: South East
Local authority: Kent
DfE URN: 137227
Website: https://wgsb.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 in either KCC's Threshold Statement or the school's own admissions documents.
Test format: The standard county-wide format: an English & Maths paper and a Reasoning paper (verbal and non-verbal), both multiple-choice/computer-marked, plus an unmarked writing task for borderline cases.
Qualifying / pass mark: The school's own hosted copy of the PESE 2025 Threshold Statement (governing September 2026 entry) states an aggregate of 332 or more, with no single component below 106 — a figure worth double-checking directly against Kent County Council's own current page, since other Kent-wide research for the same cycle found 108 as the minimum component instead.sources conflict
The school's own hosted Threshold Statement gives 106 as the minimum component score; other Kent-wide research for the same cycle found 108. Worth confirming directly against Kent County Council's own current page.
Superselective?: Not established

Catchment & priority criteria

A defined 'Priority Area' of 27 named parishes and wards across Dartford, Sevenoaks and Swanley districts, plus concentric distance rings used for different criteria: 1.5 miles for general priority-area proximity, 3 miles for extended Pupil Premium priority, and 5 miles as the eligibility boundary for the Governor Places score-band.

Looked-after and previously looked-after children
Siblings at this school or at Wilmington Grammar School for Girls
Children of staff (2+ years' service, or filling a skill-shortage post)
Governor Places — up to 18 places for exceptional Kent Test performance (English & Reasoning) within 5 miles, ranked by score
Boys within 1.5 miles or in the named priority-area parishes, with Pupil Premium children prioritised within this group
Other Pupil Premium-eligible boys within a 3-mile radius
All other eligible boys, ranked by straight-line distance

Results

Year	Attainment 8	GCSE 5+ Eng & Maths	Progress 8	A*–A	A*–B
2024	66.79 (school-reported)	verify with school	+0.65 ('Well above average', confidence interval +0.42 to +0.88; the school's own document separately states +0.67 for the same year, a minor discrepancy)	—	—
For trend context (school-reported): 2023 Attainment 8 67.05, Progress 8 +0.72 (DfE-confirmed, well above average); 2022 Attainment 8 67.85, Progress 8 +0.39.
2025	64.6 (DfE-confirmed; the school's own results document separately states 64.87)	90.0% (DfE-confirmed; the school's own website states 92.6% in undated marketing text, a larger and unresolved discrepancy)	Not calculated — no KS2 baseline data for this cohort nationally	~17.4% (joint WG6 cohort, not boys-only)	~48.2% (joint WG6 cohort, not boys-only)
A-level figures are published only at the joint WG6 sixth-form level (409 combined entries across both Wilmington schools), not broken out for these boys alone: roughly 17.4% of entries A-A and 48.2% A-B, calculated from the school's own grade-count table. DfE separately tracks 134 A-level students specifically under this school's own accountability figures, but a boys-only grade breakdown wasn't accessible during this research.

Ofsted

Rating: Good, in every category: quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and sixth-form provision. The report's wording ('continues to be a good school') indicates the previous inspection was also Good.
Date: 13-14 March 2023
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/137227
2. School's own Admissions Policy for Entry September 2027 — https://wgsb.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Wilmington-Grammar-School-for-Boys-Admissions-Policy-2027-28-FINAL.pdf
3. PESE 2025 Kent Test Threshold Statement (hosted by the school) — https://wgsb.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Threshold-Statement-Entry-2025.pdf
4. School's own GCSE Results Summer 2025 — https://wgsb.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/GCSE-Results-2025.pdf
5. WG6 A-level Results Summer 2025 (joint sixth form) — https://wgsb.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/A-Level-Results-2025.pdf
6. Ofsted report, inspected 13-14 March 2023 — https://files.ofsted.gov.uk/v1/file/50216470
7. DfE Compare School Performance — Progress 8, 2023 and 2024 — https://www.compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk/school/137227/wilmington-grammar-school-for-boys/secondary/progress-measures-for-2023-and-2024

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