Cranbrook School
Secondary school · Academy converter · ages 11 to 18 · Mixed
Waterloo Road, Cranbrook, TN17 3JD
- Pupils958
- Ages11 to 18
- Latest Ofsted6 May 2026
- FundingState-funded
Ofsted inspections
Shown exactly as Ofsted published them, each with its own date. This school has a new report card and an older inspection: Ofsted says “the new grades can’t be compared to the old ones”.
Report card · 6 May 2026
- InclusionExpected standard
- Curriculum and teachingExpected standard
- AchievementStrong standard
- Attendance and behaviourStrong standard
- Personal development and well-beingExpected standard
- Leadership and governanceExpected standard
- Post-16 (sixth form)Strong standard
- SafeguardingMet
Report card grades run from Exceptional to Urgent improvement (five steps, left to right). Ofsted says “expected standard” means the school is doing everything it should — “It’s a high standard”. What the grades mean.
S5 Inspection · report published 6 Jul 2026
Graded inspection · 22 Mar 2022
Overall effectiveness: Good
- Quality of educationGood
- Behaviour and attitudesOutstanding
- Personal developmentOutstanding
- Leadership and managementGood
- Sixth form provisionGood
- Safeguarding is effectiveYes
Grades run from Outstanding to Inadequate (four steps, left to right).
S5 Inspection · report published 18 May 2022
Read the full reports on Ofsted’s website (opens in a new tab) — they explain the reasons behind each grade.
Source: Ofsted, state-funded school inspections and outcomes: management information (latest inspections as at 30 September 2026). Newer inspections may be on Ofsted’s website. How Ofsted inspections work.
Results
GCSE results (end of Year 11, key stage 4)
Latest: 2025/26 (provisional) · 144 pupils. Each figure shows its year. What these mean
2025/26 results are provisional: the DfE will revise them (next update due February 2027). The provisional data has no EBacc figures, so EBacc is from an earlier year.
Attainment 8 score
Each pupil’s results across 8 qualifications (maths counts double, and English usually does too), averaged across the school. It partly reflects pupils’ starting points.
2025/26 (provisional)
Grade 5 or above in English and maths GCSEs
Often called a “strong pass” in both subjects.
2025/26 (provisional)
Grade 4 or above in English and maths GCSEs
Often called a “standard pass” in both subjects.
2025/26 (provisional)
Progress 8 score
Compares pupils’ Attainment 8 results with pupils across England who had similar results at the end of primary school. 0 means about the same; above 0 means more progress, below 0 less. How to read Progress 8.
No Progress 8 score
2023/24: Not shown (fewer than half of pupils covered).
The Department for Education says Progress 8 can’t be calculated for 2024/25 or 2025/26, because those pupils had no key stage 2 test results (the tests were cancelled in 2020 and 2021 because of COVID-19).
Entered for the English Baccalaureate (EBacc)
Pupils entered for all 5 EBacc “pillars”: English, maths, science, history or geography, and a language.
2024/25
EBacc average point score
Pupils’ point scores across the 5 EBacc pillars.
2024/25
Earlier years
| Year | Attainment 8 | Grade 5+ English & maths | Grade 4+ English & maths | Progress 8 | EBacc entry |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025/26 (provisional) | 68.3 | 88.9% | 96.5% | Not available | – |
| 2024/25 | 66.9 | 86.3% | 94.8% | Not available | 87.6% |
| 2023/24 | 69.1 | 94% | 100% | Not shown | 94.6% |
Results describe a different group of pupils each year. Progress 8 is a relative measure and can’t be compared year on year.
Sixth form results (16 to 18)
2024/25 · 310 students. What these mean
A level average grade
B
Average point score per entry: 40.61 · Kent: 34.87 · England (state-funded schools): 35
Best 3 A levels: average grade
B
A level progress (value added)
How well students did in their A levels compared with students across England with similar earlier results. 0 is about the same.
2024/25
+0.44
The DfE gives a range of +0.34 to +0.54 (95% confidence interval). The whole range is above 0, so progress was above the national average.
Progress band: Well above average (published as a number from 1 to 5; how we word it)
AAB or better at A level, with at least 2 facilitating subjects
A level students retained to the end of their course
Results describe one group of pupils in one year, so they can change a lot — especially in small schools. The DfE says “conclusions should not be drawn on a single piece of data alone.” This school on the DfE’s performance tables (opens in a new tab).
Source: Department for Education, school performance tables and Explore education statistics (key stage 4, 2025/26 provisional). England and local authority figures are the DfE’s own, for the same year.
Pupils and attendance
- Pupils
- 958 (capacity 954)
457 girls, 501 boys - Eligible for free school meals
- 4.7% (currently eligible, census of January 2026)
Pupils with SEN support
Special educational needs, without an education, health and care (EHC) plan.
2024/25
Pupils with an EHC plan
An education, health and care plan sets out the support a child must get.
2024/25
Eligible for free school meals at any time in the last 6 years
2024/25
First language not English
This is not a measure of how well pupils speak English.
2024/25
Attendance
Overall absence
The share of possible mornings and afternoons missed, for any reason (authorised or not).
2024/25
Persistent absence
Pupils who missed 10% or more of their possible sessions.
2024/25
Sources: Get Information about Schools; DfE school census and absence statistics via the performance tables. What these figures mean.
About the school
- Type
- Academy converter (Academies)
- Phase
- Secondary
- Trust
- CRANBROOK SCHOOL ACADEMY TRUST
- Boys, girls or mixed
- Mixed
- Religious character
- Christian
- Admissions policy
- Selective
- Sixth form
- Has a sixth form
- Boarding
- Boarding school
- Opened
- 1 December 2011
- Local authority
- Kent
- Parliamentary constituency
- Weald of Kent
- URN
- 137739 (the DfE’s reference number for the school)
Source: Get Information about Schools (Department for Education). See the full record (opens in a new tab).
Admissions
For a place at the usual starting age you apply through your home council (where you live), even if the school is in another area — not to the school. You can usually name several schools in order of preference.
This school’s admissions policy is listed as Selective, so there may be an entrance test. Check the school’s admissions arrangements.
Apply for a secondary place (GOV.UK)
How school admissions work: deadlines, oversubscription and appeals.