(updated 10 January 2012)

Oakwood Park Grammar School Maidstone. Admission patterns in Maidstone have changed since Maidstone Grammar School altered its oversubscription criteria. Normally just about fills. 15 qualified first choices oversubscribed on 2nd March 2010. My last client was offered a place after an Ombudsman's complaint in September. By then the school was just full. Now an Academy. 7 first choices oversubscribed March 2011. OFSTED Dec 2011: Outstanding. Excerpts from Report: Information about the school - Oakwood Park Grammar School is an average size and draws students from a wide area around Maidstone. Few students come from minority ethnic groups or speak English as an additional language. Girls are admitted to the sixth form. The school specialises in mathematics and computing, and applied learning. It converted to academy status in May 2011.Main findings - This is an outstanding school with a good and improving sixth form. It fulfils its aim of offering students ‘an exceptional learning experience’. The headteacher, governors and senior leaders have established an extremely supportive ethos which enables students to achieve highly in their personal and academic development. All groups of students, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, make at least good progress between Year 7 and 11 to attain well above the national average consistently in GCSE examinations. Highly effective leadership and management, accurate self-evaluation and an unswerving commitment to the success of every student underpin the school’s excellent capacity for sustaining high performance and driving improvement. Students feel absolutely safe and very well cared for. Strong and trusting relationships are an important factor in students’ enjoyment of learning, their good behaviour and high attendance. Outstanding spiritual, moral, social and cultural development underpins students’ confidence and mature understanding of the wealth of difference that makes up humankind. They are reflective young people who make an exceptional contribution to the success of the school and the prosperity and well-being of the wider community. The outstanding, well-tailored curriculum supports students’ high attainment, widens their horizons and inspires them to aim high. The school’s specialisms are used very effectively to enrich provision and encourage students to explore the limits of their potential. Specialism has also been a catalyst for establishing an excellent network of partnerships that not only extends students’ learning experiences but enhances the leadership skills of staff too. Teaching is mostly good across all subjects with some that is outstanding. The best teaching ensures students have a detailed understanding of how to improve their work, secures their immediate engagement in challenging learning activities, probes and pushes their understanding through excellent questioning and requires them to apply and lead learning. Inspectors found the school strives hard and successfully to develop students as well-rounded individuals with the skills and values which will enable them to sustain lifelong learning and be caring and responsible citizens. 

Orchards Academy, Swanley. Kent's newest "Old Style" Academy has arrived on the scene with very little fuss in the county, as the 'Orchards Academy' is under the wing of the Kemnal Academy Trust which is centred in Bexley. This was previously Swanley Technology College which has underperformed for many years, and is now in a hard Federation with a successful Academy. However still not popular for 2011 entry, with 35 places free in March 2011.

Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School Faversham. Heavily oversubscribed but Planned Admission Number has quietly risen from 120 to 137 for entry in September 2011.  Appeals organised by Independent Appeal Administrator. 34 qualified first choices oversubscribed on 2nd March 2010 with initial cut off distance 5.92 miles, but this will decrease with the raised PAN. OFSTED April 2010 found QEGS is a good school. "Under the strong leadership of the headteacher, ably supported by the leadership team, it now has more outstanding aspects to its work than when it was last inspected. In particular, students' already high academic performance has improved steadily, with more students achieving the highest GCSE and A-level grades because of the increasingly rapid progress they make". March 2011 still 24 qualified first choices oversubscribed, but cut off distance rose to 7.0 miles. This rose to 11.4 miles during the reallocation process.