The Whitstable School

Academy converter·Secondary school Whitstable, Kent·CT5 1PX
Composite score
49.1
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#2,612
National rank
#382
In South East
#65
In Kent
Top 82%
Nationally

Performance (KS4 GCSE)

Attainment 8 score
39.3
National avg ≈ 46
Progress 8 score
—
% achieving 9–5 in English & Maths
29%
% achieving 9–4 in English & Maths
58%
% EBacc grade 5+
4%
EBacc average points score
3.50

Ofsted judgements

Legacy framework · Read full report ↗

Overall effectiveness
Good
Quality of education
Good
Behaviour and attitudes
Good
Personal development
Good
Leadership and management
Good
Safeguarding effective?
Yes
Sixth form provision
Good

Getting a place

Offered a place after putting it first
100%
170 first choices, 197 places
First choices per place
0.86
fewer first choices than places
Applications naming the school
513
any preference, for 197 places
First preferences per place, last five years▲ 0.05
00.511.5
1 per place
1.1620221.2520230.8520240.8220250.862026

Red dashed line = one first choice per place. How to read this

Every child who put The Whitstable School first was offered a place in 2026, so no distance cut-off applied: living further away did not cost a place that year.

Application figures: DfE, school level applications and offers (2026 intake).

School profile

Age range
11–18
Pupils on roll
1,109
Gender
Mixed
Religious character
None
Admissions
Non-Selective

Pupil background

% FSM ever-6
27.0%
Typical secondary: 27.5%
% EAL
1.8%
Typical secondary: 12.0%

Special educational needs

% SEN support
12.9%
Typical secondary: 13.7%
% with an EHC plan
3.0%
Typical secondary: 2.9%

Attendance

Overall absence
9.2%
Typical secondary: 8.9%
Persistently absent
28.5%
Typical secondary: 25.7%

Staffing & funding

Pupils per teacher
15.5
Typical secondary: 16.7
Spend per pupil
£7,182
Typical secondary: £7,815

“Typical” = the median secondary school in England. What this means

What pupils do next

The share of this school's Year 11 leavers in education, training or employment for at least two terms afterwards.

In education, training or work
85%
153 pupils tracked
Stayed in education
80%
Apprenticeship
3%
Employment
2%

DfE, KS4 destination measures.

Nearby secondary schools

Location

The Whitstable School at a glance

Located in Whitstable, Kent, The Whitstable School is a secondary school, classified by the DfE as a converter academy. The school educates roughly 1,109 pupils aged 11 to 18. Ofsted judged the school to be 'Good' at its most recent inspection. In the most recent GCSE results, pupils achieved an average Attainment 8 score of 39.3, below the national average of 46. That marks an improvement of 1.7 points in its Attainment 8 score on the previous year. On our composite score, which combines the DfE attainment measures above, this places it in the lower half of secondary schools nationally.

29% of pupils achieved a grade 5 or above in both English and maths, well below the national average of about 45%. 58% achieved a standard pass (grade 4+) in English and maths. The Whitstable School was not oversubscribed for September 2026: all 170 families who put it first were offered a place. After Year 11, 85% of its leavers went on to education, an apprenticeship or work that they stayed in for at least two terms. Overall pupil absence was 9.2%. There are about 15.5 pupils per teacher. When you visit, you might ask how the school stretches its higher-attaining pupils and supports those who need to catch up. This overview is generated automatically from the latest published DfE performance tables and Ofsted data; figures are rounded, and you can check the originals via the official links above.

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