Cranbrook School, TN17 3JD

School Introduction

Cranbrook school is a co-educational boarding grammar school located in the heart of the countryside. It has an extensive history, being founded in 1518 and given a royal charter in 1574 by Queen Elizabeth the First. They specially aim to shape students both growing in mind and character through both a traditional academic curriculum alongside a co-curriculum of sport, music drama, and other activities and societies. They have 240 boarding students, who reside within their 75 acres of green space and land. It’s possible both to board, or be a day student at the school. Education at the school is free, however there are prices for boarding and accommodation which also cover living costs for these boarding students. Boarding is only available from Year 9 onwards (age 13) more information on boarding costs and fees can be found through this link:

https://www.cranbrookschool.co.uk/boarding/information-and-fees/

Key Facts

Address: Waterloo Road, Cranbrook, TN17 3JD

County: Kent

Type of School: Mixed Gender Grammar School Sixth Form with Boarding opportunity from Year 9 onwards.

Age of Attendance: 11-18

Ofsted Rating: Outstanding (2015)

Number of Pupils: 756

Religious Character: Christian

School Performance 

The school has been performing well academically with most attainment assessment scores being above average for both England and the local authority. 

Entering EBAcc – 94%

Grade 5 or above in English and maths GCSEs – 86%

Attainment 8 Score – 65.6% – This score indicates the performance of students in 8 key qualifications including English, Maths Sciences, Humanities and Languages. It looks at the average grades in these subjects comparatively to the other schools in the local authority, then in England on average. 

There is no available progress 8 score for the school in 2019 as less than 50% of their year 11 students sat KS2 exams in primary school. 

Ofsted headlines from their assessment in 2015 – Science area was in the top 20% of all schools nationally. Humanities was in the top 20% of all schools nationally. Attainment 8 score was in the top 20% of all schools nationally. 

They still haven’t published 2022 results for GCSEs and A Levels. 

Cranbrook School 11 Plus Admission Information

For year 7 entry the school only admits 60 students as day students, and there are no boarding places. There is a secondary intake opportunity in Year 9 where they admit 162 students which includes 52 borders. They take the top 20-25% of academic abilities and places are always oversubscribed. To enter Year 7 the students will have to take the Kent 11+ test. TO enter Year 9 candidates, take an objective test. The priority area, or catchment zone for day students is defined as; 

The Priority Area is defined as follows:

‘a.         The civil parishes of Cranbrook, Goudhurst, Staplehurst, Frittenden, Benenden, Sandhurst and Hawkhurst as defined by civil parish boundaries.

b.         Any other property which is not within the civil parish boundaries as outlined above, but is within 8.5 kilometres of the school by straight line.

Taken from the school’s website at: https://www.cranbrookschool.co.uk/admissions/application-criteria/’