Foundation special school

Bower Grove School

Mixed · ages 4–16Kent, South East · Maidstone ME16 8NLSchool website
Pupils on roll
246of 225 places
Free school meals
67.1%
Year 11 cohort 2025
29
Ofsted
Standards maintained, 20 November 2024Read the Ofsted report
What the data says

Of the 32 pupils who finished Year 11 at Bower Grove School in 2023, none moved to a sixth form college, 38% to a further education college and none started an apprenticeship.

Most pupils take the three separate sciences: at least 66% sat Biology, Chemistry and Physics as individual GCSEs, compared with about 23% nationally.

Almost every leaver found a sustained destination: only 0% were not in education, work or training six months on, against 6% nationally.

Almost nobody goes straight into an apprenticeship or a job: none took an apprenticeship and 3% went into work, against 3% and 3% across England.

Where pupils went after Year 11

Destinations of the 2023 Year 11 leavers, measured the following year: the share in a sustained place for at least two terms. Compared with all state-funded schools in Kent and England.

Bower Grove School
Kent
England
School sixth formSixth form collegeFurther education collegeOther educationApprenticeshipEmploymentNo sustained destination
MeasureBower Grove SchoolKentEngland
Pupils in the cohort3217,954607,348
Any sustained destination75%93%92%
Stayed in education72%88%86%
— school sixth form0%56%34%
— sixth form college0%13%
— further education college38%28%37%
— other education34%4%2%
Apprenticeship0%3%3%
Employment3%2%3%
No sustained destination0%5%6%
Destination unknown25%3%3%

GCSE results 2025

MeasureBower Grove SchoolKentEngland
Attainment 8 (average points per pupil)8.946.746.1
Grade 5 or above in English and maths0%47%45%
Grade 4 or above in English and maths0%65%65%
Entered the English Baccalaureate subjects0%47%41%
EBacc average point score0.794.184.09
Disadvantaged pupils in the cohort76%25%28%
Attainment 8 — disadvantaged pupils8.232.234.9
Attainment 8 — other pupils10.951.550.4
Pupils with high prior attainment (Key Stage 2)
English as an additional language0%12%19%

Progress 8 is not available for 2025 and 2026: these cohorts had no Key Stage 2 tests in 2020 and 2021, so there is no baseline. Attainment 8 shows results without taking pupils’ starting points into account.

Subjects taken at GCSE

Entries in 2025 as a share of the Year 11 cohort, and the share of entries graded 7–9 and 4–9, compared with all entries in England.

SubjectEntriesShare of cohortEnglandGrades 7–9EnglandGrades 4–9
Biology2069%23%0%45%0%
Physics2069%23%0%46%0%
Chemistry1966%23%0%47%0%
Mathematics1966%88%0%22%11%
English Language1655%89%0%20%6%
Combined Science13%65%9%

Other secondary schools in Kent

Astor Secondary School

Academy converter · sixth form · 732 pupils

72% stayed in education · Attainment 8 27.9

Aylesford School

Academy sponsor led · sixth form · 916 pupils

73% stayed in education · Attainment 8 37.6

Borden Grammar School

Academy converter · sixth form · 938 pupils

94% stayed in education · Attainment 8 63.2

Sources: Department for Education school and college performance tables 2024/2025 (Key Stage 4 and 16–18 results, subject entries, destination measures for 2023 leavers); Get Information About Schools register as at 19 September 2026; Ofsted management information as at 31 August 2026. Small numbers are suppressed by DfE and shown as “—”. How to read these figures.