England · Grammar school

Holcombe Grammar School

Chatham · Mixed (co-educational) · ages 11 to 18

Official record: Get Information About Schools (URN 136594)

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Overview

Address: Holcombe, Maidstone Road, Chatham, Kent, ME4 6JB
Status: Open
Admits: Mixed (co-educational)
From the school’s admissions policy: Co-educational from September 2026, according to its 2026-27 admission arrangements.
Age range: 11 to 18
Number of pupils: 1,060
Capacity: 1,000
Eligible for free school meals: 12.7%
Sixth form: Yes
School type: Academy converter
Religious character: Not yet available
Trust: THE THINKING SCHOOLS ACADEMY TRUST
Local authority: Medway

Source: Get Information About Schools, last checked 31 October 2026 · Source: Desk research (cited public sources) (get-information-schools.service.gov.uk), last checked 31 October 2026 · Source: Schools' own admission arrangements (holcombegrammar.org.uk), last checked 2 November 2026

Admissions and the 11+

Admissions policy: Selective (grammar school)
Selection in this area: Fully selective area30% of Year 7 places offered in Medway for September 2026 were at selective schools (DfE applications and offers). We class an area as fully selective at 25% or more. Confirm with the local authority's admissions guide.
Entrance test: Medway Test
Qualifying score: minimum score 482 to be assessed suitable for grammar (492 the year before) (2025 entry)
Catchment area: For September 2026 entry there is no catchment area. Children must pass the Medway Test. Priority: looked-after children, siblings, children at four Thinking Schools Academy Trust primaries (The Gordon, New Horizons, All Faiths and Cedar Children's Academies), children of staff, health reasons, then children living nearest the school.
Children from outside the catchment: Yes: For September 2026 entry there is no catchment; places not taken by the priority groups go to qualifying children living nearest the school.

Applications and offers for Year 7

For September 2026 entry, 968 applicants named this school (137 as their first choice) for 179 places. 94 of 179 offers went to children living outside Medway.

Applications and offers by September intake
Intake	Places offered	Applicants	First choice	First choices per place	Offers to children outside Medway
Sept 2026	179	968	137	0.8	94
Sept 2025	179	733	137	0.8	46
Sept 2024	150	632	110	0.7	61
Sept 2023	150	630	134	0.9	30
Sept 2022	148	570	119	0.8	63

Show all 13 years

Earlier intakes
Intake	Places offered	Applicants	First choice	First choices per place	Offers to children outside Medway
Sept 2021	147	681	116	0.8	57
Sept 2020	150	596	117	0.8	42
Sept 2019	142	562	115	0.8	59
Sept 2018	146	533	148	1.0	49
Sept 2017	126	517	124	1.0	38
Sept 2016	91	494	105	1.2	30
Sept 2015	80	482	100	1.3	10
Sept 2014	80	424	80	1.0	15

"Applicants" counts every family that listed the school as any preference, so it is higher than the number competing for each place. "Outside Medway" means a home in another local authority; it is not the school's catchment area. For grammar schools, offers also depend on the entrance test result.

Source: Secondary and primary school applications and offers (Department for Education), last checked 31 October 2026

Source: Get Information About Schools, last checked 31 October 2026 · Source: Admissions research (cited public sources) (medway.gov.uk, holcombegrammar.org.uk), last checked 1 November 2026

Key dates for September 2027 entry

Test registration (Medway Test): 18 May 2026 to 12 June 2026
Test date: 15 September 2026, 16 September 2026, 19 September 2026, 20 September 202615-16 Sep for Medway primary pupils; 19 or 20 Sep for pupils from other schools at allocated centre. Registration opens 9am. Test and results dates from tuition guides, not confirmed on council page.
Results sent to families: 14 October 2026
Apply to your council (September 2027 entry): By 31 October 2026This date has passed: late applications go to your council and are usually considered after on-time ones.
National offer day: 1 March 2027Offers are sent on 1 March, or the next working day.
Open days: Not yet available
School opened (current registration): 1 April 2011

Unverified: test dates come from desk research (medium confidence). Confirm them with the council or test organiser. Sources: medway.gov.uk, atomlearning.com.

Statutory dates: School Admissions Code (Department for Education).

Guide to the Medway Test and its schools · How applying works

Source: Test dates research (cited public sources) (medway.gov.uk), last checked 1 November 2026 · Source: Get Information About Schools, last checked 31 October 2026

Ofsted inspection

Inspected on 12 March 2024: overall Good. Read the report ↗

Inspection history (8)

12 March 2024: School inspection · report
24 April 2018: Short inspection · report
30 September 2014: Full inspection, Good · report
11 February 2014: Monitoring visit · report
22 October 2013: Monitoring visit · report
25 June 2013: Full inspection, Inadequate · report
23 February 2012: Full inspection, Satisfactory · report
14 February 2012: Academy conversion letter · report

Source: Ofsted inspection reports, last checked 31 October 2026

Exam results

GCSE results 2025/26 (provisional)

GCSE results compared with national averages
Measure	This school	Selective schools in England	All state schools in England
Attainment 8Average grade across 8 GCSE-level subjects, doubled for English and maths (maximum 90).	59.8	72.1	46.2
Grade 5 or above in English and maths	81.6%	93.7%	46.3%
Grade 7 or above in English and maths	27.7%	57.7%	14.2%
Grade 4 or above in English and maths	95%	98.3%	64.8%
Progress 8Not published for most schools in recent years, because primary school tests were cancelled in 2020 and 2021.	–	–	–

Attainment 8 over time: 59.9 (2023/24) → 62.4 (2024/25) → 59.8 (2025/26).

141 pupils took GCSEs. Results reflect a selective intake: compare grammar schools with each other rather than with all schools.

Source: Key stage 4 performance (GCSE results) (Department for Education), last checked 31 October 2026

How to get there

Postcode: ME4 6JB
Map location: 51.36626, 0.5195
Open in OpenStreetMap: Directions and surroundings ↗
Telephone: 03333602130

Source: Get Information About Schools, last checked 31 October 2026

Official links and documents

School website: www.holcombegrammar.org.uk
Official register record: Get Information About Schools (URN 136594) ↗
Admissions policy document: Not yet available
Further reading: Wikipedia ↗

Source: Get Information About Schools, last checked 31 October 2026

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Data sources: Get Information About Schools (Department for Education), Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.; Desk research (cited public sources) (UK School Map), Facts compiled from the public sources linked on each field; Schools' own admission arrangements (Each school (linked on the item)), Facts taken from each school's published admission arrangements, linked on the item; Admissions research (cited public sources) (UK School Map), Facts compiled from the public sources linked on each item; Test dates research (cited public sources) (UK School Map), Facts compiled from the public sources linked on each item

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