Key Facts
| Measure | Average point score per A level entry (DfE 16 to 18 performance data) |
|---|---|
| Data year | 2024/25 (final) |
| Schools ranked | 20 |
| Highest figure | Tonbridge School, 49.94 (A) |
| Area covered | Kent, Medway |
Figures correct at the time of writing. Confirm current fees and deadlines with the school or university directly.
The best private schools in Kent by A level results start with Tonbridge School on an average point score of 49.94 per entry, followed by Benenden School on 47.84, The King's School Canterbury on 44.99 and Walthamstow Hall on 43.87. Twenty independent schools are ranked, all on one measure taken from the latest DfE 16 to 18 performance tables: the average point score per A level entry, where an A* is worth 60 points, an A 50, a B 40 and a C 30.
Each school also shows the DfE's grade equivalent of its average, which runs from A for Tonbridge School down to D+ for Sackville School, together with the number of A level students behind the figure. Schools on the same figure share a rank, and the table below sets out every school's town, intake and boarding type alongside its score.
Which private schools in Kent have the best A level results?
| Rank | School | Town | A level average point score | Average grade | A level students | Pupils | Day or boarding |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tonbridge School | Tonbridge | 49.94 | A | 168 | Boys | Day and boarding |
| 2 | Benenden School | Cranbrook | 47.84 | A- | 105 | Girls | Day and boarding |
| 3 | The King's School Canterbury | Canterbury | 44.99 | B+ | 198 | Co-educational | Day and boarding |
| 4 | Walthamstow Hall | Sevenoaks | 43.87 | B+ | 47 | Co-educational | Day |
| 5 | Ashford School | Ashford | 39.26 | B | 77 | Co-educational | Day and boarding |
| 6 | Kent College Pembury | Tunbridge Wells | 37.84 | B- | 47 | Co-educational | Day and boarding |
| 7 | Sutton Valence School | Maidstone | 37.64 | B- | 100 | Co-educational | Day and boarding |
| 8 | King's School, Rochester | Rochester | 37.42 | B- | 47 | Co-educational | Day and boarding |
| 9 | Rochester Independent College | Rochester | 37.41 | B- | 104 | Co-educational | Day and boarding |
| 10 | Radnor House Sevenoaks | Kent | 36.61 | B- | 39 | Co-educational | Day |
| 11 | St Edmund's School Canterbury | Canterbury | 36.60 | B- | 59 | Co-educational | Day and boarding |
| 12 | Kent College (Canterbury) | Canterbury | 35.69 | B- | 65 | Co-educational | Day and boarding |
| 13 | Earlscliffe (Sussex Summer Schools Ltd) | Folkestone | 35.19 | B- | 33 | Co-educational | Day and boarding |
| 14 | Bethany School | Cranbrook | 34.97 | C+ | 37 | Co-educational | Day and boarding |
| 15 | The Worthgate School | Canterbury | 34.46 | C+ | 32 | Co-educational | Day and boarding |
| 16 | St Lawrence College | Ramsgate | 33.02 | C+ | 55 | Co-educational | Day and boarding |
| 17 | Cobham Hall | Kent | 29.43 | C | 18 | Co-educational | Day and boarding |
| 18 | Beechwood School | Tunbridge Wells | 27.67 | C- | 38 | Co-educational | Day and boarding |
| 19 | Dover College | Dover | 27.29 | C- | 34 | Co-educational | Day and boarding |
| 20 | Sackville School | Tonbridge | 24.67 | D+ | 18 | Co-educational | Day |
The figures run from 49.94 at Tonbridge School (rank 1) to 24.67 at Sackville School (rank 20), and the distribution is uneven. The first four schools sit well apart from each other, with Benenden School on 47.84, The King's School Canterbury on 44.99 and Walthamstow Hall on 43.87 each separated from the next by a visible step, whereas the middle of the table is tightly packed. Ashford School (rank 5) is on 39.26, and the next eight schools, from Kent College Pembury on 37.84 down to Earlscliffe on 35.19, all carry a B- grade.
Within that middle group the gaps are very small. Sutton Valence School (37.64), King's School, Rochester (37.42) and Rochester Independent College (37.41) are separated by a few hundredths of a point, and Radnor House Sevenoaks (36.61) sits just ahead of St Edmund's School Canterbury (36.60), so rank order between neighbours here says little about a real difference. A further cluster of C+ schools follows: Bethany School on 34.97, The Worthgate School on 34.46 and St Lawrence College on 33.02, before the table drops to Cobham Hall on 29.43, Beechwood School on 27.67, Dover College on 27.29 and Sackville School on 24.67.
Benenden School is the only girls' school in the table and Tonbridge School the only boys' school; every other school is listed as co-educational, and the two single-sex schools hold ranks 1 and 2. Walthamstow Hall (rank 4), Radnor House Sevenoaks (rank 10) and Sackville School (rank 20) are day schools, while the remainder take boarders as well. Cohort size varies sharply: The King's School Canterbury entered 198 students and Tonbridge School 168, whereas Cobham Hall and Sackville School each have 18, and Walthamstow Hall has 47, so a figure built on a small group can move noticeably from one cohort to the next.
Entry points and fees at the ranked Kent schools
Fees and entry points vary widely across the ranking, so the table below sets them side by side for the schools with an admissions guide on this site; each figure comes from the school's own website and carries the academic year it applies to.
| School | Entry points | Day fees per term | Fees year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tonbridge School | £16,069 | 2026/27 | |
| Benenden School | £15,400 (incl. VAT) | 2026/27 | |
| Ashford School | £8,685 | 2026/27 | |
| King's School, Rochester | £7,785 (incl. VAT) | 2026/27 | |
| St Edmund's School Canterbury | £9,500 | 2026/27 | |
| Bethany School | £9,015 | September 2026 | |
| Cobham Hall | Years 7-11 (girls only), Sixth Form (co-educational) | £9,986 | 2026/27 |
| Beechwood School | £8,199 | 2026/27 |
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Enquire about this tutorWhich are the top girls' and boys' private schools in Kent for A levels?
Benenden School in Cranbrook is the girls' school with the highest average point score in the table, on 47.84 (grade A-) from 105 students, which places it second overall. Tonbridge School in Tonbridge is the boys' school, on 49.94 (grade A) from 168 students, and it ranks first.
Neither school has a single-sex counterpart elsewhere in the ranking, so parents looking only at girls' or boys' schools in this table are choosing between one school each. Walthamstow Hall in Sevenoaks, which is listed as co-educational and as a day school, is the next school after The King's School Canterbury and has the smallest A level cohort in the top four, with 47 students.
Which private schools in Kent take boarders?
Most of the ranked schools are listed as day and boarding, including Tonbridge School, Benenden School, The King's School Canterbury, Ashford School, Sutton Valence School in Maidstone and Kent College Pembury in Tunbridge Wells. The three schools listed as day only are Walthamstow Hall (rank 4), Radnor House Sevenoaks (rank 10) and Sackville School (rank 20).
Boarding schools in the table are spread across the county, with St Lawrence College in Ramsgate, Dover College in Dover and Earlscliffe in Folkestone on the coast, and Canterbury holding The King's School Canterbury, St Edmund's School Canterbury, Kent College (Canterbury) and The Worthgate School. A family weighing boarding against a daily commute can therefore compare schools within a single town, which is useful given how close the figures are in the middle of the table.
What does this Kent ranking leave out?
The ranking covers independent schools that have published A level results in the DfE's 16 to 18 performance tables, so a school whose sixth form mostly follows the International Baccalaureate or vocational courses may have few or no A level entries and may be missing or sit on a small cohort. A figure from a group such as the 18 students at Cobham Hall or at Sackville School reflects a small number of pupils and tends to vary more year to year than the 198 at The King's School Canterbury.
The table also excludes Kent's state grammar schools, and it records results only; it says nothing about a school's entry requirements, the subjects it offers, its pastoral provision or fees. Because the average point score is calculated across all A level entries at a school, it also does not show how results are distributed between subjects or between students, so visits and the school's own published subject results are a sensible next step.
How the schools are ranked
The ranking covers every independent school in Kent and Medway with a published average point score per A level entry in the Department for Education's 16 to 18 performance data, ordered from highest to lowest, with schools on the same figure sharing a rank. The figure counts A level entries only and is not adjusted for pupils' attainment on entry, and many of these schools select by entrance assessment.
The data is the Department for Education's own download from Compare school and college performance, so anyone can reproduce the order from the same file; the data year and source are listed in the key facts above.
Admissions guides for the ranked schools
- Tonbridge School (ranked 1)
- Benenden School (ranked 2)
- The King's School Canterbury (ranked 3)
- Walthamstow Hall (ranked 4)
- Ashford School (ranked 5)
- Kent College Pembury (ranked 6)
- Sutton Valence School (ranked 7)
- King's School, Rochester (ranked 8)
- St Edmund's School Canterbury (ranked 11)
- Bethany School (ranked 14)
- Cobham Hall (ranked 17)
- Beechwood School (ranked 18)
Related guides
- Best private schools in the UK and London by A level results
- Independent school fees compared
- What is a bursary? Private school bursaries explained
- 11+ and 13+ scholarship exams explained
- Boarding schools in the UK
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Frequently asked questions
- Which is the best private school in Kent for A level results?
- Tonbridge School has the highest average point score per A level entry among the 20 ranked Kent independent schools, on 49.94, which the DfE expresses as a grade A. It is a boys' day and boarding school with 168 A level students. Benenden School follows on 47.84.
- Which is the top girls' private school in Kent?
- Benenden School in Cranbrook is the only girls' school in the ranking, with an average point score of 47.84 per A level entry (grade A-) from 105 students. That places it second overall, behind Tonbridge School. All other ranked schools are listed as co-educational.
- How many private schools in Kent are ranked?
- Twenty Kent independent schools are ranked, from Tonbridge School on 49.94 to Sackville School on 24.67. Schools on the same figure share a rank. The ranking uses the latest DfE 16 to 18 performance tables, and schools without published A level results do not appear.
- What does average point score per A level entry mean?
- It is the average number of points earned by each A level entry at a school, where an A* is worth 60 points, an A 50, a B 40 and a C 30. The DfE also gives a grade equivalent, so 49.94 at Tonbridge School is shown as an A.
- Which Kent private schools rank just behind the top four?
- Ashford School is fifth on 39.26 (grade B), followed by Kent College Pembury on 37.84, Sutton Valence School on 37.64, King's School, Rochester on 37.42 and Rochester Independent College on 37.41. All four of those carry a B- grade.
- Does a small A level cohort affect a school's figure?
- Yes, an average based on few students can shift more easily. Cobham Hall (29.43) and Sackville School (24.67) each have 18 students, and Walthamstow Hall (43.87) has 47, whereas The King's School Canterbury (44.99) has 198 students and Tonbridge School has 168.
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