Chatham Grammar School for Girls (Kent Test)

If you are weighing up a selective school with a clear sense of direction, Chatham Grammar is one to get to know, with one change worth noting first. It is a selective school in Chatham, in the Medway towns of Kent, and for most of its history it has been a girls' grammar with a mixed sixth form. The Department for Education has approved it becoming co-educational from September 2026, so from that point it will take both boys and girls into Year 7. Families looking now should keep that shift in mind, as it marks a real change for a long-established girls' school.

Its lead sponsor is the University of Kent and it sits within the University of Kent Academies Trust. That tie gives children access to university resources, including student mentors who coach younger learners, visits to the campus and a range of university-led programmes. There is plenty going on beyond lessons too, from a Duke of Edinburgh's Award scheme to a recent production of Sister Act and a sporting partnership with Chelsea FC through the wider trust.

Chatham Grammar describes itself as ambitious and that word sits at the front of how it talks about its children. It is a settled school in a confident period of change, and the aim throughout is that each child finds their feet and is ready for what comes next.