Schools near Whitstable

Simon Langton Grammar School for Boys

Boys 11 to 18, mixed sixth form · Langton Lane, Nackington Road, Canterbury CT4 7AS

150 Year 7 places (five forms of 30), oversubscribed. Boys scoring 20 or more marks above the Kent Test pass mark get priority, then those also living within 9 miles; remaining places go by health or access need, siblings, Pupil Premium and distance. Supplementary form only to claim Pupil Premium priority. The school also has a specialist resource provision for autistic students (EHCP needed). Sixth form is mixed.

Simon Langton Girls' Grammar School

Girls 11 to 18 · Old Dover Road, Canterbury CT1 3EW

165 Year 7 places. A voluntary controlled school, so Kent County Council sets its criteria: looked after children, siblings, health and access reasons, Pupil Premium, then distance. Supplementary form only to claim Pupil Premium priority, returned to the school by 31 October.

Barton Court Grammar School

Mixed 11 to 18 · Longport, Canterbury CT1 1PH

150 Year 7 places. After looked after children, priority goes to Pupil Premium children (supplementary form to the school by 31 October 2026), then siblings, health and access reasons, then straight-line distance. No catchment area.

Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School

Mixed 11 to 18 · Abbey Place, Faversham ME13 7BQ

180 Year 7 places. After looked after children, priority goes to children on free school meals or Pupil Premium (supplementary form by the closing date), then siblings, staff children, health and access reasons, then distance.

The Whitstable School

Mixed 11 to 18 · Bellevue Road, Whitstable CT5 1PX

190 Year 7 places. Part of Swale Academies Trust. Up to 10% of places for aptitude in art, dance, drama or music (supplementary form needed for these only); otherwise siblings, staff children, health and access reasons, then distance. No catchment area.

Herne Bay High School

Mixed 11 to 18 · Bullockstone Road, Herne Bay CT6 7NS

258 Year 7 places. No supplementary form. After looked after children, siblings and staff children, places go by distance, with the distance criterion giving priority to applicants living in the CT6 (Herne Bay) postcode area.

The Canterbury Academy

Mixed 11 to 19 · Knight Avenue, Canterbury CT2 8QA

210 Year 7 places, plus places for children whose EHCP names its specialist resource provisions. Pupils who pass the Kent Test or another formal selective test get priority consideration for its Simon Langton grammar stream programme, and up to 31 places are reserved for musical ability. A non-verbal reasoning banding test is strongly advised. Supplementary form for banding or music places by 31 October 2026.

Orion Spires

Mixed 11 to 16 · Bredlands Lane, Sturry CT2 0HD

150 Year 7 places. Up to 20% of places for Pupil Premium or Service Premium children (form and evidence by 31 October 2026), then siblings, staff children, medical or social need, then distance to the main entrance. Part of the Orion Education trust; formerly Spires Academy.

The Archbishop's School

Mixed 11 to 18 · St Stephen's Hill, Canterbury CT2 7AP

120 Year 7 places. Every applicant completes the school's supplementary form as well as the Kent application, plus a minister's form to claim church-attendance priority (Anglican or Churches Together in England churches, at least two years' attendance). Welcomes families of all faiths and none.

St Anselm's Catholic School

Mixed 11 to 18 · Old Dover Road, Canterbury CT1 3EN

180 Year 7 places. Apply to Kent County Council and send the school's supplementary form to St Anselm's. Priority goes to baptised Catholic children (baptism certificate or evidence of reception needed), then other looked after children, siblings, listed Catholic feeder primaries, staff children, catechumens, other Christian denominations, other faiths and then all others.

The Abbey School

Mixed 11 to 19 · London Road, Faversham ME13 8RZ

210 Year 7 places. No supplementary form. Looked after children, siblings, health and access reasons, staff children, then distance.

Kent College, Canterbury

Co-educational day and boarding, 11 to 18 · Whitstable Road, Canterbury CT2 9DT

Fees. 2026 to 2027, per term including VAT: day £8,609 (Year 7) to £9,899 (Years 11 to 13); full boarding £13,445 to £18,515.

Pre-school. The nursery, Garden Cottage, is at the junior school in Harbledown (see below).

The sixth form offers the IB, A levels and CTEC courses. The school bus routes include Herne Bay but not Whitstable.

Kent College Nursery, Infant and Junior School

Co-educational day, 3 months to 11 · Harbledown, Canterbury CT2 9AQ

Fees. 2026 to 2027, per term including VAT: Reception £5,230 to Year 6 £8,249. Pre-Reception from £960 a term for one full day a week.

Pre-school. Pre-Reception takes 15 funded hours in the afternoons, 12.30pm to 3.30pm. Garden Cottage Nursery, for 3 months to 3 years, is open 50 weeks a year and takes working parent funding.

St Edmund's School Canterbury

Co-educational day and boarding, 3 to 18 · St Thomas Hill, Canterbury CT2 8HU · Admissions 01227 475601

Fees. From September 2026, per term including VAT, meals and SEND provision: day £5,200 (Pre-Reception and Reception) to £10,300 (Years 9 to 13); full boarding £14,400 to £18,840.

Pre-school. Pre-Reception for 3 year olds: 8.30am to 11.30am is free with Free Early Education funding, and longer sessions cost from £5.

The King's School Canterbury

Co-educational day and boarding, 13 to 18 · 25 The Precincts, Canterbury CT1 2ES · Admissions 01227 595727

Fees. 2026 to 2027 fees including VAT, as published: day £11,976 (Year 9) to £13,302 (Years 12 and 13); boarding £19,326. The fee schedule gives the detail.

Pre-school. No nursery here: it is at Junior King's in Sturry.

Junior King's School

Co-educational day and boarding, 3 to 13 · Milner Court, Sturry CT2 0AY

Fees. 2026 to 2027 fees including VAT, as published: Reception to Year 2 £5,406; Year 3 £7,368; Years 4 to 8 £9,042; boarding £12,780.

Pre-school. Nursery from age three. The 8.30am to 11.30am session is free with 15 hours' funding; a full day with lunch is £92, or £54 with funding.

Lorenden Preparatory School

Co-educational day, 3 to 11 · Painter's Forstal, Faversham ME13 0EN

Fees. 2025 to 2026, per term including VAT (the 2026 to 2027 list was not yet published): Reception £4,300; Years 1 to 3 £5,640; Years 4 to 6 £6,330.

Pre-school. Lorenden Nursery for 3 and 4 year olds, up to 16 a session, 8.30am to 3.15pm; 15 hours' funding can be used in any session. Full time is £3,750 a term.

A morning minibus runs from Sittingbourne through Teynham and Newnham; there is no Whitstable route.

St Faith's at Ash School

Co-educational day, 2 to 11 · 5 The Street, Ash, Canterbury CT3 2HH

Fees. Per term including VAT, as published (no year given): Reception after the fifth birthday £4,030, rising to £5,095 in Years 5 and 6.

Pre-school. Sandcastles Nursery for 2 to 5 year olds, with up to 15 funded hours a week over 38 weeks. School and nursery open 8am to 5.30pm.

The Worthgate School

Co-educational day and boarding, 13 and over · 68 New Dover Road, Canterbury CT1 3LQ · Admissions 01223 341300

Fees. 2026 to 2027 tuition including VAT: £19,815 a year (£6,605 a term) for GCSE, A level and IB; boarding is extra.

An international school teaching GCSE, A level, the IB Diploma and a university foundation year.

Joy Lane Primary Foundation School

Mixed 4 to 11, with Oyster Bay Nursery on site from 6 months · Joy Lane, CT5 4LT

Places go to looked-after children, then siblings, then health or access needs, then straight-line distance; no catchment area. Attending Oyster Bay Nursery gives no priority. The school also runs The Oysters, a specially resourced provision for autistic pupils (30 places commissioned by KCC for 2026 to 2027), allocated through the KCC SEN team rather than the normal application.

Swalecliffe Community Primary School

Mixed 4 to 11 · Bridgefield Road, Swalecliffe, CT5 2PH

60 Reception places for September 2027. Places go to looked-after children, then siblings, then health or access needs, then straight-line distance; no catchment area and no staff priority. ABC Preschool and Extra runs on the school site.

Westmeads Community Infant School

Mixed 4 to 7, with an outdoor nursery from age 2 · Cromwell Road, CT5 1NA

60 Reception places for September 2027. Kent County Council community school criteria: looked-after children, then siblings, then health or access needs, then straight-line distance. A place at the outdoor nursery does not guarantee a Reception place. Children move on to a junior school at 7, applying through KCC; neither local junior school gives formal priority to Westmeads pupils in its 2027/28 criteria.

St Alphege Church of England Infant School

Mixed 4 to 7, with Sunbeams Nursery from age 3 · Oxford Street, CT5 1DA

60 Reception places for September 2027. As a voluntary controlled church school it uses Kent County Council's standard criteria with no faith test: looked-after children, then siblings, then health or access needs, then straight-line distance. Sunbeams Nursery does not guarantee a Reception place. Children move on to a junior school at 7; the Whitstable and Seasalter Endowed CE Junior School gives no formal priority to St Alphege pupils in its 2027/28 criteria.

Whitstable and Seasalter Endowed Church of England Junior School

Mixed 7 to 11 · High Street, CT5 1AY

Up to half of the 60 Year 3 places (30) can go to Christian families who live in the Whitstable Team Ministry parish and have worshipped at least twice a month for 12 months; a Supplementary Information Form signed by the minister must reach the school by 15 January 2027. Order of criteria: looked-after children, siblings, Christian faith, exceptional needs, children of staff, then distance. No priority for any particular infant school is named in the 2027/28 criteria.

Whitstable Junior School

Mixed 7 to 11 · Oxford Street, CT5 1DB

60 Year 3 places for September 2027. Places go to looked-after children, then siblings, then health or access needs, then straight-line distance. The 2027/28 criteria give no priority to pupils from any named infant school. Applications run 6 November 2026 to 15 January 2027 through Kent County Council.

St Mary's Catholic Primary School

Mixed 4 to 11 · Northwood Road, CT5 2EY

30 Reception places for September 2027. Baptised Catholic children have priority (baptism certificate needed), then other looked-after children, siblings, children of staff, catechumens, other Christian denominations, other faiths, then all other children, with distance breaking ties. Return the school's Supplementary Information Form by the closing date as well as applying through KCC.

St Nicholas' School

Mixed 4 to 19 · Holm Oak Close, Canterbury CT1 3JJ

Community special school for children with profound, severe and complex needs; every pupil has an Education, Health and Care Plan. Also runs seven satellite classes at schools and a college in Canterbury and Sturry.

The Orchard School

Mixed 7 to 16 · Cambridge Road, Canterbury CT1 3QQ

Specialist school for social, emotional and mental health needs, with provision for speech, language and communication needs and autism; every pupil has an Education, Health and Care Plan.

ISP School Whitstable

Mixed 7 to 16 · Regent Street, Whitstable CT5 1JD

Small independent special school for pupils with social, emotional and mental health needs, including autism; every pupil has an Education, Health and Care Plan. Ofsted noted it currently runs as a key stage 2 (primary-age) provision.