Borden Grammar School is a selective boys' grammar school on the Avenue of Remembrance in Sittingbourne, with a co-educational sixth form and about 928 pupils on roll. Its motto, Nitere porro, is translated by the school as to strive forward, and the phrase captures the public tone of the school well: small, personal, local and academically purposeful rather than grandstanding.
The school describes its mission as developing minds, creating futures and striving forward together. In practice, that means a selective academic environment with a strong pastoral frame: the values and ethos page talks about courage, creativity, resilience, respect and kindness, while careers education and personal development are presented as part of the curriculum rather than something saved for sixth form.
The sixth form is a useful part of Borden's identity. The school offers A-level courses directly and extends the range through partnership with Highsted Grammar and Fulston Manor, giving access to more than 30 courses. Sixth formers have a dedicated learning area, ICT facilities and a work room, and the school expects them to contribute through prefectship, mentoring and role-modelling. That gives Borden a more collaborative post-16 feel than its modest size might suggest.
Admission to Year 7 is for 150 places. Borden sits within the Kent grammar-school context but also runs the Borden Assessment Procedure, provided by Quest Assessments, as an additional school route. The 2027 policy gives priority first to looked-after and previously looked-after children, then reserves up to 15 percent of places for eligible free-school-meal applicants in ME9 to ME12, before applying family association, health or access need and traditional-area distance criteria. Published measures show Ofsted Good, +0.26 Progress 8, 91.9% grade 5+ in English and maths and 12.8% AAB or better at A level.
