Dane Court Grammar School is a co-educational selective grammar school in Broadstairs, with around 1,227 pupils across the main school and sixth form. Its public identity is closely tied to international-mindedness. The school describes itself as a happy, welcoming and inclusive community, a place of belonging, and its values language borrows directly from the International Baccalaureate: caring, open-minded and principled.
The IB is the clearest academic distinction. Dane Court's sixth form is built around International Baccalaureate pathways rather than a standard A-level-only model, with the Diploma Programme, Career-related Programme and a bespoke IB route described on the school website. The school presents the sixth form as knowledge-rich and internationally recognised, with careers education, one-to-one university and apprenticeship support and subject tasters built into the post-16 application journey.
Daily school life is framed around belonging and breadth. The vision and values pages emphasise empathy, compassion, service, educational visits, PSHE and careers education. The named facilities include a library and sixth-form centre, and co-curricular activity includes Duke of Edinburgh and trips and expeditions. Ofsted's 2022 judgement was Good overall with an Outstanding sixth form, which fits the prominence the school gives to its IB provision.
Year 7 admission is through the Kent Test, with 165 places published for 2027-28. The test includes English, mathematics and reasoning papers, plus a writing exercise used for headteacher assessment where needed; scores are age-standardised and the Kent threshold is set after testing. Dane Court's oversubscription criteria then give priority to looked-after children, medical or health need, pupil premium applicants, siblings and distance. GOV.UK reports +0.69 Progress 8 and 94.9% grade 5+ in English and maths.
