Leigh Academy Tonbridge is excited to be launching our new Grammar College for September 2027 – the only co-educational grammar-style option in Tonbridge.
In an area where around 35% of young people attend selective schools, we believe families should have another choice. We already have an exceptional track record of achievement with our highest prior-attaining students, and our Grammar College will build on this success through a highly academic, ambitious curriculum designed to challenge and inspire.
Grammar College: Frequently Asked Questions
About the Grammar College
From September 2027, Lyceum college will become our grammar college as the selective college within Leigh Academy Tonbridge. It gives academically able students a grammar school education inside a co-educational academy. Your child joins a small, high-attaining group and has full access to the wider academy community, its facilities and its staff.
The Grammar College opens to its first Year 7 students in September 2027. It will grow by one year group each year from then on. Students in Year 6 (2026-2027) will be the founding cohort in September 2027. All other students currently in Lyceum College will be unaffected and our current setting arrangements apply.
Lyceum College will become the grammar college. Like our other colleges, it will have its own leadership, pastoral team and identity. The academy’s small school model stays the same, so every student is known well by the adults around them.
Students currently in Lyceum College will be unaffected by this change. The Grammar college will grow with the first cohort starting in September 2027.
Yes. The Grammar College admits both boys and girls. This is one of its main differences from the single-sex grammar schools in the Tonbridge area.
Admissions and entry
There are 60 places in each year group.
No. We will look at a range of evidence before deciding which students will be allocated to the grammar college. Where students have sat the Kent Test, these results should be shared with us after the initial allocation of places for the whole school in March 2027. We will then contact families who will be able to express an interest in joining the grammar college and students will be invited to attend an internal assessment. Students who want to LATon who have met the required score on the Kent Test will be allocated to the grammar college. We will also look at KS2 SATS data but these are not published until July which makes basing the decision solely on this very difficult.
You apply for a place at Leigh Academy Tonbridge through the Kent County Council secondary application in the usual way. The closing date is set by Kent County Council at Monday 2nd November 2026.
Once we know the 180 students who have been allocated to LATon for September 2027, we will write to families to give them the opportunity of expressing their desire for the child to be considered for the grammar college. Following internal assessments in April 2027, we will confirm college allocation prior to transition day in early July 2027.
That is your decision as a family. Kent County Council allocates places by preference and by each school’s admissions criteria. If you would like your child to join Leigh Academy Tonbridge then we would always suggest that you put us as 1st preference.
Yes. Typically we look to place siblings in the same college but the grammar college would be an exception to this.
Siblings in different colleges share the same site, the same academy day and staff.
Curriculum and teaching
Yes. The 60 students in each year group are taught together as one cohort. This means lessons can move at a faster pace and go into greater depth. Students learn alongside peers working at a similar level.
Yes. Grammar College students follow the same curriculum as other students. The difference is in the pace, the depth and the level of challenge. Teachers set higher expectations and extend learning beyond the core content.
In Years 7 to 9, Grammar College students follow the IB Middle Years Programme, as students do across the rest of the academy.
Grammar College students are taught by the academy’s subject specialists in the
academy’s buildings. They are part of the same academy, with the same high standards across every college.
As we do every year, we will carefully consider the teachers working with each group of students when planning the timetable.
At GCSE, Grammar College students are guided towards a more academic programme of subjects. This is designed to prepare them well for academic post-16 studies and beyond.
In recent years, our high prior attaining pupils have achieved results that are better than many local grammar schools demonstrating our teachers’ expertise.
College students are guided towards qualifications such as GCSE Spanish, triple science and an arts subject (Fine Art, Photography, Music or Drama). The full range of Key Stage 4 option subjects remains open to them.
Enrichment, stretch and challenge
Grammar College students follow an alternative enrichment programme. It is designed to stretch and challenge able students beyond the classroom. It builds the habits of independent study, debate and research that selective universities and employers look for.
Enrichment activities will be specifically targeted at students in the grammar college. These include:
- Academic competitions: UK Mathematics Trust challenges, science olympiads and national essay competitions.
- Debating and public speaking: a debating society, Model United Nations and entry to regional competitions.
- Independent research: an extended research project in Year 9, presented to an audience, as a lead-in to the Extended Project Qualification in the Sixth Form.
- University links: visits to universities, outreach programmes and talks from academics and alumni.
- Additional languages or classics: for example Latin or a second modern language as an enrichment option.
- Advanced reading: a scholars’ reading programme with discussion groups.
- Leadership: roles such as subject ambassadors, peer mentoring and student leadership within the college.
Yes. They join the academy’s clubs, sports teams, trips and events alongside students from other colleges.
Assessment and suitability
We review each student’s suitability for the Grammar College at every assessment point in the year. This makes sure the pace and level of challenge continue to suit your child.
Yes. If assessment shows that another college would serve your child better, we will talk to you first. Any move is made in your child’s interests. They stay at the same academy, with the same high expectations and access to the same curriculum.
Yes. We continue to monitor each student’s academic performance and attitude to learning. Where a student in another college would benefit from the Grammar College, we will discuss a move with their family.
You receive progress reports on the same schedule as families across the rest of the academy.
Daily life
No. The Grammar College is part of Leigh Academy Tonbridge and uses the same site and facilities as the rest of the academy.
Like each college, the Grammar College has its own area of the academy. Lyceum College is based in the area that houses our Maths and Science departments, and this will continue when it becomes the Grammar College.
No. Grammar College students wear the Lyceum College uniform: the academy blazer with teal trim and the tie with a teal stripe
Yes. Grammar College students have the same Chromebook arrangements as all students at the academy.
The Grammar College has its own pastoral team, as every college does. Your child will have a tutor and a named team you can contact. Our small school model means staff know each student well.
Yes. All colleges share the same academy day, site and facilities. Families with children in more than one college deal with one academy.
Sixth Form and beyond
Yes. Students who meet the Sixth Form entry requirements can continue their studies at Leigh Academy Tonbridge.
Details on our current 6th form curriculum can be accessed here
https://leighacademytonbridge.org.uk/sixth-form/
Students receive careers guidance throughout their time at the academy. In the Sixth Form this includes support with university choices and applications.
Our 2026 outcomes were our best ever, with students progressing on to universities such as Durham, Exeter, Loughborough, Sussex and Southampton.
Please email the academy office at info@tonbridge.latrust.org.uk with any questions about the Grammar College.
