The Judd School

The Judd School is a voluntary aided grammar school in Tonbridge, Kent. Founded by the Skinners Company, it was named after 16th century merchant Sir Andrew Judde. The current headmaster as of 2017 is Jon Wood, who replaced the previous headmaster, Robert Masters, at the start of the September 2017 year. There are 1019 students in the school aged 11 to 18; the lower school is all boys, but of 350 students aged 16–18 in the sixth form, up to 60 are girls.

About The Judd School in brief

Summary The Judd SchoolThe Judd School is a voluntary aided grammar school in Tonbridge, Kent. Founded by the Skinners Company, it was named after 16th century merchant Sir Andrew Judde, whose endowment helped fund the school. The current headmaster as of 2017 is Jon Wood, who replaced the previous headmaster, Robert Masters, at the start of the September 2017 year. There are 1019 students in the school aged 11 to 18; the lower school is all boys, but of 350 students aged 16–18 in the sixth form, up to 60 are girls. The majority of students go on to higher education following the completion of their A-levels at the end of Year Thirteen. In 2017, over one in five Year 13 students gained an Oxbridge offer. In September 2004, the school was designated a music and mathematics specialist school, which means it receives additional funding for those subjects. In April 2008 was successful in attaining science specialism status. In 2013, The Sunday Times newspaper ranked The Judd School as the 12th best state secondary school in the country. The school is now a music with English, science and Mathematics specialist school. It was established in 1888 at Stafford House on East Street, Tonbridge. It remained for eight years before moving to its present location on Brook Street, in the south of the town. The Skinners’ Company maintains close links with the school and makes up the majority of the governing body. The first headmaster was William Bryant, who oversaw the transition to the present site before his retirement in 1908.

He was replaced by John Evans, appointed in preference to the 217 other applicants for the post. He oversaw a transition from gas lighting to electric lighting, including the introduction of a house system in 1909. Soon after the outbreak of the First World War in 1909, the School was requisitioned by two brigades from Folkestone and Aldershot. In June 1919, after the passage of the Education Act, the school successfully applied for state-funded status and became partly-funded and partly-earning. The following year, the first female teachers were appointed after the deaths of several male members of staff. The School’s Cadet Corps was established, which within one month consisted of 120 students. It is now one of the UK’s oldest and most successful state secondary schools, with more than 2,000 pupils. It has been described as ‘one of the most successful schools in the UK’ and has a reputation for being ‘exceptional’ and ‘outstanding’ The school has been ranked as the second best school in Kent by the Daily Telegraph based on 2013 A-level results. In 2007, The Mail on Sunday ranked it as the 11th best secondary school in Britain, with a rating of 9.5 out of 10. It also received a grade of ‘A’ from the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills, which graded it as ‘outstanding’ in 2007.