Charles Darwin School

About Charles Darwin School

Charles Darwin School is a mixed state secondary and sixth form in the London borough of Bromley, led by headteacher Aston Smith. In a local authority that includes 21 secondary schools, Charles Darwin ranks 15th by Progress 8 score, placing it in the bottom half of Bromley’s state secondaries. The top-performing peers in the area are St Olave's and St Saviour's Grammar School, Newstead Wood School, and Harris Girls Academy Bromley, all of which achieve significantly higher Progress 8 scores. The school is non-religious and serves 1,314 pupils, just shy of its capacity of 1,356. It is oversubscribed for 2025/26 entry, with 435 applications for 224 places and 155 first-preference offers made from 156 first-preference applications, giving an oversubscription ratio of 1.94. This suggests strong local demand, even though the school’s academic ranking is lower than many of its neighbours.

Academically, the school’s most recent Ofsted inspection in 2023 rated it Good across all categories, including quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and sixth-form provision. This is consistent with its previous Good rating from 2013. At Key Stage 4, the school’s Progress 8 score is -0.34, which is below the Bromley local authority average of 0.13 and places it in the bottom 50 nationally. The Attainment 8 score is 42.6, and 59.2% of pupils achieved a grade 4 or above in English and maths, though only 37.9% reached grade 5 or above. The EBacc entry rate is low at 14.7%, with 10.9% achieving the EBacc at grade 4 or above. In the sixth form, the average points per entry is 29.06, equivalent to a grade C, and the value-added score is -0.22, rated as below average. The best three A-levels average a grade C.

The school offers a broad range of facilities, including a swimming pool, sports hall, theatre, art studios, music rooms, tennis courts, playing fields, and a dedicated sixth-form centre. Sports on offer include swimming, gymnastics, hockey, basketball, cricket, rugby, dance, and rowing, and there are numerous clubs such as Film Club, Young Enterprise, Orchestra, Eco Club, Chess, Choir, Book Club, Drama, DofE, Model UN, and Debate. The school’s SEND provisions cover a wide spectrum, including support for dyslexia, moderate learning difficulties, social, emotional and mental health needs, speech and language communication needs, hearing and visual impairments, physical disabilities, and autistic spectrum disorder. This makes it a practical choice for families in Bromley who want a large, inclusive secondary with a strong extracurricular offer, particularly in sports and the arts, and who are comfortable with a school that, while oversubscribed, sits below the LA average on academic progress measures.

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