Turner Free School Review 2026: Structured routines, big horizons, and a clear coastal mission

A newer Folkestone secondary that has grown quickly since opening to its first Year 7 cohort in September 2018. What stands out is the school’s deliberate structure: a coached morning start, a house system tied to global universities, and a set of values that are used as day-to-day language rather than poster copy.

This is a state school, so there are no tuition fees. The trade-off is competition for places. The most recent admissions data shows demand well above capacity, with 577 applications for 170 offers and a subscription ratio of 3.39 applications per place. (Local authority coordinated admissions apply.)

Academically, the picture is mixed. GCSE outcomes, as measured by FindMySchool rankings based on official data, place the school below England average overall; the curriculum and wider programme are clearly designed to raise aspirations and keep students engaged through practical, creative, and community-facing experiences.

The first signal of how the school runs is in the rhythm of the day. Gates open at 08:30, and the morning begins with Morning Meeting and coaching time before formal lessons start. That structure is not incidental. The language across the website emphasises preparation, routines, and self-regulation, and it shows up in the way pastoral support is described: students are “known” by a pastoral team and expected to speak up when something is wrong.

Values are explicit and memorable: Innovate, Collaborate, Celebrate. The practical implication is clarity for students and families. When values are short, consistent, and referenced in rewards and recognition, behaviour expectations tend to be easier to explain and easier to enforce consistently across year groups.

The house system is another defining feature. Students are organised into six coaching groups per year group, aligned to six houses named Bologna, Cambridge, Harvard, Kathmandu, Oxford, and Sorbonne. The school frames this as aspirational, linking the names to future destinations including higher-level apprenticeships and university. The result is a culture that talks about next steps early, even for students who may not arrive with “university” as an assumed pathway.

Leadership is clearly identified on the school website: the Principal is Mr Jamie Maclean. The governance information lists his date of appointment as 1 September 2024, which helps parents anchor how recent leadership decisions are.

The school’s latest Ofsted inspection outcome was Good, with Good judgements across quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and leadership and management (inspection date 6 December 2022).

FindMySchool’s GCSE outcomes ranking places the school 3,484th in England and 3rd in Folkestone for GCSE results (FindMySchool ranking based on official data). That positioning sits below England average overall, within the lower-performing segment of schools in England. (This is a ranking context point rather than a judgement on any individual student’s experience.)

Looking at the underlying GCSE performance indicators the average Attainment 8 score is 35.4 and Progress 8 is -0.55, suggesting students make less progress than similar students nationally from their starting points. English Baccalaureate (EBacc) average point score is 3.03, and 5.3% of pupils achieved grades 5 or above across the EBacc measure. Taken together, the data points indicate that improving core outcomes remains a key priority.

For families, the implication is straightforward. If you want a school already operating at well-above-average results, this is not currently that. If you want a school with clear routines, a strong scaffolding of personal development, and a purposeful curriculum that tries to keep students engaged and aiming higher, the offer may still fit, especially for students who do better with structure.

Parents comparing GCSE performance locally should use the FindMySchool Local Hub page and Comparison Tool to view outcomes alongside nearby alternatives using the same metrics.

The curriculum is framed as broad and balanced, with a focus on English Baccalaureate subjects alongside creative and vocational options. This blend matters in a non-selective context because it reduces the risk that students who are not academically confident at 11 feel boxed in early. It also gives the school more levers to improve engagement at Key Stage 4, which is often where attainment gaps widen.

Reading is positioned as a whole-school priority, with reading lists published for Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4 and a stated aim to get every pupil reading at or above chronological age as soon as possible after joining. In practical terms, that tends to mean structured reading time, explicit vocabulary work across subjects, and intervention for weaker readers. The school’s Morning Meeting model also includes Turner Reads, where a coach reads aloud while pupils follow along. That is a simple but effective approach for building reading stamina and modelling fluency, especially when done consistently.

The “LEARN” learning habits provide the behavioural and academic backbone: listen and follow instructions, arrive on time and prepared, always try your best with pride and resilience, respect, and never make excuses. The benefit of a short framework like this is consistency. Students can be corrected and coached using a shared language, and parents have a clear sense of what the school expects to see at home, particularly around equipment, punctuality, and homework routines.

There is no published set of destination statistics available in the provided dataset, and the school does not present a quantified Russell Group or Oxbridge pipeline on the pages reviewed. In practice, the school’s approach to “what next” is embedded through programmes rather than numbers.

Turner 25 is a good example. It sets out a five-year entitlement of experiences that include visits to the Science Museum in London, Bletchley Park, coding workshops, peer mentor training, Amnesty International’s Write for Rights, and Sixth Form Futures Fortnight. For many families, this matters as much as headline outcomes because it broadens horizons, creates material for college or apprenticeship applications, and helps students see credible routes beyond their immediate area.

For students interested in leadership and service, the Duke of Edinburgh Award is offered, with Bronze, Silver, and Gold levels described on the school site. The implication is that students can build a credible record of volunteering, skills, and expedition experience, which is valued in sixth form interviews, apprenticeship applications, and part-time work.

Post-16 entry is part of a wider Turner Schools sixth form arrangement. The admissions policy for 2027 indicates that students are generally expected to achieve a grade 5 in subjects they want to study at A-level, with a grade 4 sometimes considered at the school’s discretion. Offers are conditional on GCSE results and are confirmed after results in August.

Turner Free School is non-selective, and Year 7 applications are made through the local authority coordinated process. The school’s published admission number is 180 for Year 7 entry. Where the school is oversubscribed, priority is set out in the admissions arrangements, including looked-after and previously looked-after children, sibling priority, named feeder schools (Folkestone Primary, Martello Primary, and Morehall Primary), and then proximity as a final criterion.

Competition for places is real in the latest dataset snapshot: 577 applications for 170 offers. That translates to around 3.39 applications for each place offered. This gap between demand and capacity is the main hurdle for families.

For September 2026 entry in Kent, applications open on Monday 1 September 2025 and close at midnight on Friday 31 October 2025, with National Offer Day on Monday 2 March 2026. In practice, most school open events in Kent run in September and October before entry, with final details confirmed on individual school websites.

Parents who are seriously considering the school should use the FindMySchool Map Search to check practical travel distance from home to the school gates, then treat proximity as one factor rather than a guarantee, given annual variation in applicant patterns.

Pastoral support is presented as a core system rather than an add-on. The school’s stated pastoral vision includes that every child is known by the pastoral team, pupils feel happy and safe, and pupils feel confident speaking to someone when concerned or upset. That is the right emphasis for a large secondary, where the risk is that quieter students can disappear into the crowd unless the structures actively prevent it.

Two practical tools are worth noting. The Worry Button encourages pupils to contact school if they have a concern or problem at home, with signposting to external support services. The Speak Up Button is designed for reporting incidents that may put other pupils at risk of harm. The implication is a safeguarding culture that tries to make reporting normal and accessible, which is often the difference between early intervention and issues escalating.

The school also lists external mental health and wellbeing organisations for families who need support beyond what school can provide, including local and national services.

The most convincing extracurricular schools are the ones where “beyond lessons” is not just sport and a club list, but a set of experiences that create confidence and competence. Here, Turner 25 does that heavy lifting. A student who completes coding workshops, peer mentor training, a leadership course, a first aid course, and cultural visits has an experiences portfolio that can genuinely change self-belief and future choices.

Environmental activity is unusually concrete. The Eco Schools action plan is organised around recycling, litter picking, and rewilding. Eco News describes Eco Ambassadors carrying out a wildlife survey and scattering wildflower seeds, plus the use of a wildlife camera that recorded, among other things, a skulk of foxes. This is more than a badge. It is practical environmental education with visible outcomes on the school site.

Student voice also has a named vehicle. Votes for Schools is used as a weekly voting platform tied to current affairs, designed to help pupils be informed, curious, and heard. In a mixed-ability school, that kind of routine civic discussion can strengthen oracy and confidence, especially for students who do not yet shine in written work.

Finally, the Duke of Edinburgh Award provides a long-form challenge route for students who respond well to a structured goal across volunteering, physical activity, skills, and expedition.

The school day runs from 09:00 to 15:30, totalling 32.5 hours per week. Gates open at 08:30, with breakfast available, and after-school activities run until 16:30. The day includes a Morning Meeting and coaching time before lessons begin, which sets expectations and supports organisation.

There is no nursery provision on site. For travel, most families in Cheriton and the wider Folkestone area will use a mix of walking, cycling, local bus routes, or car drop-off. Route specifics change, so families should check current public transport options and typical traffic patterns for Tile Kiln Lane when shortlisting.

• Academic outcomes remain a development area. The current dataset shows a Progress 8 score of -0.55 and GCSE outcomes that sit below England average overall. Families prioritising already high headline results may want to compare alternatives carefully.

• Competition for places. With 577 applications for 170 offers in the latest admissions snapshot, entry is the limiting factor. Families should plan for a realistic chance of being allocated elsewhere.

• A structured culture may not suit every student. Learning habits, coaching, and a strong routines-first approach can be excellent for many students. Those who find tight boundaries stressful may need reassurance through open events and transition support.

• SEND support details are partly published as image-based materials. The website references universal, targeted, and specialist interventions, but some specifics are not easily accessible in text form. Families with complex needs should ask for a detailed conversation early.

Turner Free School is a purposeful, structured state secondary with a clear mission for young people in coastal Kent. The culture is built around routines, coaching, and aspirational language, and the wider programme is unusually tangible through Turner 25, Eco Ambassadors’ rewilding work, and established routes such as the Duke of Edinburgh Award.

Best suited to families who want a calm, structured approach to secondary education, value personal development alongside qualifications, and are comfortable with a school still working to raise its headline academic outcomes. The main challenge is securing a place.