Education and Training

Ashford has excellent and expanding education facilities, currently  home to 50 schools and three special schools including Ashford School, the town’s independent day and boarding school.

It has a higher than national average level of A* to C grade GCSE passes, during 2006 50% of pupils at year 11 gained one or more GCSEs.

The Ashford School of Art and Design (ASAD), part of South Kent College, has two campuses in the town and offers high education courses from GCSE to university-accredited HND and degree level.

There are five universities within one hours drive of Ashford, enrolling around 40,000 students and producing over 11,000 graduates each year.

Students progress to higher education at:

• Canterbury Christ Church University College
• University of Kent in Canterbury
• University of Greenwich
• Imperial College London Wye Campus 
• University College of Creative Arts  (sites at Maidstone, Rochester and Canterbury).