Pupils are thriving at a Dartford school but could still be stretched further, inspectors say.

Dartford Science and Technology College has been ranked as ‘good’ in its latest Ofsted report – with the school achieving the rating in every category investigated by Ofsted.

Effectiveness of leadership and management; quality of teaching, learning and assessment; personal development, behaviour; and outcomes for pupils, were all marked as good – although the report noted that the most able pupils were not being “consistently stretched”.

Inspectors, who visited the school in Heath Lane, in March, note in their report that the principal, senior leaders and governors had helped create an effective school, tackled areas of weakness, and made the school “a place where pupils achieve well and thrive”.

The report says pupils of all abilities are making good progress across a wide range of subjects, while leaders are holding staff to account effectively through “rigorous performance management”.

“Teaching provides suitable levels of challenge for pupils of varying ability,” the inspectors add. “This supports good and often strong progress.

“However, the most able pupils are not consistently stretched to a high degree.”

Inspectors also praise provision for pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development, while safeguarding and support is also considered effective.

Action to improve attendance had been revised and improved this year, but levels of attendance remain below the national figure.

The report goes on to note that the sixth form “provides well for its students” but that teaching is not consistently effective, and that in some areas students are not making strong progress across the breadth of their study programmes.

Ofsted advises the school to ensure teaching and attendance continue to improve, and to develop teaching in the sixth form to enable students to make progress.

Principal Anne Davis is devising an improvement plan that will see more work with parents and students to further improve attendance, stretch the most able pupils on all subjects, and review study programmes to enable more rapid progress.

She said: “I am pleased with the outcome of what was a rigorous and fair process. When I arrived last September I wanted to build on the great results.

“My goal was to make sure the college remained ‘good’ so that we can continue to build on that strong base and start to work towards making it outstanding.

“Clearly, we are now well on track to work towards this objective, and that is a validation of the students’ commitment and the hard work of staff and governors to ensure our girls achieve their goals.”

Chairman of governors David Edwards said: “Governors are pleased with the outcome of the Ofsted report, which recognises many strengths and areas for development that we will address. The school has done well because the principal has the right vision and the staff, students and governors are focused on continuing improvement.

“This is an important milestone in the college’s journey, and governors will work hard to support the principal and her staff going forward."