The school was founded as Herne Bay County Secondary School, Bullockstone Road at Greenhill, Herne Bay. On 1 September 2000 the school became a Foundation school and control was passed from Kent County Council to the Board of Governors. Exactly three years later on 1 September 2003 the school became a Specialist school and Sports College. Year groups consist of year 7-13,.
School structure
The house system is known as a "College" and each house is named after letters of the Greek alphabet. These consist of: Delta, Epsilon, Omega, Sigma and Theta. Of Which, each has its own Head of College, Mentor Team, logo and coloured tie. Each house contains at least 260 students.
Lower school
As of 2014, the lower school has an annual intake of around 258 students at the start of Year Seven. The lower school is 1,285 students strong, for which the school uniform consists of a black blazer accompanied with the school badge on the breast pocket, with black trousers and a white shirt. Socks must be black and shoes must be plain. Shirts must be worn with a tie; which varies according to the mini-community in which the student is placed.
Curriculum
As of 2014, the school follows the National Curriculum in Years 7–11 and offers a broad range of GCSEs and A-levels. The school year runs from September to July, split across three terms: the autumn term, spring term and the summer term. Students receive two weeks off for Halloween, Christmas and Easter, a six-week summer break, and three "half term" breaks. It was announced on 17 May 2019, that the School was to see significant changes to its curriculum from 3 September 2019. This includes a two week timetable, longer lessons, shorter mentor times and leaving school early on a Wednesday afternoon; as well as more curriculum added to lessons including the core subjects and the creative subjects as well.
Examination
As of 2010, the school offers GCSEs to students in the lower school, and AS/A-levels to students in the sixth form. League tables published by the BBC based on 2008 A-level results rank Herne Bay High as the sixty-second best school in Kent. According to the BBC, in 2009 A-Level students achieved an average of 658.2 QCDA points, against a national average of 739.1 and 44 percent of students achieved five or more grade C results at GCSE, including Maths and English.
