11 Plus Schools

Kent 11 Plus

Kent is the largest remaining grammar school area in the country, with 35 wholly selective grammar schools and four partially selective schools.

Kent is also unusual, in that the 11 plus results are provided to parents before the Common Application Form (CAF) has to be submitted(From 2012 all counties now have to follow the same procedure). In most cases this allows parents to make their school choices based on certainty, rather than guesswork, about the outcome of the 11 plus test. Only where an appeal is required will parents still need to hedge their bets on the choice between grammar and comprehensive schools.

Despite that, parents in Kent face a considerable challenge when completing their CAF (Common Application Form). The Admissions Criteria for schools differ for almost every school in the County and must be studied extremely carefully by prospective parents.

Some schools known as the “super-selectives” allocate places by score, but there may be geographic limits imposed as well. Other schools use distance or parish boundaries as the main criterion for admission. Schools that do not use score to allocate places may have rules about siblings taking priority. (It is illegal under the school Admissions Code to use score to allocate places and give priority to siblings.)

Full details of the admissions criteria for all Kent schools can be found on the Kent County Council website.

We strongly recommend that, once you have a shortlist of your preferred schools, you research very carefully whether your child would have gained admission in previous years. Either Kent Admissions or the individual schools may be able to provide you with further information if you are unsure. Even that is no guarantee of future success, but it should at least ensure that your school choices are as realistic as possible.

Admissions Information for September 2013 Entry

Closing date for applications Monday 2nd July 2012 – applications to take the test
(Registration from Friday 1st June 2012)
11+ test dates For Kent Primary Schools Pupils – Tuesday 12th & Wednesday 13th September 2012
For Primary Pupils Outside of Kent – Saturday 16th September 2012, (practice test 9th Sept 2012)
Closing date for Common Application Form Monday 31 October 2012
Test Types Verbal Reasoning (50 minutes)
Non-Verbal Reasoning (40 minutes)
Maths (60 minutes)
All the above are NFER, multiple choice format.
(No writing exercise this year)
Examiners NFER administered by GL Assessment
11+ Test Results Letters posted on Wednesday 17th October 2012. For registrations that were made online, emails will be sent after 4pm on the same day.
Pass Mark Varies by school (see note below)
Allocations Monday 1st March 2013 (emails from 4pm, letters posted first class)
Acceptance Appeals Deadline You must accept or refuse the place offered or Appeal by 21st March 2013.
Admissions Information

Pass mark: The minimum qualifying score in 2010 was an aggregate score of 360 across the VR, NVR and maths papers, with no paper scoring less than 117. (The writing exercise is only taken into account at a Head Teacher’s Review – see below.) Schools in East Kent allocate places by distance and therefore any mark over 360 is irrelevant beyond the fact that the child has qualified. Schools in West Kent (many of them the so-called “super-selectives”) allocate school places by score, in descending order and therefore the child’s final score is of critical importance.

Appropriate Practice Materials

For a detailed list of suitable practice materials relevant for Kent please visit the Kent section of the 11+ Regions section in the online shop where all the materials can be readily purchased.

Please also visit the Kent section of the 11+ Forum

Kent Raw Scores in 2010

Our thanks go to our 11+ Forum member “committed” for making a Freedom of Information request to Kent County Council to obtain the following information.

The table below shows the raw score (i.e. number of questions) a child needed to answer on the 2010 papers in order to achieve a final standardised score of either 120 or 140, depending on their age at the time of testing. The numbers will vary by a few percentage points each year, and they are therefore only a rough guideline.

Age at time of testing: 10 yrs old 10 yrs 6 mths 11 yrs old 10 yrs old 10 yrs 6 mths 11 yrs old
To achieve a score of: 120 120 120 140 140 140
Verbal Reasoning 36/80 (45%) 39/80 (49%) 42/80 (53%) 58/80 (73%) 61/80 (76%) 63/80 (79%)
Non-Verbal Reasoning 35/72 (49%) 37/72 (51%) 38/72 (53%) 48/72 (67%) 49/72 (68%) 50/72 (69%
Maths 24/50 (48%) 26/50 (52%) 27/50 (54%) 38/50 (76%) 39/50 (78%) 40/50 (80%)

The Kent Appeals System

Kent is unusual in operating a system of “Head teacher reviews”. A review can be submitted if a child has not qualified on score but was close to the pass mark or the Head teacher believes that the result was not representative of the child’s ability. The reviews take place before parents receive their child’s results.

The Head will submit a short report and samples of work which are then reviewed by a panel consisting of Primary and Secondary Head teachers or Deputy Heads. The review may result in the 11+ score being overturned and the child being deemed qualified.

If your child does not qualify, the Head does not seek a review or if the review is unsuccessful you still have the right to have your child’s case heard by an Independent Appeals Panel. These take place in March 2010 once school allocations have been published.

It is important that Kent parents who are also applying for grammar school places for their child at schools in Medway realise that the Review systems in Kent and Medway are entirely different. A failed review in Kent does not preclude you from asking for a full hearing in front of an Independent Appeal Panel, and submitting any evidence you wish to. In Medway the evidence you can present to a panel after a failed review is very much more limited.

For advice on how to prepare for an appeal please look at our Appeals Q&As

Kent Grammar School Information

Open Day information for Kent schools can be viewed on the Kent County Council website.

School Gender Places
Barton Court Grammar School (Canterbury) Mixed Places in Year 7: 120
Applications in 2010: 666
Borden Grammar School (Sittingbourne) Boys Places in Year 7: 120
Applications in 2010: 255 (92 offered)
Chatham House Grammar School (Ramsgate) Boys Places in Year 7: 90
Applications in 2010: 257
Clarendon House Grammar School (Ramsgate) Girls Places in Year 7: 115
Applications in 2010: 241 (51 offered)
Cranbrook School Mixed Admission is at 13+ (Year 9), not 11+.
Places in Year 9: 92 day places, 53 boarding, total 145.
Applications for Yr9 in 2010: 259
Dane Court Grammar School (Broadstairs) Mixed Places in Year 7: 165
Applications in 2010: 450
Dartford Grammar School for Boys Boys Places in Year 7: 150
Applications in 2010: 649
Dartford Grammar School for Girls Girls Places in Year 7: 150
Applications in 2010: 688
Dover Grammar School for Boys Boys N.B. Entrance to the school is via a pass in either the Kent test or the Dover test.
Places in Year 7: 120
Applications in 2010: 306 (109 offered)
Dover Grammar School for Girls Girls N.B. Entrance to the school is via a pass in either the Kent test or the Dover test.
Places in Year 7: 120
Applications in 2010: 332
Gravesend Grammar School for Boys Boys Places in Year 7: 150
Applications in 2010: 288
Gravesend Grammar School for Girls Girls Places in Year 7: 145
Applications in 2010: 313
Highsted School (Sittingbourne) Girls Places in Year 7: 120
Applications in 2010: 291
Highworth Grammar School for Girls (Ashford) Girls Places in Year 7: 174
Applications in 2010: 325 (158 offered)
Invicta Grammar School (Maidstone) Girls Places in Year 7: 175
Applications in 2010: 504
Maidstone Grammar School Boys Places in Year 7: 175
Applications in 2010: 506
Maidstone Grammar School for Girls Girls Places in Year 7: 175
Applications in 2010: 549
Oakwood Park Grammar School (Maidstone) Boys Places in Year 7: 150
Applications in 2010: 515
Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School (Faversham) Mixed Places in Year 7: 137
Applications in 2010: 446 (120 offered)
Simon Langton Girls’ Grammar School (Canterbury) Girls Places in Year 7: 155
Applications in 2010: 407
Simon Langton Grammar School for Boys (Canterbury) Boys Places in Year 7: 120
Applications in 2010: 391
Sir Roger Manwood’s School (Sandwich) Mixed Places in Year 7: 114 day places, 6 boarding
Applications in 2010: 355
The Folkestone School for Girls Girls Places in Year 7: 165
Applications for 2010: 358 (105 places offered)
The Grammar School for Girls Wilmington Girls Places in Year 7: 120
Applications in 2010: 600
The Harvey Grammar School (Folkestone) Boys Places in Year7: 150
Applications in 2010: 290
The Judd School (Tonbridge) Boys Places in Year 7: 125
Applications in 2010: 554
The Norton Knatchbull School (Ashford) Boys Places in Year 7: 149
Applications in 2010: 318
The Skinners’ School (Tunbridge Wells) Boys Places in Year 7: 115
Applications in 2010: 564
Tonbridge Grammar School for Girls Girls Places in Year 7: 140
Applications in 2010: 642
Tunbridge Wells Girls’ Grammar School Girls Places in Year 7: 140
Applications for in 2010: 498
Tunbridge Wells Grammar School for Boys Boys Places in Year 7: 180
Applications in 2010: 543
Weald of Kent Grammar School for Girls Girls Places in Year 7: 150
Applications in 2010: 641
Wilmington Grammar School for Boys Boys Places in Year 7: 120
Applications in 2010: 574

Partially Selective Schools in Kent

School Gender Places
Archbishop’s School (Canterbury) Mixed Selects 15% of pupils on general ability
Chaucer Technology School (Canterbury) Mixed 235 places in Year 7. Selects 15% of pupils (35 places) on general ability or aptitude in technology.
Homewood School Mixed 360 places in Year 7. Selects 20% of pupils (72 places) on general ability and 10% on musical aptitude.
Westlands School (Sittingbourne) Mixed 270 places in Year 7. Selects 10% of pupils (27 places) on mathematical aptitude.

For further information about Kent Grammar Schools and to have your questions answered please visit the Kent section of our 11+ Forum .

If you are able to contribute further information to this page (and we are always grateful for contributions from those with local knowledge), please contact us.

Page last updated on 2nd February 2012

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