180 Year 7 places, Kent Test or Shepway Test, Folkestone and Hythe district priority — everything parents need to know
Book a Free ConsultationFolkestone School for Girls (FSG) is a selective state grammar school for girls in Folkestone, Kent, offering 180 Year 7 places annually. Entry is selective, with applicants assessed through either the standard Kent Test (PESE), administered by GL Assessment for the Kent grammar school consortium, or the Shepway Test, a school-specific alternative assessment administered by the school itself. Girls must achieve a minimum total score of 332 on the Kent Test (with no individual section below 106) to be deemed selective. When oversubscribed — which is typical — priority is given to girls living in the District of Folkestone and Hythe. This guide covers both routes to entry, the test formats, key 2026 dates, the admissions priority system, and how to structure your daughter's preparation properly.
Folkestone School for Girls is located in Folkestone, on the English Channel coast in the Shepway area of Kent. The school is part of the Kent grammar school consortium and participates in the shared Kent Test (PESE) admissions process, while also offering its own school-specific Shepway Test for eligible applicants. The school admits girls aged 11 to 18, with a sixth form that has historically attracted strong results in A-level sciences, humanities, and languages.
Folkestone is geographically distinctive among Kent grammar schools. It is the southernmost grammar school in the county, situated close to the Channel Tunnel terminal and drawing its intake from Folkestone town, Hythe, Sandgate, Hawkinge, Lyminge, and the surrounding rural areas of the Folkestone and Hythe district. Some families travel from further afield — Ashford, New Romney, and even parts of East Sussex — but in competitive years the school fills predominantly from within the Folkestone and Hythe district.
The school has a strong tradition in languages, which is unsurprising given its location close to the French coast — French is a core subject and some girls have opportunities linked to the school's Channel connections. Sciences, mathematics, and English also perform consistently well at GCSE and A-level. FSG's ethos emphasises academic ambition alongside the development of the whole person, with a wide range of extracurricular activities.
Most families applying to Folkestone School for Girls will use the standard Kent Test (PESE) as their route to selection. The Kent Test is the primary assessment used across all 32 Kent state grammar schools, administered by GL Assessment. For 2027 Year 7 entry, Kent Test registration opens on 1 June 2026 and closes on 1 July 2026. Girls at Kent-maintained primary schools are registered automatically; girls at independent schools or schools outside Kent must register manually within this window. The Kent Test itself is taken on Thursday 10 September 2026 for Kent pupils, with Saturday 12 September and Sunday 13 September available for pupils from outside Kent.
The second route is the school-specific Shepway Test, offered directly by Folkestone School for Girls. The Shepway Test is a computer-based assessment (with a handwritten creative writing component) covering verbal reasoning, non-verbal reasoning, mathematics, and a 30-minute creative writing section. It uses a different format from the standard GL Assessment Kent Test papers. The Shepway Test registration opens on 1 June 2026 and closes on 17 July 2026. The test is taken in September 2026 at the school. Eligible applicants are those who have a birthday between 1 September 2015 and 31 August 2016.
Both routes carry equal weight in the admissions process: a girl who achieves a selective result via the Shepway Test is treated identically to a girl who achieves a selective result via the Kent Test. The Shepway Test is best suited to girls who: (a) are at independent schools that don't participate in the automatic Kent Test registration; (b) are outside Kent and find it more convenient to come to the school directly; or (c) have a specific reason to prefer the school-based assessment format. For most girls at Kent state primary schools, the standard Kent Test route is the most straightforward option.
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Year 7 places | 180 |
| School type | Girls' selective state grammar school |
| Primary test | Kent Test (PESE), GL Assessment |
| Alternative test | Shepway Test (school-specific, computer-based + writing) |
| Kent Test threshold | 332 total, no individual section below 106 |
| Kent Test date (Kent pupils) | Thursday 10 September 2026 |
| Kent Test date (non-Kent) | 12–13 September 2026 |
| Kent Test registration | 1 June – 1 July 2026 (KCC portal) |
| Shepway Test registration | 1 June – 17 July 2026 (via school) |
| Results | Mid-October 2026 |
| Application deadline (SCAF) | 31 October 2026 |
| Priority area | District of Folkestone and Hythe |
Folkestone School for Girls is oversubscribed in most years. The 180 Year 7 places are generous relative to some of the more highly competitive Kent grammar schools, but FSG remains selective and not all girls who achieve the Kent Test threshold will receive an offer if the school is oversubscribed. In competitive years, the cut-off falls within the Folkestone and Hythe district — meaning out-of-district applicants may not receive a place even with a selective result.
The practical implication for families: if you live within the Folkestone and Hythe district and your daughter achieves a selective result on the Kent Test or Shepway Test, your chance of receiving an offer at FSG is generally good. If you live outside the district — for example in Ashford, Hythe (depending on the specific boundary), or in East Sussex — you may need a strong score and should check the furthest distance offered in previous years via Kent County Council's admissions data.
Folkestone School for Girls draws its competition primarily from the local area. Unlike the super-selective grammar schools in London and some parts of Kent where families travel long distances, FSG is predominantly a local school serving the Folkestone and Hythe community. This means the competitive picture is shaped by the academic profile of the local Year 6 cohort rather than a county-wide or national applicant pool. Years with a particularly strong local cohort will see more borderline results, while years with a less competitive cohort may allow a few more out-of-district applicants.
One competitive factor worth noting: the Shepway Test means some girls who would not have registered for the standard Kent Test process — including those at local independent preparatory schools — can enter via the school's own assessment. This may increase the total applicant pool slightly relative to schools that use only the county Kent Test route.
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Folkestone School for Girls does not use a traditional narrowly drawn school catchment area. Instead, it uses the administrative boundary of the District of Folkestone and Hythe as its geographic priority area. This is a relatively large area by the standards of most grammar school catchments, covering Folkestone, Hythe, Sandgate, Hawkinge, Lyminge, Folkestone inland villages, New Romney, Lydd, and the Romney Marsh area.
When the school is oversubscribed with selective applicants, the oversubscription criteria are applied in the following order. First, looked-after and previously looked-after children (regardless of location). Second, girls eligible for Pupil Premium funding who live in the District of Folkestone and Hythe. Third, all other selective girls living in the District of Folkestone and Hythe. Fourth, selective girls living outside the District of Folkestone and Hythe, prioritised by distance to school (straight-line measurement from home address to school). Within any tier where there is a tie — two girls at exactly the same distance — a random tiebreak is used.
Families should be aware that the Folkestone and Hythe district boundary is an administrative line that does not always follow intuitive geographic logic. Some villages that feel geographically proximate to Folkestone may be in the Ashford or Dover district rather than Folkestone and Hythe. Parents should check their home address against the official district boundary using Kent County Council's school catchment map before assuming they are in the priority area.
For families living just outside the district boundary, the fourth-tier distance criterion means they can still apply and will be considered after all selective in-district girls have been offered. In years when fewer girls achieve the selective threshold from within the district — or when a higher proportion choose other grammar schools — spaces for out-of-district applicants may be available. It is not impossible to receive an offer from outside the district, but it should not be treated as a reliable prospect in competitive years.
Girls preparing for Folkestone School for Girls via the Kent Test need to understand each component of the assessment in detail. The Kent Test consists of two multiple-choice papers and a creative writing task, with all three components contributing to the overall selective result.
Paper 1 — English and Mathematics (approximately 60 minutes): The English section tests reading comprehension, requiring girls to read an unseen passage and answer multiple-choice questions about meaning, inference, vocabulary, and the author's technique. This is followed by questions on English language conventions: grammar, punctuation, and sentence structure. The mathematics section covers the Key Stage 2 curriculum across number, algebra, geometry, measurement, statistics, and ratio — with an emphasis on multi-step problem-solving rather than straightforward recall. Girls who have done maths practice exclusively in untimed conditions often find the paced environment of the test more demanding than expected.
Paper 2 — Verbal and Non-Verbal Reasoning (approximately 60 minutes): Verbal reasoning assesses the ability to identify patterns, relationships, and structures in language. Common question types include: word codes (e.g. if CAT = 312, what is DOG?), analogies, letter sequences, word pairs, missing letters, and word insertions. Non-verbal reasoning tests spatial and abstract pattern recognition: shape series, matrices, odd-one-out shapes, nets, reflections, and rotations. Both components use GL Assessment's standard formats, which are consistent year to year and highly learnable through systematic practice.
Creative Writing Task (40 minutes): The writing task asks girls to produce a piece of creative writing — typically a narrative or descriptive piece prompted by a stimulus. This component is assessed holistically and contributes to the overall selective result. Girls who write extensively outside of practice — diaries, stories, letters, extended school writing — are typically more confident and fluent in this component than those whose writing is limited to homework exercises. Encouraging your daughter to write regularly from Year 4 pays dividends not just in the creative writing task but in her overall facility with language across all three components.
The Shepway Test, offered by Folkestone School for Girls as an alternative route, is a computer-based assessment with a separate handwritten creative writing component. The computer-based elements cover verbal reasoning, non-verbal reasoning, and mathematics — assessed in a computer-administered format that may differ slightly from the multiple-choice paper format used in the Kent Test. The computer-based format can be unfamiliar to girls who have only prepared using printed practice papers, so if your daughter intends to use the Shepway Test route, it is worth including computer-based practice materials in her preparation.
The creative writing component of the Shepway Test lasts 30 minutes and is handwritten. It assesses the same broad creative and expressive writing skills as the Kent Test writing task. Girls who have been writing regularly throughout Year 5 and Year 6 are well-placed for both components.
Registration for the Shepway Test (1 June to 17 July 2026) closes several weeks before the Kent Test registration (1 June to 1 July 2026 — note both open on the same date but the Shepway Test has a longer window). Families planning to use the Shepway Test should not leave registration to the last minute, particularly as the school may have specific procedures for managing the application process.
For families deciding between the two routes: if your daughter is at a Kent-maintained primary school and is automatically registered for the Kent Test, the standard Kent Test is generally the simpler and more familiar route. If she is at an independent school, in a different county, or if there is a specific reason to prefer the school-based assessment format, the Shepway Test is a well-established alternative that many successful applicants use each year.
Whether your daughter is aiming for the Kent Test, the Shepway Test, or both, the preparation approach follows the same broad principles. The key is to build skills progressively over time rather than relying on intensive cramming in the final weeks before the test.
Year 4 (age 8–9): Introduce verbal reasoning question types one format at a time. Work through non-verbal reasoning formats systematically. Keep maths knowledge slightly ahead of the classroom curriculum. Most importantly, establish a daily reading habit. Girls who read widely — both fiction and non-fiction, including some challenging texts — develop the vocabulary, inference skills, and reading stamina that the English comprehension component rewards. This cannot be built quickly. It takes at least a year of consistent reading before the benefits show clearly in test performance.
Year 5 (age 9–10): Move to timed practice with full GL Assessment-style papers. Identify specific areas of weakness — is it non-verbal reasoning? Ratio problems in maths? Letter sequences in verbal reasoning? — and address each one directly with targeted practice rather than general paper repetition. Begin introducing the creative writing component: practise timed narrative and descriptive writing, work on opening sentences that immediately engage the reader, and develop the habit of planning briefly before writing. By the end of Year 5, girls should be working through practice papers under realistic timed conditions regularly.
Year 6 (age 10–11): Full mock tests under exam conditions from the start of the year. Focus on building mental stamina for the full assessment duration. Work on the pacing of the creative writing task — 40 minutes is enough to plan, write, and read through once, but only if the writing process is practiced and fluent. For girls using the Shepway Test, introduce computer-based practice materials to replicate the format. In August, consolidate strong performance rather than introducing new material. By September, your daughter should feel prepared and confident rather than anxious.
One note that parents often overlook: the creative writing task is part of the overall selective result at FSG, not a separate supplementary component. Girls who invest preparation time only in reasoning and maths, treating English as secondary, leave significant points on the table. The English comprehension and creative writing components together make up a substantial part of the total assessment — preparation should reflect this proportionally.
Folkestone School for Girls is one of the most geographically remote Kent grammar schools from the London metropolitan area, which means its competition profile is shaped primarily by local families rather than the county-wide or cross-county applicant pools that characterise schools closer to the M25. For families living in the Folkestone and Hythe area, FSG is typically the most accessible grammar school option for daughters. The nearest comparable girls' grammar school is Highworth Grammar School in Ashford, which is approximately 16 miles away.
For families whose daughter achieves a selective result and who live within the Folkestone and Hythe district, FSG is in the strongest position of any Kent grammar school. Families who are considering FSG alongside other Kent grammar schools further afield should check each school's catchment and priority criteria carefully — geographic priority varies significantly between schools, and a girl who is in the priority area for FSG may be out of the priority area for schools in Maidstone or Tonbridge.
For a complete overview of how the Kent grammar system works and how to choose between schools, see our grammar school preparation guide for 2026. For detailed guidance on the GL Assessment verbal reasoning question types, see our GL Assessment 11+ parent guide. For practical advice on building your daughter's preparation from Year 4, see our guide to passing the 11+.
Folkestone School for Girls accepts two routes to Year 7 entry. The first is the standard Kent Test (PESE), administered by GL Assessment and used across the Kent grammar school consortium. This is the default route for most pupils at Kent state primary schools, who are registered automatically. The second route is the Shepway Test, a school-specific alternative assessment administered by Folkestone School for Girls for eligible applicants. Both tests assess verbal reasoning, non-verbal reasoning, mathematics, and English comprehension. A girl who achieves the qualifying threshold on either test is deemed selective and can apply for a Year 7 place. The Shepway Test registration opens 1 June 2026 and closes 17 July 2026.
To be deemed selective via the Kent Test for Folkestone School for Girls, a girl must achieve a minimum total score of 332 across all test components, with no individual section score falling below 106. This qualifying threshold does not guarantee entry when the school is oversubscribed. Girls living in the District of Folkestone and Hythe receive priority over those from outside the district, and within the district, girls eligible for Pupil Premium funding receive the second-highest priority (after looked-after children). Families should check whether they live within the Folkestone and Hythe district boundary when planning their application.
The Shepway Test is a school-specific alternative assessment offered by Folkestone School for Girls for eligible applicants. It is administered by the school itself and assesses verbal reasoning, non-verbal reasoning, mathematics, and a 30-minute creative writing section in a computer-based format (with handwritten writing). The registration window (1 June – 17 July 2026) is longer than the Kent Test registration window. The content covers similar academic ground to the Kent Test but uses a different format. Families at Kent state primary schools who are automatically registered for the Kent Test do not need to separately register for the Shepway Test unless they specifically wish to use that route.
Folkestone School for Girls uses the District of Folkestone and Hythe as its geographic priority area — a large administrative area covering Folkestone, Hythe, Sandgate, Hawkinge, Lyminge, and surrounding villages. When oversubscribed, priority goes first to looked-after children, then to Pupil Premium girls in the district, then to all selective girls in the district, and finally to out-of-district applicants by distance. Families should verify their specific home address falls within the district boundary rather than assuming based on town name, as the boundary does not always follow obvious geographic lines.
The best-prepared girls entering Folkestone School for Girls typically begin structured 11+ preparation in Year 4 or early Year 5, around 12 to 18 months before the September test. This allows time to introduce all verbal reasoning, non-verbal reasoning, and GL Assessment maths question types systematically before moving to timed practice in Year 5. By the summer term of Year 6, girls should be completing full practice papers under exam conditions and working on creative writing fluency for the writing task. Girls who begin in the final few weeks find that the skills assessed — particularly reading comprehension, verbal reasoning pattern recognition, and writing fluency — are developed progressively and cannot be acquired in a short burst.
Leading Tuition provides specialist 11+ preparation for Folkestone School for Girls and all Kent grammar schools, covering both the Kent Test (GL Assessment) and the Shepway Test formats. Our tutors understand the verbal reasoning, non-verbal reasoning, maths, and English components in depth, and we tailor preparation to each girl's strengths and gaps. For the Shepway Test, we also prepare for the computer-based format and the 30-minute creative writing component. We work with girls from Year 4 upwards, and we are rated 4.8/5 on Trustpilot by parents whose daughters have secured grammar school places. Book a free consultation or message us on WhatsApp to discuss your daughter's preparation.
Leading Tuition prepares girls for Folkestone School for Girls via the Kent Test and Shepway Test. Our tutors understand both assessment formats in depth. Rated 4.8/5 on Trustpilot.
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