210 Year 7 places for boys, Kent Test threshold 332, Gravesham borough priority — everything parents need to know
Book a Free ConsultationGravesend Grammar School (GGS) is a selective boys' grammar school in Gravesend, in the Borough of Gravesham in north-west Kent. It offers 210 Year 7 places annually — making it one of the larger boys' grammar schools in the county — assessed through the Kent Test (PESE), the standardised assessment used by the Kent grammar school consortium and administered by GL Assessment. Boys must achieve a minimum total score of 332 on the Kent Test to be deemed selective. When oversubscribed — which is typical — priority is given first to boys in the Borough of Gravesham, then to boys in a specified list of adjacent civil parishes across north-west Kent. This guide covers the Kent Test format, all 2026 key dates, Gravesend Grammar's three-tier priority system, admissions criteria, and how to structure preparation properly.
Gravesend Grammar School is located in Gravesend, a town on the south bank of the Thames estuary in north-west Kent. The school sits within the Borough of Gravesham, a local government district covering Gravesend, Northfleet, and their surrounding villages. Gravesend Grammar educates over 1,200 boys across Years 7 to 13 — a large intake by grammar school standards that reflects the school's role as the primary selective boys' school for the wider Gravesham area.
The school has a strong academic tradition and consistently achieves good results at GCSE and A-level. Its sixth form draws boys from across the Gravesham area and neighbouring parishes, with a significant proportion progressing to Russell Group universities annually. The school's size means it can offer a wide range of A-level subjects, extracurricular activities, and specialist teaching resources that smaller grammar schools sometimes cannot match.
Gravesend is geographically distinct from the rest of Kent in its orientation towards London: the town is on the Thameslink commuter rail line, and a significant number of families in the Gravesham area commute to London for work. This means GGS has a somewhat different family demographic from grammar schools in more rural parts of Kent, and the academic expectations and university progression patterns reflect the aspirational tone of families with London professional backgrounds.
One practical geographic note: Gravesend Grammar is in the same area as Gravesend's girls' grammar school (Mayfield Grammar School, a girls' grammar in the Gravesham area), meaning families with daughters will look at a separate institution. GGS itself is firmly boys-only from Year 7 to Year 11, with a co-educational sixth form.
Gravesend Grammar School uses the standard Kent Test (PESE) as its Year 7 entry assessment. The Kent Test is administered by GL Assessment and is taken by eligible boys in September of the year before secondary school entry. For 2027 Year 7 entry, boys sit the Kent Test in September 2026.
The Kent Test comprises three components. Paper 1 (approximately 60 minutes) covers English and mathematics. The English section tests reading comprehension — boys read an unseen passage and answer multiple-choice questions about meaning, inference, vocabulary, and the writer's craft. The mathematics section covers the Key Stage 2 curriculum with an emphasis on multi-step problem-solving: number operations, fractions, percentages, ratio, algebra, geometry, measurement, and data handling. Paper 2 (approximately 60 minutes) covers verbal reasoning and non-verbal reasoning. Verbal reasoning assesses language patterns and logical thinking through question types including word codes, analogies, letter sequences, and sentence completion. Non-verbal reasoning tests shape series, matrix completion, spatial rotations, reflections, and abstract pattern recognition. The creative writing task (40 minutes) asks boys to produce a piece of creative writing in response to a stimulus, assessed holistically alongside the two papers.
Scores across the three components are age-standardised before combination. This means a boy born in August is not disadvantaged relative to a September-born peer — the scoring adjusts for the age at which the test is taken. To achieve a selective result, a boy must reach a minimum total score of 332, with no individual section score falling below 108. This is the qualifying standard for the Kent Test across the consortium, though individual schools may apply slightly different thresholds.
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Year 7 places | 210 |
| School type | Boys' selective state grammar school |
| Test used | Kent Test (PESE), GL Assessment |
| Test format | Paper 1 (English + Maths, 60 min) + Paper 2 (Reasoning, 60 min) + Writing (40 min) |
| Kent Test threshold | 332 total, no individual section below 108 |
| Kent Test date (Kent pupils) | Thursday 10 September 2026 |
| Kent Test date (non-Kent pupils) | Saturday–Sunday 12–13 September 2026 |
| Registration | 1 June – 1 July 2026 (KCC online portal) |
| Results | Mid-October 2026 |
| Application deadline (SCAF) | 31 October 2026 |
| Priority tier 1 | Borough of Gravesham |
| Priority tier 2 | Ash-cum-Ridley, Bean, Fawkham, Hartley, Longfield, New Barn, Southfleet, Swanscombe, Greenhithe, Stansted |
| Priority tier 3 | Stone, Darenth, Horton Kirby, South Darenth, Cliffe, Cliffe Woods |
Gravesend Grammar School is consistently oversubscribed. The 210-place annual intake is larger than many Kent grammar schools, but it does not diminish competition — more boys achieve a selective result in the Gravesham area each year than there are places available. Being deemed selective by the Kent Test is therefore necessary but not sufficient; the school's oversubscription criteria then determine allocation.
The key competitive insight for families in the Gravesham area: a selective result on the Kent Test combined with residence in the Borough of Gravesham places a boy in the highest geographic priority tier. In most years, the 210 places are allocated primarily from within this tier, meaning Gravesham residents who achieve a selective result have a strong chance of an offer. Families from the tier 2 named parishes (Ash-cum-Ridley, Bean, Fawkham, Hartley, Longfield, New Barn, Southfleet, Swanscombe, Greenhithe, Stansted) are next in priority and may receive offers in years when tier 1 demand does not fill all 210 places.
For families outside these priority areas — for example, in the London Borough of Dartford, in Sevenoaks, or in other parts of north-west Kent — the picture is less certain. These families fall into the open category and are prioritised by distance to school. The distance cut-off in this open tier varies year to year depending on how many selective applicants from priority tiers apply. In competitive years, open-tier applicants at even relatively modest distances from the school may not receive offers.
One important consideration for Gravesham families with sons at London-side primary schools: boys attending schools in the London Borough of Dartford (across the boundary from Gravesham) are in a different local authority area and do not automatically receive the Borough of Gravesham geographic priority. Check whether your son's primary school is in Gravesham or Dartford — the border in some areas of Gravesend, Northfleet, and Swanscombe does not follow obvious street-level lines.
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Gravesend Grammar School's oversubscription criteria use a three-tier geographic priority system based on civil parish and borough boundaries. Understanding this system is essential for families planning their application, because it determines where a boy sits in the queue for a place once the selective threshold has been met.
Tier 1 — Borough of Gravesham: This covers the town of Gravesend itself, Northfleet, Singlewell, Meopham, Istead Rise, Higham, Shorne, Cobham, and other settlements within the Gravesham local government district. Boys with a home address in the Borough of Gravesham receive the highest geographic priority. This is the largest tier by population and accounts for the majority of successful applicants in most years.
Tier 2 — Named civil parishes (first tier adjacent): These ten parishes are all adjacent to or near the Gravesham boundary. Ash-cum-Ridley and Fawkham lie to the south-east, towards the Sevenoaks border. Bean, Southfleet, and New Barn sit between Gravesend and Dartford. Longfield is a large village with its own primary schools south of Gravesend. Hartley lies to the south-east of Gravesend town. Swanscombe and Greenhithe sit to the north-west along the Thames, on the edge of the Dartford border. Stansted is a small parish to the south-east. Boys living in these parishes receive second-tier priority, after Gravesham residents but ahead of all other applicants.
Tier 3 — Additional named civil parishes: Stone and Darenth lie between Gravesend and Dartford. Horton Kirby and South Darenth are in the Dartford rural area to the west of Gravesham. Cliffe and Cliffe Woods are on the Hoo Peninsula to the north of Gravesend, on the Thames marshes. Boys from these parishes receive third-tier priority, after both the Gravesham residents and the tier 2 parishes.
Open tier: All other selective boys, prioritised by straight-line distance from home address to school. Boys from areas not covered by any of the three geographic tiers — including other parts of north-west Kent, parts of London, Essex families who cross the Thames at the Dartford Crossing, and so on — fall into this category. In years with high demand, this tier may see limited or no offers made.
A clear understanding of each component of the Kent Test helps families allocate preparation time effectively. Here is a detailed breakdown of what each part tests and what preparation approach works best.
English Comprehension: Boys read an unseen prose passage (typically 400–600 words of narrative or non-fiction) and answer multiple-choice questions about its content, meaning, and language. Questions test inference (what is implied but not stated), vocabulary in context (what does this word mean here?), understanding of technique (why has the writer used this phrase?), and literal comprehension (what happened?). The best preparation for comprehension is extensive reading from Years 4–5 — novels, non-fiction, magazines, and newspapers. Boys who read widely develop the vocabulary range and reading fluency that makes unseen passages feel manageable rather than daunting.
Mathematics: The maths component covers the full Key Stage 2 curriculum but with a strong emphasis on multi-step problem-solving. Simple recall questions (what is 6 × 7?) are less common than worked problems requiring boys to apply multiple concepts in sequence. Key areas to strengthen include: percentages of amounts and percentage change; ratio and proportion; area, perimeter, and volume; angles in polygons and with parallel lines; coordinates and transformations; fractions (operations, simplification, conversion); data interpretation (reading tables, charts, and graphs accurately); and word problems involving money, time, and measurement. Timed practice from Year 5 is essential — boys who only do untimed maths work often find the paced environment of the test far more demanding than expected.
Verbal Reasoning: GL Assessment verbal reasoning uses a consistent set of question formats year after year: word codes, letter substitution, analogies, odd-one-out words, word pairs, letter sequences, inserting missing letters, and others. Each format has its own underlying logic that must be understood explicitly — boys who have been shown the logic and practised each type to fluency outperform those who have merely guessed their way through practice papers. A complete programme should work through every verbal reasoning type individually before combining them in timed practice.
Non-Verbal Reasoning: Non-verbal reasoning tests spatial and abstract thinking without reference to language or curriculum content. Question types include: identifying which shape completes a sequence, which shape is the odd one out, which net folds into a given 3D shape, which shape is a rotation or reflection of another, and matrix completion (identifying the missing element in a 3×3 grid of shapes). These formats are learnable, and boys who have been shown each type explicitly and worked through examples correctly perform significantly better than those encountering them for the first time in the actual test.
Creative Writing (40 minutes): This component requires boys to produce a piece of creative writing — typically a story or descriptive piece — in response to a stimulus. Markers assess creativity, vocabulary, sentence variety, punctuation and grammar accuracy, and overall impact. Boys who write regularly and have a range of techniques at their disposal — varying sentence length, using precise vocabulary, building atmosphere — tend to score well. Boys who have only practised comprehension and reasoning and neglected writing are disadvantaged in this component. Encourage regular creative writing practice from Year 4 onwards.
The most successful boys entering Gravesend Grammar School begin structured preparation 12 to 18 months before the September test — typically in Year 4 or early Year 5. This timeline allows preparation to be thorough and progressive rather than rushed and stressful.
Year 4 — Building foundations: Introduce verbal reasoning and non-verbal reasoning question types for the first time, working through each format individually rather than mixing them all together. Keep maths practice at or slightly ahead of the school curriculum, with particular attention to areas like fractions, ratio, and problem-solving that the Kent Test emphasises. Establish a reading habit: daily reading of books, magazines, and non-fiction. Start informal creative writing practice — short stories, diary entries, descriptive passages — to develop writing fluency.
Year 5 — Structured timed practice: Introduce full practice papers under timed conditions. Track performance paper by paper to identify patterns: which verbal reasoning types consistently cause difficulty? Which maths topics produce consistent errors? Are non-verbal reasoning shape series reliable or shaky? Address weak areas with targeted practice rather than only repeating full papers. By the end of Year 5, boys should be working through full mock papers regularly and feeling comfortable with the format of both papers.
Year 6 — Refinement and mock tests: Full mock tests under exam conditions from September of Year 6 (or earlier for the most prepared boys). Focus on managing pace across both papers — many boys who know the material well lose marks from poor time management. Work on the creative writing task specifically, practising planning in two minutes and writing fluently for the remaining 38 minutes. Address any remaining knowledge gaps in maths and reasoning. By August of Year 6, preparation should be consolidation rather than new learning. On test day, boys who have followed this programme walk into the room calm, practiced, and performing close to their capability ceiling.
Gravesend Grammar School sits at the north-western corner of the Kent grammar school system, closer geographically to South East London and the Thames corridor than to the core Kent towns of Maidstone, Canterbury, and Ashford. This gives GGS a distinctive character among Kent grammars: it serves a commuter-belt population with London connections, and many of its alumni progress to London universities, London-based careers, or sixth forms in the wider North Kent area.
For families considering multiple Kent grammar schools on their SCAF, it is worth noting that Gravesend Grammar's tier 2 parishes (Longfield, Hartley, Fawkham, Ash-cum-Ridley) overlap with the southern edges of the Dartford Borough, which brings some of these families into range of both Dartford Grammar School (boys) and Wilmington Grammar School (boys), depending on precise addresses. Checking each school's specific admissions criteria — and the furthest distance offered in the most recent admissions round — gives the clearest picture of which schools are realistically accessible for a specific address.
For a complete overview of the Kent grammar school system and how to navigate the 11+ process, see our grammar school preparation guide for 2026. For a detailed breakdown of GL Assessment verbal reasoning question types, see our GL Assessment 11+ guide. For advice on structuring preparation from Year 4, see our guide to passing the 11+.
Gravesend Grammar School offers 210 Year 7 places annually, making it one of the larger boys' grammar schools in Kent. Despite the larger intake, the school is typically oversubscribed with boys who achieve a selective result on the Kent Test, meaning that meeting the threshold of 332 does not guarantee a place. Priority is given first to boys living within the Borough of Gravesham, which includes Gravesend, Northfleet, and surrounding areas. Boys from the named civil parishes adjacent to Gravesham receive secondary priority. The relatively generous 210-place intake means competition per available place is somewhat less intense than at smaller Kent grammar schools, but families should still prepare thoroughly.
To be deemed selective via the Kent Test for Gravesend Grammar School, a boy must achieve a minimum total score of 332 across all test components, with no individual section score falling below 108. This is the qualifying standard, not a guarantee of a place. When oversubscribed, places are allocated using the three-tier geographic priority system — Borough of Gravesham first, then named adjacent parishes, then open distance. A high score does not bypass the geographic criteria; priority group is determined by residency, not by test performance above the threshold.
Gravesend Grammar School uses a three-tier priority system. Tier 1 covers the Borough of Gravesham (Gravesend, Northfleet, Meopham, Higham, Shorne, Cobham, and surrounding villages). Tier 2 covers ten named civil parishes: Ash-cum-Ridley, Bean, Fawkham, Hartley, Longfield, New Barn, Southfleet, Swanscombe, Greenhithe, and Stansted. Tier 3 covers additional parishes: Stone, Darenth, Horton Kirby, South Darenth, Cliffe, and Cliffe Woods. Boys outside all named areas fall into an open distance-based tier. In most years, the school fills within tiers 1 and 2.
For 2027 Year 7 entry: Kent Test registration opens 1 June 2026 and closes 1 July 2026. Boys at Kent-maintained primary schools are registered automatically. The Kent Test is taken on Thursday 10 September 2026 for Kent pupils, and 12–13 September for non-Kent pupils. Results are released mid-October 2026. The Secondary Common Application Form (SCAF) must be submitted by 31 October 2026. Place offers are made on 1 March 2027.
The Kent Test consists of two 60-minute multiple-choice papers and a 40-minute creative writing task. Paper 1 covers English comprehension and KS2 problem-solving maths. Paper 2 covers verbal reasoning (word codes, analogies, letter sequences) and non-verbal reasoning (shape series, matrices, spatial patterns). The writing task assesses creative composition holistically. To prepare effectively, start in Year 4 or Year 5, introduce each question type systematically, move to timed practice in mid-Year 5, and build to full mock tests in Year 6. Regular reading from Year 4 is the single most valuable preparation for the English comprehension and writing components.
Leading Tuition provides specialist 11+ preparation for Gravesend Grammar School and all Kent grammar schools, covering the full Kent Test (PESE) format. Our tutors are experienced with the GL Assessment materials — verbal reasoning, non-verbal reasoning, English comprehension, maths problem-solving, and the creative writing task — and structure preparation around each component proportionally. We work with boys from Year 4 upwards and tailor programmes to individual strengths and gaps. We are rated 4.8/5 on Trustpilot by parents whose children have secured grammar school places. Book a free consultation or message us on WhatsApp to discuss your son's Gravesend Grammar preparation.
Leading Tuition prepares boys for Gravesend Grammar School and all Kent grammar schools. We cover the full Kent Test format including reasoning, maths, and creative writing. Rated 4.8/5 on Trustpilot.
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