Kent Grammar Schools: Complete Guide for Parents 2026
32 schools, the Kent Test, a 2026 qualifying aggregate of 345 — everything you need for the 2026 Kent 11+ admissions cycle
Book a Free Consultation32 schools, the Kent Test, a 2026 qualifying aggregate of 345 — everything you need for the 2026 Kent 11+ admissions cycle
Book a Free ConsultationKent County Council's list of Kent grammar schools names 32 schools. All of them use the Kent Test to help decide which children are offered places; KCC's 2027 guide also marks eight of them as having their own tests (named in the FAQ below). For the 2026 test the qualifying aggregate was 345 of a possible 423, with no single score lower than 111. Scores are age-standardised.
Preparing your child for the Kent Test and Kent grammar schools?
Our tutors begin by identifying the specific test format your child will face, then build a preparation plan around that: for the Kent Test, the English, maths and reasoning papers, and the unmarked writing exercise that a headteacher panel may read. Book a free consultation or message us on WhatsApp.
A child who is assessed as suitable for a Kent grammar school can name any Kent grammar school on the application, though an assessment does not guarantee a place. This guide covers how the Kent grammar school system works, the geographic clusters of schools, key 2026 dates, and how to choose between schools.
Checked October 2026
Kent County Council's Kent Test and secondary school places pages give Thursday 15 October 2026 as results day and Monday 2 November 2026 as the application closing date. The 2026 tests were sat on 10 September and 12 and 13 September; the 2026 threshold is a total of 345 with no single score below 111.
Kent County Council sent Kent Test results for September 2027 entry on Thursday 15 October 2026. Each result gave three standardised scores and a total out of a possible 423, and KCC's 2026 grammar school threshold was a total of 345 or more with no single score lower than 111.
KCC says that a family who gave an email address when registering had the result emailed on Thursday 15 October 2026, and that it can only send results to the email address used to register the child. Where no email address was given, KCC says it posts the result first class on results day, and that a family who has not received it can ask the child's primary school for the test scores the day after results go out. For how other areas release their 11+ results, see our 11+ results day 2026 guide.
KCC describes the result as 3 standardised scores, one for English, one for maths and one for reasoning, and a total (aggregate) score. Standardisation compares a child's performance with the average performance of other children in each test, with a slight adjustment for age so that the youngest are not at a disadvantage. Scores range from 69 to 141, and the highest possible total is 423.
For 2026, KCC's results page says that to be given a grammar school assessment, “children needed a total score of 345 or more, with no single score lower than 111”. Those are two separate conditions. Three scores of exactly 111 add up to 333 (3 × 111), which is 12 short of 345, so a child on the minimum in all three papers would still miss the total. A child whose total is above 345 but who scores lower than 111 in any one paper does not meet the second condition. Kent Online reports that the 2025 pass score was 332 with a minimum of 108 in each paper, so the 2026 total is 13 higher (345 − 332) and the per-paper minimum 3 higher (111 − 108).
KCC's 2027 guide says the assessment decision is based on the test results. Before parents receive it, the child's primary school headteacher can refer an assessment decision they disagree with to the Headteacher Assessment Panel (HTA), a panel of local primary and secondary school headteachers. KCC says the panel considers additional evidence, which can include the child's test scores, recent work, the writing task and comments from the child's current school, and that it looks at a full range of work regardless of which scores are below the threshold. An assessment is changed only if the panel is confident that the child will be well placed in a grammar school.
Once a family has the decision, KCC says the best first step is to take questions to the child's primary school. If the child is not in a school, or the school cannot help, the Secondary Admissions Team can be reached at kent.admissions@kent.gov.uk. Neither the school nor the team can change the decision, but they can explain what it means and how it was reached. KCC also says a family cannot appeal against the assessment decision sent in October.
A child who was not tested, or was not assessed as suitable, can still be named for a Kent grammar school. KCC says that application will be refused when places are offered on 1 March 2027, and the family then has the right to appeal. The guide adds that an independent appeal panel can then be asked to consider whether there is an exceptional reason for admitting the child, and that appeals for admission to Kent schools should be lodged by Tuesday 13 April 2027.
Have a child who will sit the Kent Test in a later year?
Our expert tutors teach one to one online, and our 11+ specialists work with children from Year 4 onwards on the reasoning, maths and English skills the Kent Test rewards. See how Kent 11+ tuition works, then book a free consultation to discuss a plan for your child.
Book a Free Consultation Message us on WhatsAppKent County Council says its grammar schools provide for children in about the top 25% of the ability range. The county's grammar schools operate as a coherent system: the Kent Test and one application form listing preferences.
The Kent Test is sat in September of Year 6: the 2026 tests were sat on Thursday 10 September 2026 and the weekend of 12 and 13 September 2026, and results were emailed on Thursday 15 October 2026. Children who achieve the qualifying aggregate — 345 in the 2026 test, with no single score lower than 111 — are assessed as suitable for a Kent grammar school and can name Kent grammar schools among the up to four preferences on the Kent County Council application. Each school then applies its own oversubscription criteria to determine who receives a place. Passing the test does not guarantee a place at any specific school; it makes a child's application eligible for an offer. KCC says a child who was not assessed as suitable can still apply, but the application to that school will be refused when offers are made on 1 March 2027, and the family can then appeal.
This structure means that a child's application strategy matters as much as their test score. A child who scores well above the threshold and lists four schools all far from home may receive no grammar school offer, because each school ranks the applicants it receives using its own oversubscription criteria. Understanding the geography of each school's priority area — and being realistic about distance-ranked competition — is essential for effective preference listing.
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Number of grammar schools | 32 (schools on Kent County Council's list of Kent grammar schools) |
| Registration and results | Kent County Council (parents register with KCC; results are emailed on results day) |
| Test components | English, Maths, Reasoning (plus an unmarked writing exercise) |
| Qualifying aggregate | 345 of a possible 423 (2026 threshold; scores are age-standardised) |
| Per-component minimum | No single score below 111 (2026 threshold) |
| Registration closes | Closed Wednesday 1 July 2026 for September 2027 entry |
| Kent Test date | Sat on Thursday 10 September 2026 (pupils at a Kent primary school) and the weekend of 12 and 13 September 2026 (pupils who do not attend a Kent primary school) |
| Results | Thursday 15 October 2026 (emailed to the address given at registration; posted first class if no email address was given) |
| SCAF closing date | Monday 2 November 2026 |
| National Offer Day | Monday 1 March 2027 (Kent offers emailed to applicants who gave an email address) |
| Max preferences on form | 4 school preferences on the Kent application (grammar or other schools) |
Kent County Council's list names 32 grammar schools in towns across the county. Understanding which cluster is closest to home is the starting point for school selection.
Kent County Council's list names three grammar schools in Canterbury:
Kent County Council says grammar schools are often oversubscribed, so each school ranks its applicants using its own criteria. Read each Canterbury school's admissions criteria to see how it ranks applicants from outside the city.
Medway Council has its own Medway Test, and Kent County Council says the Kent Test is only valid for Kent grammar schools. Medway families should check Medway Council's own arrangements for the grammar schools in their area.
Among the grammar schools on Kent County Council's list, these are in Maidstone:
Kent County Council's list names these grammar schools in Tonbridge and Tunbridge Wells:
Shortlisting Kent grammar schools?
Our expert 11+ tutors prepare children for the Kent Test, building each programme around the English, maths and reasoning papers. Book a free consultation to discuss a plan for your child.
Book a Free Consultation Message us on WhatsAppEach Kent grammar school ranks applicants using its own oversubscription criteria, which are in its published admission arrangements on the school's website or on Kent County Council's admissions criteria page. While there is variation between schools, the most common criteria in KCC's guide are looked after and previously looked after children (who get the highest priority), siblings, health, social and special access reasons, and distance.
A critical feature of the Kent system is that each school ranks applicants using its own oversubscription criteria — not one set of rules from Kent County Council. This means the way distance is used can differ from school to school. Reading the oversubscription criteria for each school on the preference list is essential, not optional.
KCC measures distance as a straight line from the address point for the child's home to the address point for the school. Some academies and other schools may use a different method, which their oversubscription criteria explain.
Families can name up to four school preferences on the Kent application, and KCC says it is in their best interest to list four schools. If a child is not offered any preference, KCC allocates an alternative school with places available and tries to make it the nearest to home; that school will not be one of the preferences listed.
Kent County Council is explicit that the writing exercise will not be marked. It produces no score and forms no part of the aggregate: the three standardised scores are English, maths and reasoning, and it is those three that carry the 2026 threshold of 345 and the per-score minimum of 111.
That does not make it optional. KCC's own description is that the writing exercise “may be used by a local headteacher panel as part of the headteacher assessment stage of the process” — and KCC says the child's primary school headteacher can refer an assessment decision they disagree with to that panel before parents receive the decision. So the writing is not marked and adds nothing to the aggregate; KCC says the Headteacher Assessment Panel can consider it alongside test scores, recent work and comments from the child's current school. Forty minutes are allowed, including ten minutes of planning time.
The writing task is a piece of writing completed under test conditions. Strong writing shows structure and organisation, vocabulary range and precision, sentence variety and fluency, spelling accuracy, and punctuation. Practising writing to a prompt under timed conditions, regularly in the years before the test, is better preparation than writing freely in school without a time limit or a prompt.
Building the writing skill for the Kent Test involves: practising different types of writing (narrative, descriptive, persuasive), working on vocabulary variety (avoiding repetition, using precise nouns and strong verbs), developing structural habits (clear opening, developed middle, satisfying close), and drilling punctuation accuracy (full stops, commas, direct speech, paragraphing). These habits take time to internalise — they are built over months, not in the last few weeks before a test.
Step 1: Identify the schools within practical daily travel distance. For most families, this means schools within a daily journey by train or bus that the child can sustain through all their secondary school years. Create a shortlist from which you can choose up to four preferences.
Step 2: Check the oversubscription criteria for each school on your shortlist. Download the admissions policy for each school. How does the school rank applicants — by distance, siblings or another criterion — and where would your child fall?
Step 3: Visit open evenings. KCC's key dates list September to October for visiting school open events (if available), before applications close on Monday 2 November 2026. Attending three or four evenings and letting the child form their own view is far more informative than reading school profiles alone. Children who visit schools often have strong views about which environment suits them — those views are worth taking seriously.
Step 4: Build a balanced preference list. List four preferences in genuine preference order. Include at least one school where you have a realistic expectation of a place under its oversubscription criteria. Do not list only reach schools — a child who qualifies but is not offered any preference is allocated an alternative school with places, which KCC tries to make the nearest to home and which will not be one of the preferences listed.
For a full breakdown of the Kent Test format, see our Kent 11+ format guide 2026. We have dedicated individual guides for Simon Langton Grammar for Boys, Simon Langton Girls' Grammar School, and Sir Roger Manwood's School in Sandwich. Our complete grammar school preparation guide covers preparation timelines and how to build an effective programme from Year 4 to offer day.
For Medway families, see our dedicated Fort Pitt Grammar School 11+ guide 2026 .
Leading Tuition is rated 4.8 out of 5 on Trustpilot from 59 reviews, read on 3 October 2026, and 91% of our students achieve their desired grades.
These schools are also on Kent County Council's list of Kent grammar schools. Each is shown with its town and the gender given on that list.
Reviewed October 2026: dates, figures and rules checked against Kent County Council's Kent Test, Kent Test results, secondary school places and grammar school list pages and its Admission to secondary school in Kent 2027 guide.
Preparing for a Kent grammar school place?
Our expert 11+ tutors work with children on the English, maths and reasoning the Kent Test assesses. Book a free consultation to discuss a plan for your child.
Book a Free Consultation Message us on WhatsAppKent County Council's list of Kent grammar schools names 32 schools, in towns including Folkestone, Dover, Canterbury, Maidstone, Tonbridge and Dartford. All of them use the Kent Test to help decide which children are offered places, and a child who is assessed as suitable for a grammar school can name any of them on the secondary school application. For the 2026 test the qualifying aggregate was 345, with no single score lower than 111.
For the 2026 test the threshold was an aggregate of 345 across the three standardised scores — English, maths and reasoning — with no single score lower than 111. Both conditions must be met: a child who scores well in two papers but below the single-score minimum in a third has not qualified, regardless of the total. Three scores of exactly 111 add up to 333 (3 × 111), which is 12 short of 345. Scores are standardised, with a slight adjustment for each child's age so that the youngest are not at a disadvantage. KCC says some Kent grammar schools, particularly those most likely to offer places to children from outside Kent, give priority to those with the highest scores.
Yes. KCC says all grammar schools in its area use the Kent Test to help decide which children should be offered places. Its 2027 guide also says some individual schools have their own tests, and marks eight grammar schools "Own test": Borden Grammar School, Dover Grammar School for Boys, Dover Grammar School for Girls, Folkestone School for Girls, Harvey Grammar School, Highsted Grammar School, Mayfield Grammar School and Weald of Kent Grammar School. Contact those schools direct about their tests. Some schools may also ask for a Supplementary Information Form, returned directly to the school. Results were emailed on Thursday 15 October 2026 to the registration address; KCC says results are posted first class on results day to families with no email address.
For Year 7 entry in September 2027, pupils at a Kent primary school sat the Kent Test on Thursday 10 September 2026 and all other pupils on the weekend of 12 and 13 September 2026. There is no automatic registration for the Kent Test: a parent must register every child directly with Kent County Council. For September 2027 entry the window opened on 1 June 2026 and closed on 1 July 2026. Results were emailed on Thursday 15 October 2026 to the registration address. KCC says results are posted first class on results day to families with no email address, and online applicants could view them after 5pm. The Kent secondary school application must be submitted by Monday 2 November 2026. National Offer Day is Monday 1 March 2027.
Kent Test results for September 2027 entry were released on Thursday 15 October 2026. Kent County Council emailed the result to the address given at registration. Where no email address was given, KCC says it posts the result first class on results day, and that a family who has not received it can ask the child's primary school for the test scores the day after results go out. Kent secondary school applications close on Monday 2 November 2026.
A Kent Test result gives three standardised scores, one each for English, maths and reasoning, and a total out of a possible 423. For the 2026 test, children needed a total score of 345 or more, with no single score lower than 111, to be given a grammar school assessment. A child assessed as suitable can be considered by any Kent grammar school named on the application, but that does not guarantee an offer. A primary school headteacher can refer a decision they disagree with to the Headteacher Assessment Panel before parents receive it.
Several Kent grammar schools are co-educational, including Barton Court Grammar School in Canterbury, Sir Roger Manwood's School in Sandwich, Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School in Faversham and Dane Court Grammar School in Broadstairs. Many of Kent's most well-known grammar schools are single-sex: The Judd School (boys), Tonbridge Grammar School (girls), The Skinners' School (boys), Weald of Kent Grammar School (girls), Maidstone Grammar School (boys), Invicta Grammar School (girls). Families seeking a mixed grammar school should check the admissions policy for each school on their shortlist; Kent County Council's list shows whether each school is mixed, boys or girls.
Start with geography: which schools are within practical daily travel distance? Then read each school's oversubscription criteria — each school ranks applicants using its own criteria, which matters when places are oversubscribed. Consider school character: single-sex vs co-educational, size, ethos, and sixth form structure. Visit open evenings — children often form strong preferences after visiting. List four preferences strategically: include at least one school where you have a realistic expectation of a place, alongside any aspirational first preference.
Leading Tuition's specialist tutors teach online one-to-one, so each child works on the areas where they need most help: the English and maths paper, the reasoning paper with its verbal and non-verbal sections, and the unmarked writing exercise that a headteacher panel may read. Preparation includes realistic timed mock exams. Before applications close on Monday 2 November 2026, read each school's admissions criteria and list four preferences in order, as KCC advises. Book a free consultation to discuss a plan for your child.
Our 11+ specialists work with children from Year 4 onwards, building the reasoning, maths and English skills that selective school entrance tests such as the Kent Test reward. Book a free consultation to discuss Kent 11+ tuition and a plan for your child.
Book a Free Consultation Message on WhatsApp