QEGS Faversham 11+ Guide 2026: Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School

Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School (QEGS) Faversham offers 180 Year 7 places for September 2026 entry, selecting all pupils through the Kent Test administered each September. The school is co-educational, non-fee-paying and located in the heart of Faversham town centre, making it the principal grammar school option for families across the Swale district and surrounding ME13 area. This guide covers the official test format, confirmed 2026 key dates sourced directly from Kent County Council and the school, the admissions criteria set out in the published policy, and what specialist preparation looks like for children aiming for a selective place.

What Is Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School Faversham?

Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School traces its roots to 1527, making it one of the oldest continuously operating schools in Kent and among the oldest in England. Located at Abbey Place, Faversham, Kent ME13 7BQ, it is a co-educational, non-fee-paying selective school educating boys and girls from Year 7 through to the sixth form. The school's current sixth form capacity is 160 students, with up to 40 external places available to applicants meeting the entry requirements of at least 33 points from their best six GCSE grades.

QEGS sits within the Kent grammar school consortium and uses the standard Kent Test — administered by GL Assessment under the authority of Kent County Council — as its sole entry assessment at Year 7. There is no school-specific test or additional assessment at the point of Year 7 entry; performance in the Kent Test is what determines whether a child is considered selective and therefore eligible to be offered a place.

The school describes itself as combining the values of a traditional grammar school with a positive attitude towards change, placing particular emphasis on developing interpersonal skills alongside academic achievement. It has consistently attracted strong interest from families across Faversham, Sittingbourne, Whitstable, Canterbury and broader east Kent, and is oversubscribed in most years. Families considering QEGS as part of a Kent grammar school application strategy should read the official QEGS admissions page and understand the school's admissions criteria in detail before deciding where to rank it on their secondary school preference form.

For mid-year entry in Years 8 to 11, QEGS uses CATs tests rather than the Kent Test. Students must achieve an average CATs score of 114 across all three batteries, with no individual battery score falling below 108. The school is currently full and oversubscribed at every year group, so in-year applications are managed via a waiting list ranked by the oversubscription criteria.

What Is the Kent Test, and How Does QEGS Use It?

The Kent Test is a standardised selection assessment used by all Kent grammar schools, coordinated by Kent County Council and delivered using GL Assessment materials. It is taken in September of Year 6, and the results — released in mid-October — determine whether a child is assessed as suitable for grammar school education in Kent. For QEGS Faversham, a selective assessment result on the Kent Test is a prerequisite for entry; children who are not assessed as selective are not eligible for a Year 7 place.

The test consists of two formal papers and one writing exercise. The first paper covers English and mathematics and lasts one hour. Each section begins with a five-minute practice exercise, followed by a 25-minute timed test. The English section involves a reading comprehension passage and additional questions designed to assess a range of literacy skills. The mathematics section tests number, calculation, data handling and problem-solving at a level above the standard primary curriculum.

The second paper is a reasoning test lasting approximately one hour, including all practice sections. It contains both a verbal reasoning section and a non-verbal reasoning section of roughly equal length. The non-verbal reasoning component is administered in shorter timed sub-sections rather than as a single block. All formal questions across both papers are multiple choice, answered on a separate answer sheet marked by computer.

A 40-minute writing exercise is set separately, including 10 minutes of planning time. This element is not computer-scored as part of the standard assessment, but it may be used by a local headteacher panel when reviewing borderline cases. Preparation for the writing component is therefore still worthwhile, particularly for children whose scores fall close to the selective threshold.

Children registered for the Kent Test receive free familiarisation materials from Kent County Council. These include sample questions in each of the four assessed areas and guidance on the test structure. Familiarisation is not the same as preparation: the materials show children what the questions look like, but consistent performance requires systematic practice over months, not days.

For families comparing QEGS with other grammar schools, it is important to note that the Kent Test is distinct from the Medway Test used by grammar schools in Medway (such as Chatham Grammar) and from school-specific pre-tests used by some independent schools. The Kent Test format guide provides a full breakdown of the structure, question types and scoring for all Kent grammar school applicants.

Kent Test 2026: Key Dates for QEGS Faversham Applicants

The following dates apply to families seeking Year 7 entry to QEGS Faversham in September 2027. Registration for the 2026 sitting of the Kent Test opened on 1 June 2026 and closed on 1 July 2026. If you missed the registration window, Kent County Council advises emailing kent.admissions@kent.gov.uk with the child's name, date of birth, full address and current school; late registrations may be considered in limited cases.

Families should also note the secondary school application deadline set by Kent County Council, which typically falls in late October or early November. Applications are submitted via the Kent online Common Application Form, on which parents list their school preferences in order. Listing QEGS Faversham on this form is separate from Kent Test registration; both steps are required. Only children assessed as selective in the Kent Test are eligible for a QEGS place, but all children who sit the test receive a results letter on 15 October regardless of outcome.

How Many Places Does QEGS Faversham Offer? Admissions Criteria Explained

The Published Admission Number (PAN) for Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School Faversham is 180 Year 7 places. This figure is set out in the school's official Admissions Policy, adopted by the Full Governing Body. Children with an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) that names QEGS are admitted outside this number before oversubscription criteria are applied; each such admission reduces the number of places available under the open criteria.

Being assessed as selective in the Kent Test is a necessary condition for eligibility, not a guarantee of a place. When more selective applicants apply than the 180 places available — which is typical — the school allocates places using the following priority order, as set out in the published policy.

The first priority goes to looked-after children and previously looked-after children, including those adopted from care. The second priority is children currently in receipt of Free School Meals or Pupil Premium; parents must complete a Supplementary Information Form available from the school office so that eligibility can be verified. The third priority is siblings — defined as children living in the same household, including natural siblings, step-siblings, adopted siblings and foster siblings — where a brother or sister will be attending QEGS when the applicant starts.

The fourth priority covers children of staff who have been employed at QEGS on a permanent contract for two or more years, or who were recruited to fill a demonstrable skill shortage. The fifth priority is medical, health, social or special access reasons; written evidence from a qualified professional must be provided and must demonstrate a specific connection between the child's or parent's needs and QEGS in particular.

The sixth and most commonly applied criterion is straight-line distance from the child's permanent home address to the school site, measured using the National Land and Property Gazetteer. This means that — once earlier criteria have been exhausted — the children living nearest to Abbey Place, Faversham receive offers ahead of those living further away. In a tie-breaker situation at the same distance, random selection supervised by an independent party is used.

Who Gets Priority at QEGS Faversham: Catchment and Distance

QEGS Faversham does not operate a traditional catchment area. There are no postcodes or zones that automatically entitle a child to a place, unlike some non-selective schools. What matters at the point of oversubscription — and QEGS is oversubscribed in most years — is straight-line distance from the child's home to the school at Abbey Place, Faversham.

In practice, this means that children living within Faversham itself, particularly those closest to the town centre and the ME13 postcode, are in the strongest position on the distance criterion. Children from Sittingbourne, Whitstable, Canterbury and further afield may be assessed as selective in the Kent Test but still not receive a place at QEGS if there are more local selective applicants than the 180 available places.

Families living outside Faversham who are targeting QEGS should consider also listing other Kent grammar schools as preferences on the Common Application Form. The Kent grammar schools guide 2026 covers all selective schools in the county with their published admission numbers, so families can build a realistic preference list. Borden Grammar School in Sittingbourne is another Swale-area option for families living between the two towns; the Borden Grammar 11+ guide 2026 covers the Borden Assessment Procedure and its additional test route in detail.

The distance criterion applies after higher-priority criteria. This means that a child with a sibling already at QEGS, or a child who qualifies under the Free School Meals/Pupil Premium criterion, receives priority over a child who simply lives closest. Families who believe they qualify under criteria 1 to 5 should gather and submit the required evidence — including the Supplementary Information Form for FSM/Pupil Premium — at the point of application rather than after an initial refusal.

How Should My Child Prepare for the Kent Test?

Children who perform strongly in the Kent Test — and who go on to win places at schools like QEGS Faversham — typically begin structured preparation between 12 and 18 months before the September test. For the 2026 sitting (September 2026), that means children currently in Year 4 or early Year 5 are at the right stage to be starting or consolidating foundational work.

Effective preparation for the Kent Test addresses all four assessed areas systematically. Verbal reasoning requires familiarity with a wide range of question types — code words, letter series, analogies, hidden words, number series — and consistent exposure to these over time. Non-verbal reasoning requires the ability to identify spatial patterns, sequences and relationships in abstract diagrams; this is an area where many children have had little classroom exposure, making targeted practice particularly important. Mathematics at Kent Test level extends beyond the standard Year 6 curriculum, so children need fluency in areas such as ratio, percentage, algebra and problem-solving. English comprehension at the Kent Test level demands careful reading under timed conditions and precision in selecting answers from multiple-choice options.

The preparation process typically moves through three phases. The first phase, which should ideally run from Year 4 through to spring of Year 5, focuses on introducing all question types systematically and building core knowledge, particularly in mathematics. The second phase, from spring of Year 5 onwards, introduces timed practice under realistic conditions and begins to develop the exam stamina needed to sustain focus across two hours of formal papers. The third phase, in the final weeks before September, shifts to full-paper mock tests, performance analysis and targeted revision of weak areas identified in practice.

Children who begin preparation in the last few weeks before the test are cramming, not preparing. Cramming may improve scores slightly for children who were already close to the selective threshold, but it rarely moves a child from well below the threshold to above it. The Kent Test assesses reasoning and problem-solving under time pressure; these skills improve with structured, deliberate practice over months rather than intensive short-term drilling.

Three reliable indicators that preparation is on track: the child is consistently achieving high accuracy on timed verbal and non-verbal reasoning papers, they are completing mathematics questions at a pace well above the test timing, and they approach unfamiliar question types calmly rather than becoming stuck. Children who tick all three by mid-summer of Year 5 are in a strong position heading into the final phase before September.

QEGS Faversham in Context: Other Kent Grammar Schools

Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School Faversham is one of 35 grammar schools in Kent, all of which use the Kent Test as their entry assessment. The school's co-educational status makes it distinctive within the Swale area, where Borden Grammar School (boys only, Sittingbourne) and Highsted Grammar School (girls only, Sittingbourne) offer single-sex alternatives for families willing to travel.

QEGS competes for selective applicants with schools in neighbouring districts. Canterbury grammar schools — including Simon Langton Grammar School for Boys, Simon Langton Girls' Grammar School, Barton Court Grammar School and Chaucer Technology School — draw from east Kent families who may also consider QEGS. The West Kent grammar schools, including Tonbridge Grammar and Judd School, serve a different commuter demographic, but some families from the Sittingbourne corridor list these alongside QEGS.

The 180-place PAN at QEGS is among the larger grammar school PANs in Kent. Schools with a PAN of 120 to 150 tend to be more competitive on distance, while a PAN of 180 gives slightly more room on the distance criterion — though in a popular town like Faversham, all 180 places are routinely filled. The Kent Test score required to be assessed as selective is set by Kent County Council and applies consistently across all Kent grammar schools; there is no separate QEGS threshold.

Families who achieve a selective result in the Kent Test have until the secondary preference form deadline to list their preferred grammar schools in order. It is worth understanding each school's oversubscription criteria before setting preferences, as a child's distance from School A versus School B may make one a stronger offer probability than the other, even if both schools appeal equally on educational grounds.

Frequently Asked Questions