205 places, Medway Test (not Kent Test), register via Medway Council — the complete parent guide
Book a Free ConsultationThe Rochester Grammar School is a selective state grammar school for girls located in Maidstone Road, Rochester, in the Medway unitary authority. It admits 205 girls into Year 7 each year and is one of four grammar schools in Medway. A critical fact for all families: Rochester Grammar School sits in Medway, a separate unitary authority from Kent County Council. This matters enormously for admissions because Rochester Grammar does not use the Kent Test — it uses the Medway Test, a separate assessment administered by Medway Council through GL Assessment. Families must register through the Medway Council website, not through Kent County Council's portal. This guide explains the Medway Test, 2026 key dates, admissions criteria, and how to prepare effectively.
The Rochester Grammar School has a long and distinguished history serving the Rochester and Medway area. The school is located on Maidstone Road in central Rochester, ME1, making it accessible by bus from across the Medway towns — Rochester, Chatham, Strood, Gillingham, and the surrounding residential areas. With 205 Year 7 places, it is the largest girls' grammar school in Medway and one of the more sought-after destinations for academically able girls in the area.
The school offers a full academic curriculum from Year 7 through to a mixed sixth form, where boys are also admitted. Its sixth form partnership with other Medway schools broadens the range of A-Level subjects available to students. Academic results are strong, with a high proportion of students progressing to Russell Group universities including the University of London colleges, Durham, Exeter, and others.
Medway's grammar school landscape covers four selective schools: The Rochester Grammar School (girls), Fort Pitt Grammar School (girls, Chatham), Chatham Grammar School (now co-educational following its recent transition, also in Chatham), and Medway Grammar School (boys, Rainham). All four schools use the Medway Test, administered through Medway Council. Families who want their daughter to attend a grammar school in the Medway area must register for the Medway Test through the Medway Council admissions portal — not through Kent County Council's system, which covers a entirely different set of schools.
The Medway Test is the shared selective entrance assessment used by all four grammar schools in the Medway unitary authority. It is supplied by GL Assessment — the same provider as the Kent Test — and covers broadly similar areas: verbal reasoning, non-verbal reasoning, English (reading comprehension and a writing task), and mathematics. The Medway Test is designed to identify children working within the top 25% of the national year group.
The format comprises two papers taken on separate days: typically one paper per day over two consecutive days for Medway primary school pupils (mid-September), or over a weekend at a designated test centre for children attending schools outside Medway. Each paper is multiple-choice for the reasoning sections, with the English paper including an extended writing task. Results are age-standardised to ensure fairness across the year group regardless of when children were born.
Unlike the Kent Test, which produces a numerical standardised score with a fixed threshold of 332, the Medway Test produces a result that identifies whether a child is within the selective range for grammar school entry. Children are told whether they are in the top selective band for their year group. The school then applies its oversubscription criteria to the pool of qualifying children when more applicants qualify than there are places available.
The Medway Test's English component is substantive. Reading comprehension questions test the ability to understand and interpret an unseen passage — inferring meaning, identifying the author's purpose, and selecting evidence. The writing task requires a structured, fluent piece produced in approximately 20 minutes. Children who read broadly and have practised timed writing are significantly better placed on this component than those who have focused only on reasoning and maths.
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Entry year | Year 7 (September 2027 for girls currently in Year 5) |
| Year 7 places | 205 |
| Test | Medway Test (GL Assessment) — NOT the Kent Test |
| Test format | 2 papers over 2 days: verbal/NVR reasoning + English (comprehension + writing) + maths |
| Registration | Medway Council website (not KCC) — typically May to mid-June 2026 |
| Test date 2026 (Medway schools) | Mid-September 2026 (school days) |
| Test date 2026 (non-Medway schools) | Weekend test centre, late September 2026 |
| Results | Mid-October 2026 |
| Application deadline | Medway secondary admissions — check Medway Council for exact date |
| Recent applications vs places | 838 applications for 205 places (approx 4:1) |
This distinction is the single most important fact for families in the Rochester area to understand. The Medway Test and the Kent Test are two entirely separate assessments, administered by two separate bodies, with separate registration systems and separate timelines. They are not interchangeable.
Registration: The Kent Test is registered through Kent County Council's secondary transfer portal (typically June-July). The Medway Test is registered through Medway Council's website. Registration windows differ slightly — Medway's typically opens in May and closes in mid-June.
Test dates: Medway primary school pupils sit the Medway Test in mid-September (typically the third week of September). Children at schools outside Medway sit the test on a weekend at a designated test centre, typically the weekend following the Medway school-day testing.
Results and threshold: Kent Test results come as a standardised score with a published threshold (332 in recent years). Medway Test results come as a pass/fail notification indicating whether the child is within the selective range.
Application: Offers for Rochester Grammar School are made through the Medway secondary admissions process, not the Kent common application. Families must apply through Medway Council's admissions system, listing their grammar school preferences.
A girl who passes the Kent Test is not automatically eligible for Rochester Grammar School. Conversely, a girl who qualifies through the Medway Test is not eligible for Tonbridge Grammar School or Invicta Grammar School, which are Kent grammar schools. If a family wants their daughter to be considered for both Kent and Medway grammar schools, she must register separately for both tests through the respective local authorities.
Entry to Rochester Grammar School is highly competitive. In the most recent published admissions cycle, the school received 838 applications for 205 Year 7 places — an oversubscription ratio of approximately 4:1. This makes Rochester Grammar among the more competitive selective schools in the Medway area.
The Medway Test is taken by all Year 6 children in Medway state primary schools automatically (parents must opt out rather than opt in), plus children from independent schools and schools outside Medway who register voluntarily. The large number of test-takers, combined with 205 places for one of four grammar schools, means that meeting the selective standard is necessary but not sufficient for a place. Distance from the school is the primary tiebreaker when more children qualify than there are places.
When more children achieve the selective standard than there are places available at Rochester Grammar School, places are allocated in the following order:
1. Looked-after and previously looked-after children — children in care or previously in care (including those placed through adoption, special guardianship, or child arrangements orders). These children receive the highest priority.
2. All other qualifying children by proximity — all children who have achieved the Medway selective standard, ranked by straight-line distance from their permanent home address to the school. The school does not operate a geographic zone, sibling priority, or Pupil Premium priority beyond looked-after status. Distance is the primary differentiator.
This simple two-tier structure means that proximity is essentially the deciding factor for most families. Girls who live in central Rochester, Strood, and nearby areas are the best placed. Girls from Chatham and Gillingham compete against a slightly larger pool. Girls travelling from further afield — from outside the Medway towns — face the most distance competition. Families should check the published admissions data from previous years, which shows the maximum distance from which a place was offered, to understand whether their home address is likely to result in an offer.
Preparation for the Medway Test follows the same broad principles as preparation for the Kent Test — both are GL Assessment tests covering four areas. Families whose daughters successfully enter Rochester Grammar School typically begin structured preparation in Year 4 or early Year 5, giving 12-18 months of systematic work before the September test.
Phase 1 (Year 4 to early Year 5): Introduce each question type — verbal reasoning, non-verbal reasoning, reading comprehension, and writing — systematically. Familiarising a child with each question format before any time pressure is applied allows her to understand the logic involved rather than guessing. Reading habits are built alongside: fiction, non-fiction, newspaper features, longer articles. The writing component begins with short, structured pieces developed under light time pressure.
Phase 2 (mid-Year 5 to June/July): Shift to timed practice across all areas. Girls work through practice papers under conditions that approximate the real test. A skilled tutor identifies which specific components are pulling the score down — often the writing task, or non-verbal reasoning spatial sequences — and addresses those directly. Maths is practised in timed sessions to build confidence with the problem-solving pace required.
Phase 3 (June to September of Year 6): Mock tests under full exam conditions. By this point, girls should be performing consistently. The focus is on mental stamina, pace management, and managing any exam anxiety. A girl who arrives at the Medway Test in September having done regular timed practice throughout Year 5 is in a strong position to perform at or near her ceiling.
One important note on registration: girls at Medway state primary schools are registered for the Medway Test automatically. Parents who do not want their daughter to sit must actively withdraw her. Girls at independent schools or outside Medway must register through the Medway Council website during the registration window (typically May to mid-June). Missing the registration window means the child cannot sit the test that year.
For context on Medway's grammar school landscape more broadly, including Fort Pitt and Chatham Grammar, see our Chatham Grammar School guide. For preparation strategies that apply across both Kent and Medway grammar schools, see our complete grammar school preparation guide 2026.
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Rochester Grammar School uses the Medway Test, not the Kent Test. This is a critical distinction: Rochester is in Medway, a separate unitary authority from Kent County Council, and the Medway Test is a completely different assessment administered by Medway Council through GL Assessment. Families must register through the Medway Council website, not through KCC's secondary transfer portal. A girl who passes the Kent Test is not automatically eligible for Rochester Grammar, and a girl who qualifies through the Medway Test is not eligible for Kent grammar schools such as Invicta or Tonbridge Grammar. If applying to both Kent and Medway schools, register separately for both tests.
Entry is very competitive. In the most recent admissions cycle, the school received 838 applications for 205 Year 7 places — an oversubscription ratio of approximately 4:1. Meeting the Medway selective standard is necessary but not sufficient. When more children qualify than there are places, places are allocated by proximity (straight-line distance from home to school). Girls who live in central Rochester and nearby Strood are best placed geographically. Girls from Chatham, Gillingham, and areas further afield face more distance competition. Families should review previous years' published admissions data to understand the maximum distance from which a place has been offered.
Registration for the Medway Test is done through the Medway Council website — not through Kent County Council's portal. Girls at Medway state primary schools are registered automatically; parents must actively withdraw if they do not want their daughter to sit. Girls at independent schools or schools outside Medway must register manually through the Medway Council admissions website during the registration window, which typically opens in May and closes in mid-June. Missing the registration window means the child cannot sit the test that year. The test itself is held in mid-September for Medway school pupils, or at a weekend test centre in late September for non-Medway pupils.
The Medway Test, supplied by GL Assessment, covers four areas: verbal reasoning, non-verbal reasoning, English (reading comprehension and a writing task), and mathematics. It is taken over two sessions on separate days — either on two school days in mid-September for Medway pupils, or over a weekend at a test centre for non-Medway pupils. The English component includes an extended writing task taken under timed conditions. Results are age-standardised and come as a pass/fail notification indicating whether the child is within the selective range. The test is designed to identify children working within the top 25% of their year group nationally.
Families whose daughters successfully enter Rochester Grammar School typically begin structured preparation in Year 4 or early Year 5 — about 12 to 18 months before the September Medway Test. Because the Medway Test covers four areas (verbal reasoning, NVR, English including writing, and maths), the preparation scope is broad and benefits from a phased approach: introducing question types in Year 4-5, building timed practice through mid-Year 5, and consolidating with mock exams in the final term before the test. The English writing component is often underweighted in preparation — girls who have practised timed writing regularly from Year 5 perform noticeably better on that section.
Leading Tuition provides specialist preparation for Rochester Grammar School and the Medway Test. Our tutors are experienced with the Medway Test format — including the English writing component that many preparation programmes overlook — and work with girls from Year 4 upwards across all four assessment areas. We diagnose individual gaps and build tailored preparation rather than following a generic course. We are rated 4.8/5 on Trustpilot by parents whose daughters have secured grammar school places. Book a free consultation to discuss your daughter's preparation, or message us on WhatsApp.
Leading Tuition prepares girls for Rochester Grammar School and the Medway Test. Our tutors cover all four assessment areas, including the English writing component. Rated 4.8/5 on Trustpilot.
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