Wilmington Grammar School for Girls 11 Plus Guide 2026

Wilmington Grammar School for Girls (WGSG) offers 180 selective Year 7 places in Dartford, Kent. To be considered, your daughter must sit the Kent Test — registration opens on 1 June 2026 and the exam takes place on 10 September 2026 for Kent primary school pupils. Unlike many grammar schools that use a single distance cut-off, WGSG applies a tiered oversubscription system with named priority parishes, Governor Maths Places, and Pupil Premium tiers — details that have a significant bearing on your daughter's chances and on how you should structure her preparation.

Wilmington Grammar School for Girls — School Overview

Wilmington Grammar School for Girls is an all-girls selective secondary academy located on Parsons Lane in Wilmington, a residential area within the London Borough of Dartford in north-west Kent. The school is part of Endeavour Multi-Academy Trust and works closely with its brother school, Wilmington Grammar School for Boys (WGSB), which sits on the same Wilmington campus. Together they feed into WG6, a co-educational sixth form that opens 300 places for Year 12 entry.

WGSG was last inspected by Ofsted in November 2022. The school has a strong academic tradition — girls consistently perform above the national average for students with similar prior attainment at GCSE. The school offers a broad curriculum from Year 7 through to Year 11, with WG6 providing A-level and other post-16 pathways across the combined Wilmington site.

The school's location places it within reach of families across a wide swath of north Kent and south London. Named priority parishes include Dartford, Wilmington, Swanley, Swanscombe and Greenhithe, Longfield and New Barn, Meopham, Eynsford, Farningham, Otford, Hartley, Wrotham, Stone, and around 20 further wards and parishes — a much broader footprint than the 1.5-mile proximity radius that appears at the top of the oversubscription list. This matters enormously for families choosing whether to apply, and why the tiered system is covered in detail below. For a broader view of selective options in the county, see our Kent grammar schools guide 2026.

WGSG's partnership with Atom Learning means that girls eligible for Pupil Premium can access free online 11+ preparation through Atom Home — an initiative that reflects the school's commitment to widening access to grammar school education across the Dartford area.

Understanding the 11+ Selection Process

Entry to Wilmington Grammar School for Girls is through the Kent Assessment Procedure, known as the Kent Test or PESE (Procedure for Entry to Secondary Education). All girls who wish to apply must be registered with Kent County Council (KCC) and sit this centralised test — the school itself does not set separate entrance exams. Full admissions details are published on the WGSG Key Information page, which also carries the oversubscription criteria document and Supplementary Form download.

Once results are released on 15 October 2026, families whose daughters are assessed as suitable for grammar school education must then name WGSG on their Secondary Common Application Form (SCAF) submitted to their home local authority by 31 October 2026. Passing the Kent Test does not guarantee a place; it makes your daughter eligible to be considered. Whether she actually receives an offer depends on where she sits in the school's oversubscription criteria.

The oversubscription criteria for September 2026 entry, in priority order, are:

The Governor Maths Places are a distinctive feature of WGSG's admissions that many guides overlook. Up to 18 girls who score highest in the Maths section of the Kent Test and live within five miles of the school receive places ahead of the standard distance-based tiers. If your daughter is particularly strong in mathematics, this criterion is worth knowing — it can help a pupil who might otherwise fall outside the Tier 5 priority parishes secure a place through academic excellence alone.

The priority parishes in Tier 5 span roughly 30 named areas including Dartford, Wilmington, Swanley, Swanscombe and Greenhithe, Eynsford, Farningham, Longfield and New Barn, Meopham, Otford, Hartley, Hextable, Stone, Sutton at Hone and Hawley, and Wrotham, among others. If you live in one of these areas, your daughter sits in Tier 5 and is likely to have a realistic chance of a place if she passes the Kent Test, especially if the family qualifies for Pupil Premium priority within that tier.

If you live outside the named parishes and do not qualify for the Pupil Premium three-mile tier, your daughter falls into Tier 7 — the open-distance tier — and distance becomes the deciding factor. Historically, the last-place distance in this tier can be quite short when demand is high, so families in this position should also apply to Dartford Grammar School for Girls or other nearby Kent grammar schools as alternatives.

Exam Content: Verbal Reasoning, Non-Verbal Reasoning, Maths and English

The Kent Test comprises three sittings, each on the same morning in September. Understanding the format is the first step to effective preparation.

Paper 1 — English and Mathematics (60 minutes, multiple choice): This paper tests reading comprehension, vocabulary, grammar and punctuation alongside arithmetic and problem-solving in mathematics. The multiple-choice format means speed and accuracy both matter — children must work efficiently under timed conditions. The maths section is particularly significant given the Governor Maths Places that reward exceptional performance.

Paper 2 — Reasoning (60 minutes, multiple choice): This paper covers verbal reasoning (word relationships, analogies, code sequences) and non-verbal reasoning (pattern completion, spatial rotation, series). Many children who are strong in literacy and numeracy still need targeted practice with the reasoning question types, which have their own conventions and timing demands.

Writing task (40 minutes): The writing task is used solely to differentiate borderline candidates — those whose scores on Papers 1 and 2 place them close to the threshold. For most applicants, this task does not affect the outcome, but for borderline pupils it can be the deciding factor. Our specialist tutors always include creative and descriptive writing practice to ensure borderline candidates are not caught unprepared.

Results from the Kent Test are standardised (converted to a Standard Age Score, or SAS) to account for age differences between children born at different points in the school year. The passing standard is set by KCC each year rather than being a fixed raw mark, so your daughter's relative performance within her cohort matters as much as the absolute number of questions she answers correctly. See our guide to 11+ standardised scores explained for a detailed breakdown of how SAS works.

How Many Children Apply for Wilmington Grammar School for Girls?

With 180 Year 7 places available, WGSG is one of the larger Kent grammar schools — but competition remains significant. Kent has a grammar school system in which roughly a third of children sit the Kent Test each year, and all who pass it become eligible for selective schools. The number of children assessed as suitable for grammar school consistently exceeds the number of places available at popular schools like WGSG, meaning that passing the test is necessary but not sufficient for securing a place.

Demand is particularly concentrated among families in the priority parishes. Once the Governor Maths Places (up to 18), looked-after children, siblings and staff children are allocated, the bulk of remaining places go to girls in Tier 5 parishes — and within that tier, Pupil Premium pupils are ranked first. Families outside the priority area who fall into the open-distance Tier 7 should not assume that passing the Kent Test will be enough; historically, the last-mile distance in competitive years has been quite tight.

A Supplementary Form must be submitted directly to WGSG by 31 October if you have a sibling currently attending WGSG or WGSB, or if your daughter is eligible for Pupil Premium and you live within three miles. Failing to submit this form when required can result in a lower priority tier being applied, even if the underlying qualifying criterion is met — so check this early and submit on time.

Waiting lists are maintained up to July 2027, re-ranked each time a new name is added. Families who receive an offer from a lower-preference school but had WGSG as a first choice should confirm their position on the waiting list after National Offer Day on 1 March 2027.

A Month-by-Month Preparation Plan

The Kent Test takes place in early September of Year 6. That gives families who start preparing in Year 4 or early Year 5 a substantial lead, and even families beginning in Year 5 or early Year 6 can make excellent progress with a focused, well-structured plan. The following timeline is geared towards families beginning preparation in September of Year 5.

September–December (Year 5): Build foundations in the four subject areas — arithmetic fluency, reading comprehension, vocabulary acquisition, and an introduction to verbal and non-verbal reasoning question types. At this stage the goal is familiarity rather than speed: children should understand what each question type is asking before they practise against the clock. Reading widely — particularly non-fiction, newspapers and books above the child's comfortable level — accelerates vocabulary and comprehension in parallel.

January–March (Year 5): Introduce timed practice for individual question types. Focus on identifying where your daughter is weakest and dedicate extra sessions to those areas. Verbal reasoning sub-types (codes, sequences, antonyms, compound words) each have their own conventions; working through them systematically now means they feel automatic by exam day. Non-verbal reasoning work — rotating shapes, identifying patterns, completing matrices — should also be happening in short, regular sessions rather than long infrequent ones.

April–July (Year 5): Begin full practice papers under timed, exam-like conditions. Review errors carefully — understanding why an answer was wrong is more valuable than noting how many were incorrect. Start tracking standardised scores if using commercial practice papers that include age-adjusted scoring. Identify whether the Maths section is strong enough to be competitive for Governor Maths Places, as this changes the preparation priority.

Register for the Kent Test — 1 June to 1 July 2026: Registration with KCC must be completed during this window. Late registrations are not accepted. If your address changes after registration, notify KCC promptly.

Summer Term / July–August (Year 6): Consolidate and refine rather than introduce new content. Mix full mock papers with targeted revision of weaker areas. Build exam-day routines — fixed start time, quiet space, answer-checking strategies — so the 10 September test feels familiar rather than novel. The writing task deserves specific practice during this period: children who have never written under timed conditions often struggle with pacing regardless of their underlying ability.

September (Year 6): In the final two weeks before the test, reduce the volume of practice and prioritise rest, consistency and confidence. A well-prepared child who is rested and calm will perform better than an exhausted child who crammed through the final weekend. On test day, ensure your daughter has a good breakfast, arrives early, and has everything she needs — pencils, eraser, ruler and her registration details. For a broader view of preparation pacing across all Kent schools, see our 11+ preparation timeline guide.

Expert 11+ Tutoring from Leading Tuition

Our specialist tutors work with families preparing for Wilmington Grammar School for Girls every year. We cover all four areas of the Kent Test — verbal reasoning, non-verbal reasoning, maths and English — in a structured, personalised programme that adapts to your daughter's current level and targets the areas where improvement will have the greatest impact on her final score.

We work with families across the WGSG priority parishes: Dartford, Wilmington, Swanley, Longfield and New Barn, Meopham, Eynsford, Swanscombe and across north Kent. Sessions are available online, giving families flexibility while maintaining the focused, expert-led instruction that drives results. We are rated 4.8/5 on Trustpilot by families who have secured grammar school places with our support.

Frequently Asked Questions