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EXAM AREA / SEPTEMBER 2027 ENTRY

Kent 11+

The Kent Test, grammar school eligibility and your school choices.

GL AssessmentYear 6 test → Year 7 entry

Official sources checked 28 Sept 2026

HOW TO APPLY

Test registration & school applications

Test registration and your school application are two separate steps.

01 · TEST REGISTRATION

Register for the test

With Kent County Council

2027 entry registrationClosed 1 July 2026
Registration & access arrangements

Registration ran from 1 June to 1 July. Children at schools outside Kent also needed to register.

Discuss testing adjustments with the primary school before registration closes. The council’s published request deadline was 1 July. Contact Admissions for late or exceptional circumstances.

Official registration details
02 · SCHOOL APPLICATION

Choose your schools

On your home council’s CAF

School application deadline31 October 2026
How do I apply for a place?

Use the Common Application Form (CAF) for the council where you live, including when applying across council boundaries. List schools in your genuine preference order.

Check each school’s admissions policy and any supplementary form. Taking the test does not secure a place.

How to order your schools

TEST FORMAT

Two tests and a writing exercise

Multiple-choice tests · Separate answer sheets · An additional written task

TEST 11 hour

English & maths

English
Maths
What skills are tested?
English
Read closely, understand vocabulary and use the information in a passage.
Maths
Number fluency, calculations and applying maths to unfamiliar problems.
TEST 2About 1 hour

Reasoning

Verbal reasoning
Non-verbal reasoning
What skills are tested?
Verbal reasoning
Recognise relationships between words, letters and information.
Non-verbal reasoning
Identify patterns, shapes and spatial relationships.

The additional writing exercise lasts 40 minutes, including 10 minutes of planning. It does not contribute to the test score but may inform a headteacher assessment.

KENT TEST RESULTS

Check the current cohort’s standard

  • Three scoresResults include standardised English, maths and reasoning scores.
  • Current thresholdThe 2026 test threshold is released with the October results; an earlier year’s threshold is not a confirmed target.
  • School allocationsA grammar assessment is separate from admission to a particular school. Some schools apply further score or geographic priorities.
Understand your result

Official guidance: Kent paper structure.

SEPTEMBER 2027 ENTRY

Dates to keep track of

Tests take place in 2026, for children starting Year 7 in September 2027. Follow your invitation for your child’s session.

  1. Test registration

    Register with Kent separately from your secondary school application.

  2. Kent primary-school test

    For children attending a Kent primary school.

  3. Other-school test sessions

    Children who do not attend a Kent primary school receive an allocated weekend session.

  4. Kent Test results

    Read the assessment and score information before completing your preferences.

  5. Submit your school application

    Name your preferred schools on your home council’s CAF. Send any school supplementary forms separately by their published deadlines.

  6. National Offer Day

    Your home council confirms the school place offered. Read the acceptance and waiting-list instructions in the offer.

Official timetable: Kent registration and dates. Check the school’s instructions for late, exceptional or additional testing.

THE PRACTICE LIBRARY

Get to know the questions

Start with Kent’s own familiarisation paper, then explore the relevant GL subjects.

Start with the official guidanceLocal instructions, sample questions & answer sheets

Practise reading the answer sheet and listening to timed-section instructions. The local familiarisation paper explains the Kent structure; general GL packs are not past Kent Tests.

SCHOOLS & ADMISSIONS

Find your school

Compare Kent grammar schools, then open each school’s policy for its accepted test, entry age and oversubscription rules.

Year 7 intake

32 of 32 schools

Year 7 intake shown · sixth forms may differ

Compare up to 4 schools side by side.

BEFORE YOU APPLY

Three school-specific checks

  1. Check the actual entry route

    Kent Test eligibility does not cover every selective route or entry age. Check any school-specific assessment and distinguish Kent from Medway and Bexley.

  2. Read score and geographic priorities together

    Identify whether the school ranks by score, gives local-area priority, or uses both. Qualification alone does not settle the order.

  3. Check additional forms

    Look for supplementary forms, evidence for priority categories and address deadlines in the school’s current policy.

KEEP READING

Help with your next decision

Understanding your result

Read scores alongside eligibility, school priorities and the allocation of places.

Read the guide If your preferred school has no place

Understand the difference between a test result, a waiting list and an admission appeal.

Read the guide

GOOD TO KNOW

A few common questions

Is the Kent Test the same as the 11+?

It is Kent’s main 11+ assessment. The name does not mean its registration or score is interchangeable with another area’s test.

Does the writing exercise count towards the score?

No. Kent says the task is not marked as part of the test score, but a local headteacher panel may use it during assessment.

Can we apply to Kent grammar schools from another county?

Yes. Use your home council’s CAF and check each school’s address and priority rules.

Is last year’s pass mark guaranteed to apply?

No. Use the threshold published for the actual testing cohort, together with the school’s admissions policy.

OFFICIAL SOURCES

Checked 28 Sept 2026. Follow the current school policy and your child’s test invitation for individual arrangements.