GSGrammarSchool Hub
School profile Verified 2 June 2026

Kent Kent 11+

Mayfield Grammar School, Gravesend

Pelham Road, Gravesend, DA11 0JE

A selective girls grammar school in Gravesend, Kent, serving ages 11-18 with a sixth form and around 1,430 pupils on roll.

Girls Academy converter Ages 11-18 Sixth form GL Assessment
UK rank
UK Rank #140
Year 7 places
210
Competition i
Moderate
Ofsted
Outstanding
11+ route
GL Assessment
Compare Official website Map

On this page

At a glance

Key facts

GCSE rank
UK Rank #140
Admissions
Girls only
Assessment
GL Assessment
Places in Year 7
210
Competition i
Moderate
Catchment
Priority postcode groups affect allocation, but applicants outside those areas can still be considered. Within postcode groups, Free School Meals priority comes first, followed by Kent PESE aggregated score and then distance.
Ofsted
Outstanding

Overview

Mayfield Grammar School, Gravesend is a selective grammar school on Pelham Road with around 1,430 pupils across Years 7 to 13. Its headteacher's welcome presents a school with more than a century of reputation behind it, combining traditional values with a willingness to adapt. Mayfield has also held specialist status in science and languages, and the school still uses that history to explain a curriculum with strong academic breadth and outward-looking links.

The academic offer is framed around high achievement and curriculum depth rather than raw selectivity alone. The school says it aims to stimulate and challenge students' minds, while also developing lifelong skills for the future. Sixth form is a major part of the offer, with its own prospectus, options, enrichment programme, UCAS guidance, higher education and apprenticeship support, student destinations work and EPQ provision.

Mayfield's wider school life has a clear pastoral and enrichment thread. The school describes itself as a happy and caring community rooted in courtesy, integrity, hard work and concern for others. Enrichment pages cover the house system, clubs and fixtures, trips and visits, Duke of Edinburgh and the Mayfield Challenge; school-published material also points to STEM, a library and regular trips. The tone is academic, but not narrow.

Year 7 admission has a large published intake of 210. Girls can qualify through Kent PESE or through Mayfield's optional procedure, which includes computer-based verbal, numerical and non-verbal reasoning plus a marked English writing paper. Oversubscription then uses looked-after priority, sibling priority, postcode groups, Free School Meals priority, aggregated score and distance. Public benchmarks record Ofsted Outstanding in May 2024, +0.38 Progress 8, 95.5% grade 5+ in English and maths and 3.6% AAB or better at A level.

11 Plus Writing Coach preview showing creative writing feedback cards and score summaries
Preview from 11 Plus Writing Coach

Creative writing is tested in this school's current 11+ assessment.

Need help with 11+ creative writing?

A weak creative writing piece can leave a child short of qualification. 11 Plus Writing Coach helps families build steadier practice and clearer feedback.

From our 11 Plus Writing Coach site

Free 11+ Creative Writing Coach

Key points
Assessment route
GL Assessment across a 2-stage process, covering Verbal reasoning, Non-verbal reasoning, Maths, English and Writing task.
Places and demand
210 places in Year 7 and Moderate
Catchment
Priority postcode groups affect allocation, but applicants outside those areas can still be considered. Within postcode groups, Free School Meals priority comes first, followed by Kent PESE aggregated score and then distance.
Results
95.5% grade 5+ in English and maths and 64.3 Attainment 8
Sixth form
Sixth form available with 3.6% AAB or better and 68% in higher education.

GCSE benchmark

Latest 2024/25 KS4 measures compared with Kent and England.

School Local authority England
GCSE benchmark comparison Latest GCSE benchmark measures for Mayfield Grammar School, Gravesend, Kent, and England. 0 50 100 Att. 8 5+ E&M EBacc APS EBacc %
Attainment 8
64.3
Grade 5+ English and maths
95.5%
EBacc APS
5.91
EBacc entry
53.7%

Attainment 8 trend

Recent published Attainment 8 scores compared with Kent and England.

School Local authority England
Attainment 8 trend line Attainment 8 over time for Mayfield Grammar School, Gravesend, Kent, and England. 70 60 50 40 21/22 22/23 23/24 24/25

Destinations

Latest 2024/25 Year 11 destination mix compared with Kent and England.

Education Apprenticeships Employment Other / unknown
Destinations stacked bar comparison Year 11 destinations for Mayfield Grammar School, Gravesend, Kent, and England across education, apprenticeships, employment, and other or unknown destinations. 0 50 100 School Local auth. England

School details
School type
Academy converter
Admissions
Girls only
Age range
11-18
Headteacher
Headteacher Elaine Wilson
Pupil roll
1,430 pupils
Sixth form
Yes
Trust
Mayfield Grammar School, Gravesend
FSM i
13.3%
EAL i
24.9%
EHCP i
0.2%

Facilities

Library

Extracurriculars

Duke of Edinburgh STEM club

Ethnicity

January 2025 school census

Pupil ethnicity

Whole-school roll of 1,430 pupils; 1,378 had a recorded ethnic group.

White 40.8% Asian 23.4% Mixed 23.9% Black 4.8% Other 3.6% Unclassified 3.6%
Recorded group Share Category Pupils
White British White 503
Any other mixed background Mixed 285
Indian Asian 236
Any other White background White 79
African Black 57
Any other Asian background Asian 54
Unclassified Unclassified 52
Any other ethnic group Other 51
White and Black African Mixed 27
Bangladeshi Asian 24
White and Asian Mixed 20
Chinese Asian 13
White and Black Caribbean Mixed 10
Any other Black background Black 7
Pakistani Asian 7
Caribbean Black 4
Gypsy/Roma White 1

Location and contact

Address

Address
Pelham Road, Gravesend, Kent
Postcode
DA11 0JE
Area
Kent
Exam area
Kent 11+

School leadership

Headteacher
Headteacher Elaine Wilson

School contact

School email
enquiries@mgsg.kent.sch.uk
School phone
01474352896

Admissions contact

Admissions team
Admissions Officer
Admissions email
enquiries@mgsg.kent.sch.uk
Admissions phone
01474352896
Open in Map Open school website

Admissions
Year 7 places
210 places (2025 entry)
Applications listed
619 applications (2025 entry)
First preferences
244 first preferences (2025 entry)
Competition i
Moderate
Catchment picture
Priority postcode groups affect allocation, but applicants outside those areas can still be considered. Within postcode groups, Free School Meals priority comes first, followed by Kent PESE aggregated score and then distance.
Residence requirement
Yes, home address evidence is part of the published admissions checks
Pass mark note
The Mayfield procedure pass marks depend on the range of local girls' results and correspond approximately to suitability for grammar-school education. A minimum standard is expected on both the computer tests and English paper.

Admission is through Kent PESE or the optional Mayfield procedure. Oversubscription uses looked-after priority, sibling priority, postcode groups, Free School Meals priority, aggregated score and distance.

Priority postcode groups affect allocation, but applicants outside those areas can still be considered. Within postcode groups, Free School Meals priority comes first, followed by Kent PESE aggregated score and then distance.

Oversubscription and eligibility

  1. 1

    EHCP naming the school

    Admitted before oversubscription criteria are applied.

  2. 2

    Looked after and previously looked-after girls

    Highest priority among eligible girls.

  3. 3

    Sibling

    Eligible sisters/brothers attending the school at the time of entry.

  4. 4

    Priority postcode group 1

    Eligible girls in listed DA/ME/TN postcode areas, with Free School Meals priority first, then Kent PESE aggregated score and distance.

  5. 5

    Priority postcode group 2

    Eligible girls in the second listed postcode group, with Free School Meals priority first, then Kent PESE aggregated score and distance.

  6. 6

    Other eligible girls

    Other eligible girls are ranked by highest aggregated Kent PESE score and then proximity to school.

Admissions policy

Determined admissions policy 2027 entry

2027 entry

Exam and test format

The GL Assessment 11+ entrance test format

The Year 7 route uses Kent PESE, with an optional Mayfield procedure made up of computer-based verbal, numerical and non-verbal reasoning plus a marked English writing paper.

Assessment route
GL Assessment
Papers and stages
2 papers
Format
Mixed format
Weighting
Maths 25% / Reasoning 75%
Age standardisation
Published as age-standardised

Shared exam route

Practice for this school's entrance test

Mayfield Grammar School, Gravesend uses the shared Kent Test route. Use these common practice resources for the route, then check the full consortium guide for the complete set and current test guidance.

View all Kent Test practice papers
Practice paper English

GL Assessment English Paper 1

Practice paper Maths

GL Assessment Maths Practice Paper 1

Practice paper Non-Verbal Reasoning

GL Assessment Non-Verbal Reasoning and Maths Practice Paper 1

Practice paper Verbal Reasoning

GL Assessment Verbal Reasoning Paper 1

Papers and rounds

  1. Paper 1

    English, Maths, Verbal reasoning, Non-verbal reasoning

    Kent Test

    Kent PESE assessment route using the Kent grammar-school tests.

  2. Paper 2

    Verbal reasoning, Non-verbal reasoning, Maths, English, Writing task

    Mayfield procedure

    Optional computer-based verbal, numerical and non-verbal reasoning test plus a marked English writing paper.

What the test includes

English, Maths, Verbal reasoning and Non-verbal reasoning are included in the published format.

Science is not listed in the current published format.

Included

  • English

  • Maths

  • Verbal reasoning

    Kent PESE assessment route using the Kent grammar-school tests.

  • Non-verbal reasoning

    Kent PESE assessment route using the Kent grammar-school tests.

Not listed

  • Science

Application

Key dates

  1. Kent Test registration opens

    1 June 2026

    Past

  2. Kent Test registration closes

    1 July 2026

  3. Kent Test - Kent primary pupils

    10 September 2026

  4. Mayfield procedure test

    12 September 2026

    Optional Mayfield assessment route.

  5. Kent Test - other pupils

    Weekend of 12/13 September 2026

  6. Assessment decision sent

    15 October 2026

  7. Free School Meals SIF deadline

    2 November 2026

  8. Secondary application deadline

    2 November 2026

  9. National offer day

    1 March 2027, emails after 4pm

How to apply

  1. 1

    Read the admissions policy

    Check the Mayfield policy for postcode priority, Free School Meals and optional Mayfield procedure rules.

    Open policy
  2. 2

    Register for Kent Test

    Register between 1 June and 1 July 2026.

  3. 3

    Consider the Mayfield procedure

    The optional Mayfield test is on 12 September 2026 for eligible applicants who want the additional assessment route.

  4. 4

    Submit the CAF

    Submit the secondary application form by 2 November 2026; Free School Meals supplementary information is due the same day.

Official admissions documents

Admissions policy

Determined admissions policy 2027 entry

2027 entry

Results

Attainment snapshot

Progress 8 i
+0.38 Progress 8
Attainment 8 i
64.3 Attainment 8
GCSE results
97% grade 4+ in English and maths
Grade 5+ English and maths i
95.5% grade 5+ in English and maths
EBacc average point score i
5.91 EBacc APS
A-level results
3.6% AAB or better
A-level average points
31.09 points per entry

Where students go next

Higher education progression
68% in higher education
Apprenticeships
4% in apprenticeships
Employment
22% in sustained employment

Latest official destinations data currently covers 2022/23 study leavers.

Subject performance

Maths
87.6% grade 5+ in EBacc maths
English
94.5% grade 5+ in EBacc English
Sciences
87.1% grade 5+ in EBacc sciences
Languages
88.5% grade 5+ in EBacc languages

Performance trends

Recent trend

Overall GCSE performance

This follows the school's published overall GCSE score across the subjects pupils take. Higher is better.

Mayfield Grammar School, Gravesend Grammar schools England
Overall GCSE performance across 2021/22, 2022/23, 2023/24, 2024/25 for Mayfield Grammar School, Gravesend, grammar schools, and England. 80 70 60 50 40 2021/22 2022/23 2023/24 2024/25
Year This school Grammar schools England
2021/22 66.7 74.2 49.4
2022/23 64.4 71.8 47.0
2023/24 65.3 72.1 46.7
2024/25 64.3 72.3 46.8

Recent trend

Average A-level result

This follows the published average A-level result for the school's sixth form. Higher is better.

Mayfield Grammar School, Gravesend Grammar schools England
Average A-level result across 2021/22, 2022/23, 2023/24, 2024/25 for Mayfield Grammar School, Gravesend, grammar schools, and England. 50 pts 43.8 pts 37.5 pts 31.3 pts 25 pts 2021/22 2022/23 2023/24 2024/25
Year This school Grammar schools England
2021/22 B average (40.3 points) 44.0 points 37.5 points
2022/23 C average (31.3 points) 40.5 points 33.7 points
2023/24 C+ average (32.5 points) 41.3 points 34.5 points
2024/25 C average (31.1 points) 41.8 points 35.0 points

Recent trend

Where pupils go after Year 11

This follows the share of pupils moving into a sustained destination after Year 11, such as education, apprenticeships, or employment.

Mayfield Grammar School, Gravesend Grammar schools England
Where pupils go after Year 11 across 2021/22, 2022/23, 2023/24, 2024/25 for Mayfield Grammar School, Gravesend, grammar schools, and England. 100% 75% 50% 25% 0% 2021/22 2022/23 2023/24 2024/25
Year This school Grammar schools England
2021/22 99% 99.1% 94.1%
2022/23 98% 98.9% 93.9%
2023/24 100% 99.0% 93.3%
2024/25 98% 98.7% 91.8%

Latest year breakdown

In education 98%
In apprenticeships 0%
In employment 0%

Inspection
View report
Outstanding

Latest inspection: 1 May 2024

Quality of education
Outstanding
Behaviour and attitudes
Outstanding
Personal development
Outstanding
Leadership and management
Outstanding
Sixth form provision
Good

Quick summary

  • Overall effectiveness: Mayfield was judged Outstanding overall. Inspectors describe a highly ambitious culture where pupils are challenged academically and personally, behave maturely, take part in rich enrichment and benefit from leaders' investment in curriculum, buildings and staff development.
  • Quality of education: The curriculum goes beyond national expectations, including the Mayfield Baccalaureate with subjects such as classical civilisation, economics and psychology. Reading is strongly promoted, and modern languages are a notable strength, including Mandarin through the Mandarin Excellence Programme.
  • Behaviour and attitudes: Pupils are highly attentive in lessons and move around school sensibly. Attendance is high, absence is monitored closely and pupils show strong respect for others, with bullying not a major concern because pupils trust staff to act.
  • Personal development: Pupils develop interests through the Learning Excellence and Aspire Programme, the Mayfield Challenge and activities such as camp craft, first aid and charity work. The Speak Out group and cultural days support inclusion and understanding of different heritages.
  • Leadership and management: Leaders and trustees have managed growth and building work while maintaining a collaborative staff culture. Inspectors highlight professional development, staff well-being and school systems that help provide high-quality education for pupils with different needs.
  • Sixth form provision: The sixth form offers academic and vocational courses, Wednesday enrichment, British Sign Language, public speaking and university support through the Wills and Walder lectures. It is Good because achievement is not as consistently strong as key stage 4 and some checking of understanding varies.

Similar schools and comparisons

Nearby schools families also consider

Local rivals appear first, followed by nearby alternatives where the journey and admissions route are still comparable.

Nearby schools with similar results

Closest comparable alternatives with a similar academic profile, so parents can weigh local fit and results together.

Shortlist comparisons

Compare Mayfield Grammar School, Gravesend with Wilmington Grammar School for Girls Compare Mayfield Grammar School, Gravesend with Tonbridge Grammar School Compare Mayfield Grammar School, Gravesend with Tunbridge Wells Girls' Grammar School

Explore this school in context

Best Grammar Schools in Kent

Compare 32 Kent grammar schools for 2026: GCSE ranking table, Ofsted, Kent Test route, admissions rules, competition, and school profiles.

Best Girls' Grammar Schools in the UK

Explore the best girls grammar schools in the UK with a national ranking parents can filter by county and Ofsted before comparing schools by route and journey.

Best Grammar Schools in the UK

Explore the best grammar schools in the UK with a national ranking that can be filtered by county, school type, and Ofsted before moving into local admissions detail.

Best Grammar Schools by A-level Results

Explore the best grammar schools by A-level results in the UK, ranked by the published share of students achieving AAB or better at A level.

Related pages and guides

Guides and related reading

Related guides are still being added.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

What assessment types does Mayfield Grammar School, Gravesend use?

Mayfield Grammar School, Gravesend currently uses GL Assessment.

How do I apply to Mayfield Grammar School, Gravesend?

1. Read the admissions policy: Check the Mayfield policy for postcode priority, Free School Meals and optional Mayfield procedure rules. 2. Register for Kent Test: Register between 1 June and 1 July 2026. 3. Consider the Mayfield procedure: The optional Mayfield test is on 12 September 2026 for eligible applicants who want the additional assessment route. 4. Submit the CAF: Submit the secondary application form by 2 November 2026; Free School Meals supplementary information is due the same day.

When are the key dates for Mayfield Grammar School, Gravesend?

Kent Test registration opens: 1 June 2026. Kent Test registration closes: 1 July 2026. Kent Test - Kent primary pupils: 10 September 2026. Mayfield procedure test: 12 September 2026. Kent Test - other pupils: Weekend of 12/13 September 2026. Assessment decision sent: 15 October 2026. Free School Meals SIF deadline: 2 November 2026. Secondary application deadline: 2 November 2026. National offer day: 1 March 2027, emails after 4pm

What does the latest Ofsted picture look like for Mayfield Grammar School, Gravesend?

Mayfield Grammar School, Gravesend is currently rated Outstanding following the latest published inspection dated 1 May 2024.