Quick answer
The Medway result is a grammar suitability decision built from a weighted score. It is useful, but it must be read with school oversubscription rules and distance, especially for families outside Medway.
- Medway weights English and mathematics more heavily than reasoning in the total weighted score.
- For recent admissions, Medway publishes the minimum weighted scores used to assess children as grammar.
- Medway explicitly warns that suitability is not a guaranteed grammar school place.
How the Medway score works
Medway starts with raw scores, then standardises them for age. The published formula doubles the English standardised score, doubles the mathematics standardised score, and adds the reasoning standardised score once.
Medway then sets a minimum total weighted score each year. For recent admissions, the council lists 481 for 2026 admissions, 482 for 2025 admissions and 492 for 2024 admissions. Those figures are useful context, but parents should use the current result letter and current admissions documents for a live application.
What the result does and does not say
Assessed as grammar
- Meaning
- The child met Medway's selective assessment standard for that cycle.
- Limit
- Schools can still be oversubscribed and apply their own criteria.
Total weighted score
- Meaning
- The score combines English, mathematics and reasoning after standardisation.
- Limit
- Medway says it cannot provide raw scores, percentages or the standardisation calculation.
Outside Medway
- Meaning
- The same test result can be used for Medway grammar applications.
- Limit
- Medway warns that distance can make offers much less likely for families far from the area.
Example
A child is assessed as grammar in Medway and lives close to one of the grammar schools. That result is meaningful, but the family still needs to check the school policy and CAF order.
A child outside Medway is also assessed as grammar. That result does not travel like a general Kent or national grammar pass, and it does not remove the impact of distance. Medway’s own guidance for children outside Medway is unusually direct: families should think carefully about whether an application is realistic.
What parents should check
-
The suitability decision
The result should say whether the child is assessed as suitable for grammar school.
-
The named school criteria
Medway schools can use oversubscription rules when more eligible children apply than there are places.
-
Distance from home
This matters sharply in Medway, especially for families outside the area.
-
A mixed CAF if needed
Medway advises families to include a mixture of grammar and non-grammar schools in some circumstances.