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Updated October 2026 for 2027 entry

The Kent Test (the Kent 11+)

The Kent Test (the 11+) is how Kent County Council decides which children are assessed suitable for its 32 grammar schools. It is two multiple-choice papers sat on one day: English and maths first, then reasoning (verbal, non-verbal and spatial), plus a writing task that isn’t marked. Each part gets an age-standardised score from 69 to 141. For the September 2026 sitting, a child needed a total of 345 or more with no score below 111. For 2027 entry it was sat on Thursday 10 September 2026 in Kent primary schools, and on 12 and 13 September at test centres for children from elsewhere.

Which schools use it

Every grammar school in Kent County Council’s area uses the Kent Test, and one assessment counts for all of them. Being assessed suitable doesn’t guarantee a place: each school ranks its applicants by its own admission criteria, and some, particularly those most likely to take children from outside Kent, give priority to the highest scores. Medway and Bexley are separate, with tests of their own.

  • Barton Court Grammar SchoolBoys and girls, Canterbury
  • Borden Grammar SchoolBoys, Sittingbourne
  • Chatham & Clarendon Grammar SchoolBoys and girls, Ramsgate
  • Cranbrook SchoolBoys and girls, Cranbrook
  • Dane Court Grammar SchoolBoys and girls, Broadstairs
  • Dartford Grammar SchoolBoys, Dartford
  • Dartford Grammar School for GirlsGirls, Dartford
  • Dover Grammar School for BoysBoys, Dover
  • Dover Grammar School for GirlsGirls, Dover
  • Folkestone School for GirlsGirls, Folkestone
  • Gravesend Grammar SchoolBoys, Gravesend
  • Harvey Grammar SchoolBoys, Folkestone
  • Highsted Grammar SchoolGirls, Sittingbourne
  • Highworth Grammar SchoolGirls, Ashford
  • Invicta Grammar SchoolGirls, Maidstone
  • Judd SchoolBoys, Tonbridge
  • Maidstone Grammar SchoolBoys, Maidstone
  • Maidstone Grammar School for GirlsGirls, Maidstone
  • Mayfield Grammar SchoolGirls, Gravesend
  • Norton Knatchbull SchoolBoys, Ashford
  • Oakwood Park Grammar SchoolBoys, Maidstone
  • Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar SchoolBoys and girls, Faversham
  • Simon Langton Girls’ Grammar SchoolGirls, Canterbury
  • Simon Langton Grammar School for BoysBoys, Canterbury
  • Sir Roger Manwood’s SchoolBoys and girls, Sandwich
  • Skinners’ SchoolBoys, Tunbridge Wells
  • Tonbridge Grammar SchoolGirls, Tonbridge
  • Tunbridge Wells Girls’ Grammar SchoolGirls, Tunbridge Wells
  • Tunbridge Wells Grammar School for BoysBoys, Tunbridge Wells
  • Weald of Kent Grammar SchoolGirls, Tonbridge
  • Wilmington Grammar School for BoysBoys, Wilmington
  • Wilmington Grammar School for GirlsGirls, Wilmington

Practise with our mock, which serves every school above ›

The papers

English and maths
About an hour. English is a 5-minute practice, then a 25-minute test: a comprehension, and separate questions on spelling, grammar and punctuation. Maths is a 5-minute practice, then a 25-minute test on the Key Stage 2 curriculum.
Reasoning
About an hour, including practice. Verbal reasoning is a timed 10-minute practice, then a 20-minute test. Non-verbal and spatial reasoning come in short subtests of 4 to 5 minutes, each timed on its own and each starting with an untimed practice.
Writing
40 minutes, including 10 minutes to plan. It isn’t marked.
  • Every question is multiple choice, with five possible answers.
  • Answers go on a separate answer sheet that a computer marks: a pencil line through the box next to the chosen answer.
  • The order of the sections can vary from year to year.
  • Kent County Council publishes a familiarisation paper, with example and practice questions of each kind and a sample answer sheet.
  • The writing is kept in case the child’s primary headteacher refers them to the Headteacher Assessment Panel (see below).

Key dates for 2027 entry

Registration
Monday 1 June to Wednesday 1 July 2026 (now closed)
Access arrangements
Requested by the primary school’s SENCO by 1 July 2026
The test, Kent primaries
Thursday 10 September 2026, in the child’s own primary school
The test, from elsewhere
The weekend of 12 and 13 September 2026, at Kent test centres
Results
Thursday 15 October 2026, by email (or first-class post)
Apply for a place
By midnight on Monday 2 November 2026, through your home local authority
Offers
Monday 1 March 2027 (National Offer Day)
Accept or decline
By Monday 15 March 2027
Appeals
Lodged by Tuesday 13 April 2027 to be heard before September

These are the dates for 2027 entry. If you missed registration and want your child tested for 2027 entry, Kent County Council asks you to email kent.admissions@kent.gov.uk with their name, date of birth, address and current school. We’ll update this page when the dates for 2028 entry are published.

How the results work

  • Your child gets three standardised scores, for English, maths and reasoning, and a total. Each score runs from 69 to 141, so the highest possible total is 423. A slight adjustment is made for age, so the youngest children aren’t at a disadvantage.
  • For the September 2026 sitting, a grammar school assessment needed a total of 345 or more, with no single score lower than 111. A high total doesn’t make up for one low score. It rose from 332, with no score below 108, for the September 2025 sitting.
  • Before results go out, a child’s primary headteacher can refer a decision they disagree with to the Headteacher Assessment Panel, a panel of local primary and secondary headteachers. It looks at the test scores, recent work, the writing task and the school’s comments, and changes a decision only if it is confident the child will be well placed in a grammar school.
  • You can’t appeal the assessment decision itself. You can still name a grammar school on your application, and if your child isn’t offered a place you can appeal to an Independent Appeal Panel.

Our mock

English: 25 questions in 25 minutes. Mathematics: 25 questions in 25 minutes. Verbal Reasoning: 32 questions in 20 minutes. Spatial Reasoning: 18 questions in 10 minutes, in 2 timed sections. Non-Verbal Reasoning: 30 questions in 15 minutes, in 3 timed sections. Timed, multiple choice and styled on the published format, with every answer's timing recorded and the weakest topics ranked afterwards. It is an unofficial practice paper: we aren't affiliated with any of these schools, and a sitting needs a free parent account.

Common questions

Who can sit the Kent Test?
For 2027 entry, children born between 1 September 2015 and 31 August 2016 who live in England, along with the children of UK service personnel and Crown Servants moving back to the UK. Children from outside Kent can sit it, but the council asks families to register only if they mean to apply for a Kent grammar school.
Does the Kent Test count for Medway or Bexley grammar schools?
No. It is valid only for Kent grammar schools. Medway Council runs the Medway Test, and the London Borough of Bexley runs its own selection test.
What if we move to Kent after the test?
Your child still needs to be assessed for a Year 7 grammar school place. The grammar school you apply to arranges it.
Can a mock tell me whether my child will pass?
Not for certain. The real scores are standardised against everyone who sat that year’s papers, and the Headteacher Assessment Panel can change a decision. Our Kent mock gives an estimated range for each score, worked out from raw and standardised scores that families have published, and says how unsure that estimate is.

Where these facts come from

Checked against these pages in October 2026. If anything here disagrees with them, theirs is right: please tell us and we'll fix it.