If you want to apply for a Year 7 place at a Kent grammar school, you can register your child for the Kent Test. The test assesses whether grammar school is a suitable option for your child.

Your child will take the test in Year 6 of primary school.

The Kent Test dates for 2024 are:

• 12th September 2024 for children who go to school in Kent
• 14th September 2024 for children who go to school outside of Kent

Registrations for the Kent Test will open in June 2024, for four weeks, for children due to start secondary school in September 2025. If you still wish for your child to attend a Kent grammar school please email kent.admissions@kent.gov.uk who will let you know what options are available.

What do the tests look like?
The tests are multiple-choice with a separate answer sheet. They are marked by an automated marking machine.

The first test will be an English and Maths paper and will take 1 hour. Each section will involve a 5 minute practice exercise followed by a 25 minute test. The English section will involve a comprehension exercise as well as some additional questions drawn from a set designed to test literacy skills.

The second test will be a reasoning paper. It will take about 1 hour, including the practice sections and questions. It will contain a verbal reasoning section and a non-verbal reasoning section of roughly the same length. The non-verbal reasoning will be split into short sections, administered and timed individually.

There will also be a writing exercise which will not be marked but may be used by a local headteacher panel as part of the headteacher assessment stage of the process. 40 minutes will be allowed for the writing task, including 10 minutes planning time.

The Kent Test familiarisation booklet gives a description of the different parts of the test and advice on approaching the types of questions asked.

When do I receive my child's results?
If you provided an email address when you registered, your Kent Test result will be emailed to you after 4pm on Thursday 17 October 2024 (the delivery time will depend on your email service provider). They can only send this to the email address used to register your child.

If you did not provide an email address, they will post your child’s result to you on results day by first class post. You can ask the school for your child's test scores the day after the results come out.