Tunbridge Wells Grammar School for Boys

[cranberrie]

Hi, just wondering if anyone knows what the catchment area for this school is (obviously passing the 11 plus first).
Thanks.

[eatyourveg]

Up to beyond Ightham and as far as Borough Green but Wrotham boys go up to Dartford south it goes down into east sussex westwards across to Edenbridge but eastwards, Pembury and Paddock wood are out of area. Where are you? there is a map in teh booklet that the LEA send out with the all the names of the schools. It shows which areas are in teh west kent selection area and which aren't.

[cranberrie]

Thanks eatyourveg, but is that the theoretical rather than actual catchment? I had heard that you had to live under 2 miles from the school to stand a chance. Does anyone have any experience of this?
Thanks.

[ShellingPeas]

twbgs does take children from all over Kent - it's not necessary to live within 2 miles of the school although, obviously, the closer you live the more chance you have of getting a place. Children travel into TWBGS from Sevenoaks and further.

It does not take children from outside of West Kent except when undersubscribed, so living in East Sussex is unlikely to get you a place, even if you are in Groombridge or Frant. The primary intake is from areas in West Kent which operate the same education scheme (ie selective) so won't take children from Paddock Wood as this has its own comprehensive system and is deemed out of area. However because it is in Kent children from the Mascalls catchment will be considered ahead of those out of county.

There are full details on both the TWBGS website and the Kent County Council website including a map. here on page 5 - essentially the catchment area is all the white space but spaces are allocated on distance from the school if oversubscribed.

[cranberrie]

Thank you so much shelling peas, what a helpful response. I did make enquiries at KCC, and they said that the furthest pupil last year was 9 miles away from Sevenoaks, but essentially the closer the better.
The only thing I was confused about was your reference to primary schools. As prep school pupils can go there, am I write in thinking it's home address rather than where the previous primary is located which counts?
Thanks again.

[ShellingPeas]

Sorry - I meant primary is in 'main' or 'first' intake, rather than referring to primary schools. You are right in that it is home address not school address that matters for the applications.

Do bear in mind that if your child attends an Out of County or Out of Area school they will not be able to sit the 11+ exams in their own school over 2 days but will have to sit all the tests on the same day at a designated grammar in Kent.

We've just gone through the 11+ process this year which is why I'm such a know-it-all . Any questions, please feel free to ask away.

[mumzy]

Out of interest how long is each exam nowadays?

[ShellingPeas]

It varies depending on subject, but around 40 - 50 minutes per paper. These are verbal reasoning, non-verbal reasoning and maths and a 1 hr written piece (which is only marked and reviewed if taken to appeal).

If you're an out of county candidate it is around 5 hours on a Saturday from 8:00am. There are short breaks between each paper for refreshments and toilet visits etc.

[cranberrie]

Thanks again, shellingpeas.

Do you have to select a school at the same time as sitting the test? The reason I ask is that we are currently in an 11plus part of Kent, but not close to TW. We may have to move there for DH's job, but I was hoping DS could stay at present primary school, sit the test there, and then we move house and apply to TWGSB later on that year (if that makes any sense). Could you give me any info on the application timescale? Thanks.

[ShellingPeas]

The tests are sat in mid-September, sometime around the 15th/16th usually. You don't have to apply for the school at the same time, this is done later on.

To give you a brief timeline...

May/June 2010 submit your application to sit 11+
Mid September 2010 sit exams
Mid October 2010 get results
Early November 2010 apply for schools
1 March 2011 get told your allocated school

Kent is an opt in system so you need to apply to sit the 11+ in May/June of Year 5 for your child to sit in Year 6. You can apply online at the Kent.gov website which is easy, and also means you get your results by email rather than waiting for the post.

Results are sent out about a month after sitting the exams - this year it was 19th October by email, and 20th October by post.

You now get the results prior to having to make the school applications (CAF) - Kent CAF deadline is today (6 November).

So yes your DS could stay at his present school in Kent and sit the tests there. The only thing I would caution is that you only get a couple of weeks from getting the results to submitting the CAF so this might not give you time to move house prior to applying. I'm not sure what happens if you move house closer to the school between submitting the form and allocations which aren't told to the parents until 1 March. I would call the Admissions Office at KCC to check.

And finally... (sorry, this has turned into an essay) if your DS scores very highly there are always Judd and Skinners schools which take the top scorers (no catchment area). Last year the cut off mark for Judd was 412 out of 420 and for Skinners was 406 out of 420, so it is competitive, but it doesn't matter where you live.

[cranberrie]

Thanks so much again, that's incredibly helpful. No more questions for now you'll be relieved to hear x