Moving to Kent based on Kent 11+ score

[mpt29]

Hi,

My son got only 355 on the 2023 Kent test and we are out of catchment for Kent County. We are planning to move before Kent's cut-off date, i.e., Dec 8th.

I am considering the following schools and unsure if he will get there given his score.

Oakwood Park Grammar School Oakwood Park, Maidstone, ME16 8AH
Tunbridge Wells Grammar School for Boys St Johns Road, Tunbridge Wells, TN4 9XB
Wilmington Grammar School for Boys Common Lane, Wilmington, DA2 7DA
Gravesend Grammar School Church Walk, Gravesend, DA12 2PR

If any of your sons is studying in any of these schools, can you please advise on the following?

1. If we move by the cut-off date, is there a possibility for my son to get a place in any of these schools?
2. Among them which one has got higher chance? Thinking of 'Tunbridge Wells' and 'Gravesend' (your opinion definitely matters)?
3. At the same time, looking for good rail connectivity to London.

Any help will be highly appreciated. Thanks.

Gravesend has good rail links to London (high speed route) but is trying to only take local boys these days so you will need to be in the catchment area

Surely your house budget and commute will be the driver. Have you seen the house prices in Tunbridge Wells?

Well you couldn't pay me to live in Gravesend so that would rule that one out if you need to be in local catchment. TWGSB also has a Sevenoaks annex ( same application) so I'd say that one might be more viable.

@Elliebellie87 Thanks for the reply. The reason is my son only passed the Kent and he cleared Tiffin stage 1 but doesn't want to take the risk in stage 2 given the difficulty level. I have no clue about either of these places and does it mean Gravesend is harder to secure a place than TW even if I move there?

@warnc007 Yes, we will definitely move to Kent and there is no option for us at the moment :(

@tennissquare I am thinking of renting as that is the feasible option for us now. when checked TW, we can get a flat for around 1400£ for a family of 3.

@lechatnoir Thanks for the insight. When checking in TW, it says 300 places so that is more plausible. Any idea about Oakwood and Wilmington?

My partners younger brother (recently gone to university) went to Oakwood as did lots of friends as I grew up in this area

Only ever heard good things about it. Also very close to town and train/bus links

Maidstone is quite a good place to live as well, or you can move to a surrounding village and still get transport in relatively easy

@mpt29 where are you based at the moment? Tiffin and the Kent catchment areas are really quite different. Could you not see what the local schools are like in the area you are in now? I know 11+ madness can take over and become all-consuming but you need to consider your son in all of this. If he doesn’t want to sit the 2nd stage of an exam after clearing the first hurdle, a grammar school may not be the best place for him? Unless you are relocating because of work (which is different) but your post does read as if you are relocating based on schools? Where are his current friends mainly going to next? Have you checked the league tables for outcomes of the grammar schools vs the schools nearest to you now?

I don't know the Kent system, but from what you're saying, your ds doesn't have a high enough score to be offered a place as an out of catchment pupil but might be offered a place if you move to within catchment. Is that correct?

In which case, what will happen if you move to Kent but he still isn't offered a place?

@EmmaGrundyForPM is quite correct. I think before relocating, you need to fully understand the catchment rules. In our local area the rules for one grammar included providing evidence that you had resided for more than 12mths at the address IC at the time of application. They also checked that electricity use etc was commensurate with the size of the family to avoid those families who rented a flat IC to provide the ‘right’ address. The issue with a densely populated grammar school area is that the most able students have been creamed off which does affect the mix of pupils at non grammar schools which does trickle down to the Exam result outcome. In an area like TW this may not be an issue given the ‘naice’ demographic but could be quite different elsewhere in Kent - which like any county has places which are more salubrious than others. Maybe start with your sons interests and then match the school to those?

I would also add that I have DC at both grammar and non-grammar and honestly, I wouldn't be uprooting my entire family & relocating in the hope of a grammar school place if there are perfectly viable alternative options where I lives. What happens if your DS gets a place and hates it/doesn't work out? Or doesn't get a place at all?

Unless you have a high/380+ score you are likely to need to live right in catchment (will be published for each school but 3 miles seems to be most common) and even that doesn't guarantee a place if oversubscribed. As pp said. the non grammar schools in some areas are good but not in others so I'd make sure whenever you go you have considered all the options.

I think the Grammar schools are often oversubscribed and so if his score is borderline then he might not get in despite passing the test.
I would look at where he would end up if he wasn't offered a place as well.
There are other good schools in Tunbridge Wells, Bennett is a good school but as a Christian school church attendance is one of their application qualifications and Beacon Acadamy is another good school on the Crowborough border.

Right?!

Not Kent but is it realistic to move by 8th December?

My DD works in lettings and there are a lot of applicants for each property so, whilst they are advertised, it's by no means a surety that you'll get one due to the competition. She's in the North though, so maybe Kent and renting is different?

I am in the exact same boat as you with scores nearly the same as your DS. As per the open events I attended - Gravesend is off our list now Wilmington still considering and Tunbridge wells too. My decision is based on the results and the open events we attended at these schools. But like others said, if there is a comprehensive school performing well (which in our case is and producing similar results as Wilmington) , would a move be worth? We are on rent currently and can move but we really like our current place and the whole shifting base is a lot to go through. At the time leaning more towards staying put, but yra I can totally understand this dilemma.

I really wouldn't move house just for a grammar school, unless there's another reason you want to move to Kent. I've taught in grammars and non grammars and honestly the results are entirely down to having bright kids ; the teaching is worse if anything as the teachers don't have to work so hard to get good results. Your son will do well wherever he goes if he's bright and motivated.

Surely you're just setting him up to fail if he's only just passed it. If he's going to struggle in a grammar school why would you put him in that position and put that amount of pressure on him. 🤷‍♀️

Just find a good high school where he could thrive and do just as well in GCSE's.

@ValancyRedfern Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts. It's good to get a perspective from a teacher🙏

What a huge amount of presure to put in a child. Uprooting your family and moving to a new area, purely for his education.

Presumably that means moving away from his friends, and then being uncertain of a place anyway. And then what if he's unhappy in the school that you've uprooted everyone for? Or if he doesn't do as well as you hope?

I'm guessing he's an only child. Don't do this to him, please. Its way too much to burden him with.

Not sure I’d want my kid to be the one who just scraped in, which is what this sounds like.

Pass mark was 332 so he did more than barely scrape through so unless he was intensely tutored will be fine at grammar I don't think the schools you mention are so special to warrant such extreme lengths to attend. There are some super selectives that offer an education more akin to the private system and those I can see why some people make sacrifices to secure their child a place but not IMO the others