Best place to live in Kent for Grammar school

[vik2017]

Hi,
This is my first question on this board....
and I wanted to know which is the best place to live in Kent and falls into Grammar catchment area and also if my son dont get to the Grammar at least will go to a very good comprehensive school.
Any suggestion will be appreciated even suggest to move to another place considering we both work in London.

Many thanks in advance...
Viki

There's one of those in Canterbury too. St Christopher's. Although it pretends it isn't.

Or she could move to Winchester, pop her son into Twyford or Pilgrims and if he does not get into Winchester, Kings is on her doorstep

Ta1kinPeece do those schools have an 11 plus entry point?

Mumtrying
Twyford and Pilgrims are prep (4-13), Winchester is pretty well known.
Kings is a "good comp" - 11-16

"a grammar school with a top indie as back up."

The thing is, unless you are trying for the most selective of superselectives only, a top indie is not a 'safe' backup.

(Obviously that depends - a Kent grammar is probably easier to get into than a good indie because they take c 25% of children. A superselective - such as Tiffin - may well be harder to get into than a top indie)

If going down that rooute, you probably have a heirarchy that goes:

• Nationally top private (Eton, Winchester, St Paul's)
• Superselective grammar
• Selective but not top nationally private
• Normally selective grammar
• Indie with an entrance exam but which admits most
• A few fairly unselective grammars, the ones based in poorer and more isolated areas which thus take a significant proportion of middle ability children
• Non-selective private.

Ta1kinPeece I asked because, bearing in mind the Grammar/Top indie preference, if the OP is looking at 11 plus for grammar and 13 plus for top indie, they need to think about where their DC will go prior to the 13 plus if they fail the 11 plus.

But she wouldn’t need a back up , no offence if you can’t get into a Grammar after going through St Andrews , or a similar school , you will not pass the entrance tests for a top indie .

cantkeepawayforever to be honest, I cant quite get my head around the idea of Eton being a back up option to Grammar school. especially as OP hasn't expressed an interest in any particular grammar.

Floralnomad I know that and you know that. However, OP has stated that they would want a top indie if DC fails the 11 plus, suggesting they think otherwise.

A few fairly unselective grammars, the ones based in poorer and more isolated areas which thus take a significant proportion of middle ability children

Do “fairly unselective grammars” exist? In Kent, you can’t be offered a place at a grammar unless you either pass the Kent test or win an appeal.

"A few fairly unselective grammars, the ones based in poorer and more isolated areas which thus take a significant proportion of middle ability children"

Could you name one of these, please?

Do “fairly unselective grammars” exist? In Kent, you can’t be offered a place at a grammar unless you either pass the Kent test or win an appeal.
They must do.
Otherwise how could grammars get lower GCSEs than comps?
which some do

There are better Grammars and not so good Grammars , and I’m sure those of us that are Kent dwellers could do a list for our local areas , there are also grammar schools that hit problems ( Chatham boys for example a few years ago) , however the fact remains that you have to pass the Test be it Medway or Kent for the appropriate school .

l.
They must do.
Otherwise how could grammars get lower GCSEs than comps?
which some do"

Which ones?

Fort Pitt is barely a Grammar ! 75% GCSE English/Maths level 5 and perhaps more surprising 94% at level 4 . 6% what are they doing at grammar school.

Looking at the figures , i have to say i am surprised by the number of grammar schools that have only 75-80% students gaining level 5 !

I knew the level 5 was going to severely damage some Comprehensive schools figures. However, i expected the level 5 results to be almost identical to what % grammar schools achieved at the old C grade.

Imagining that grammar schools were achieving more than an old C grade at 95-100% generally !

What i mean, clumsily put, is that if you look at some grammars - say Pate's, which I mentioned earlier - it has 0 middle ability and 0 low ability pupils. I have no idea how many apply to Tiffins, for example, but I imagine that far fewer than 25% of those who apply get in.

On the other hand, 25% of children pass the Kent test and get into Kent grammars, so they are less selective, by definition. There have also been links earlier in this thread to grammars that have a significant number of middle ability pupils, which would imply that the applicants to that specific grammar, and therefore who get in, are not of the same ability range of those who apply to, and get into, some of the really well-known more selective grammars.

The Comp that my kids went to got better EBACC in 2016 than Dover Boys Grammar and Harvey Grammar

Folkestone Grammar School for Girls has it own test which is supposed to be easier.

Kings Winchester beat Oakwood Park Grammar and Chatham Grammar as well

I realise that I have made an assumption, which may be incorrect:

In Kent overall, is the pass mark identical for every school - ie that if you get a 'pass mark' you can apply to any grammar and get into any of the schools, and that if you do not get a pass mark, you cannot apply to any - and furthermore that a grammar school without enough 'passers' applying simply remains half-full?

Or is there a 'ranking', whereby some schools require a higher effective pass mark, and others require a lower?

Lots of schools do better at EBACC than one of the best grammars round here because many of their scientists choose to do RE as their humanity, which doesn't count.

As I said in a previous post Fort Pitt is not the Kent test it’s the Medway test which is notoriously easier to pass ( unless that’s changed in the last year or so) . Top passes in the Medway test go to the Rochester girls grammar or the Rochester Maths ( boys) , the lower passses , but still passes , tend to go to Fort Pitt , Chatham boys and Chatham girls .

Fort Pitt is barely a Grammar ! 75% GCSE English/Maths level 5 and perhaps more surprising 94% at level 4 . 6% what are they doing at grammar school

You obviously haven't noticed that the England average for GCSE English/Maths has dropped dramatically to 39.1% since the introduction of the new 9-1 grades.

Dover Boys Grammar did worse than 26 of the Hampshire comps at the EBACC
that's not a good advert for the 11+ test is it .....

Oakwood Park is the less academic boys grammar in Maidstone , Maidstone boys is the ‘more’ academic .