Kent Test 2026

[11plus2026]

Let’s discuss the Kent Test 2026, anything from Headteacher’s/parents’ appeal to standardised and raw scores to info on various grammars and catchments, logistics etc.

Remember you can reply to the email you receive on results day to ask for your child’s raw scores.

*bear in mind there may still be others taking the same papers right up until the end of the academic year (eg those that move into Kent at a later date) so no discussions on the actual questions themselves would be appreciated.

Good luck to all!

I agree. It’s only the 4 super selectives that OOC families have any interest in. The other schools are not worth moving for as the results are very average for a grammar.

That is my point though, within Kent the state options aren't great so the grammar options feel like the only "good" option and so it is prized. The grammars here are known locally as private school education for free because they often get the same results as two of the private schools. That is, I suspect, why it feels unfair when kids who live in counties with better state education take the few places. As I said my DC will get well over the points needed but someone from London could take one of the very few spaces left open at 6th form. I get that it is circular because if Kent wasn't a grammar area they might have better state options but that doesn't even feature in local debates so is unlikely to happen.

As someone who lives in Kent, pays council tax to KCC and also has a child that has applied to one of the super selective grammar schools next September, I’m really confused about this obsession over OOC kids getting grammar school places in Kent. My daughter also took the Bexley and Newsted test so would’ve also been considered OOC in those boroughs, perhaps that’s why I don’t see the problem with students crossing boroughs for schooling.

OOC kids need to get higher grades than in county to even be considered for a super selective (and there’s not that many super selectives in Kent). Correct me if I’m wrong but don’t most Kent grammars offer places based on distance? In this respect how can an OOC be taking away school places from In county kids, when for the most part in county kids are prioritised.?

In addition to the higher score threshold that OOC kids face, they also have the added disadvantage of competing for fewer spaces and against a higher performing cohort. There’s been lots of speculation on here about OOC students having an advantage because they take the test a day later or that in county kids are telling their OOC friends the questions and the list of speculation goes on. The reality is OOC grades are often higher because these kids tend to be better prepared with exam technique and often have a wider breadth of knowledge/ skills understanding as they have often been tutored to sit a range of different 11+ tests.

If an OOC kid manages to overcome the hurdle of achieving a super high test score with limited spaces and secures a place at a super selective grammar school, how have they taken a place away from an in county kid. The OOC has earned that place by getting a higher score. This is by definition ( whether we agree with the principles or not) what a selective grammar school is - places are awarded on test scores not by who pays council tax in borough. My niece passed the Kent test a few years ago but didn’t get into the super selective and this wasn’t because an OOC took her place it was simply because she didn’t score high enough on the test and another child did.

The only argument I find relevant is if postcode fraud has been committed - that’s a definite no! However, I’ve seen some posters comment that people who are legitimately moving in county for school should also somehow be banned or have a 6 month residency threshold! The fact that some people think a child has more right to grammar schooling because they’ve lived in an area longer, is also bizarre to me. The only right a child has to a grammar school is if they’ve passed the test and scored high enough, if super selective is the goal. If standard selective grammar is the goal and an OOC child passes and then parents legitimately move in county then fair play - they’ll be paying council tax too!

What a sad person you sound

The following is anexcerpt from Peter Read's Kent Education Matters Newsletter. I understand he wlil happily send the full newsletter on request, awash with statistics at [email protected]. His ooc and Kent Private school newsletter is to follow.
Newsletter 169a: Kent State School Test Results 2026
The headline has to be that for 2027 entry, the pass rate found 26.8% of the Kent cohort of all Year Six state school pupils and those in Kent private schools who took the Test, to be of selective ability and therefore eligible for a grammar school place, according to KCC figures. This is a significant increase on last year’s pass rate of 25.5%. For boys, it is even higher at 27.4%, whilst for girls it is 26.1%. This will inevitably cause more pressure on grammar school places when these are allocated next year.

This may be why KCC has ignored its previous practice for many years of issuing an annual press release covering the release of the Kent grammar school assessments for entry in September 2027. In my initial Newsletter, 161 (enclosed) shortly after Results Day, I wrote about the information I then had, which was provided in different places: ‘This, using last year’s press release format, produces the following: This year a total of 16,462 children sat the Kent Test – 11,138 who live in the county and the remainder from other local authority areas or having been home educated. Of the Kent children who sat the Test, 5,204 were assessed as being suitable for grammar school’. This obscures the actual success rate for Year Six children in the county. To be given a grammar school assessment, children needed a total score of 354 or more in the Kent Test, with no single result from the three components lower than 111, or else be awarded one through a Headteacher Assessment (see below). The scores are set to provide an overall pass rate target for these children of 25%.

Following the section immediately below, this newsletter considers the outcomes for children in Kent state schools, with those for private school children and from outside the county to follow. It also looks at other aspects of the process, including: differences between Districts; success by birth month; Northwest Kent which deserves a section on its own; some primary schools with high pass rates; local tests that provided around a further 433 places (down from 450 in 2026) children selected, mainly in Dover and Folkestone which are areas with high levels of social deprivation, along with the Weald Grammar Assessment, new this year; and grammar schools with vacancies last year.

Overall pass rate for children living in Kent (state plus private schools)
This was as follows: Boys 27.4%; Girls 26.1%; overall 26.8%, against a target of 25%. Altogether, there are 167 more boys than girls in Kent primary schools in the peer group age. The target is also set to select 21% of candidates by the Kent Test; and a further 4% by Headteacher Assessment (HTA) whereby children are found of selective ability by Panels of Headteachers analysing their academic records and possible reasons for underperformance. However, the latter regularly finds a higher proportion of children appropriately placed in grammar schools. For 2026 entry there are 6.6% (6.1% boys and 7.0% girls) successful HTAs. As usual, girls perform best when their work and record are assessed by an HTA, making up the deficit on the test itself. Probably to counter this annual overshoot, the pass mark for the Kent Test is set to select fewer than the official target, in this case producing 20.2% of the peer group (21.4% boys and 19.1% girls). This means that a quarter of Kent children selected for grammar school are there following an assessment of their work and achievements with some regard to their test performance, a proportion I find very positive if one is to have a selective system of schools.

Kent State Schools Grammar Assessments 2025
This article explores outcomes for Kent state school children, to be followed by one on Kent private schools and children attending schools from outside the county. A straightforward pass is sufficient for entrance to the majority of Kent grammar schools, apart from seven that require higher marks for all or most of their entrants. The higher required marks for Dartford Boys and Girls, Judd and Tonbridge vary according to demand each year, whilst for Maidstone, Skinners and Simon Langton Boys, there is a higher set total score to be achieved by some or all boys before other places are awarded. Further places are awarded at the eight schools which run local tests (see below) and others will also be gained at individual schools through the appeal process (to follow).

Maybe I’ve hit a nerve, but there seems to be a lot of fuss on here about London families supposedly taking Kent grammar school places, when the reality is that this simply isn’t the case on any significant scale. Most OOC families have little interest in the majority of Kent grammar schools, as London has plenty of schools that are just as good. It’s the handful of super-selective schools that attract attention, but they represent a very small part of the overall picture.

Peter Read wrote:
In September this year 3,233 children (1,688 boys and 1,545 girls) from outside the county took the Kent Test and were found selective, out of a total of 5332. In 2025 there were 3041 of these, with around 640 or 20% of them following through to be allocated Kent grammar school places earlier this year. A large proportion of those taking the test have no intention of following through to a Kent grammar school and would have difficulty attending one for reason of accessibility, including 162 from Redbridge who were found selective last year (there may have been up to five).
686 children in Kent private schools took the Kent Test, of whom 481 passed, a much higher proportion than state schools, as many were enrolled precisely to be tutored for it.

KCC has of course to provide Test centres in the county for all of these children at its own expense.

Out of County children (OOC) and The Kent Test
The enclosed (its not!) table looks at the number of children from outside Kent who took the Test in 2026 and 2025, together with an approximation of the number of children offered places in 2025 (I don’t have precise figures as, where numbers are five or less for a particular Kent grammar school, the exact figure is not given by KCC).

The highest number of successes by school are at Crofton Junior and Warren Road Primary, both in Bromley, for at least the second successive year (up from 60 each in 2025 to Crofton, 77, and Warren Road, 66), Crofton 7-12 HTAs upheld, Warren Road fewer than five along with less than five HTAs upheld. Next come ten Bexley schools: Old Bexley CofE, 38 with 5-10 HTAs; St Thomas More Catholic, 35; Bursted Wood, 31; and Danson, 30, all of the last three having less than five HTAs.

Some primary schools, especially in Bexley and Bromley may well have a policy to encourage children to take the Kent Test in addition to ones in their own Authority as practice for a grammar test elsewhere, many with no intention of applying for places in Kent, but others often with the ambition of achieving high aggregate scores to make them eligible for one of the four super-selective Kent grammars: Dartford (50 places for highest scoring boys, regardless of address) , Dartford Girls (up to 80 places for those performing best in the Kent Test (highest aggregate score), after children on Pupil Premium are selected, Judd (23 places for highest aggregate score outside local area); and Tonbridge (30 places for highest aggregate score outside local area). Each of these will include Kent children from outside the relevant local area, reducing OOC numbers further.

The point being made is that for the 2026 Kent Test, 67.5% of OOC children passed, compared to 46.8% of children living inside Kent. You can see how much better the schooling is in London as an example than our local offerings unless parents pay for Private, which made up 10% of Kent that 46.8% of children who were accepted. So if you go to a Kent state primary you are in with a 36.8% chance, compared to a 67.5% chance if you go to a London/OOC Primary. That is the point being made. If you consider this is the only good option for Kent pupils in these towns compared to the many very good to excellent places in London, it is about why an amount of London children can use resources when the other local options are schools that do not even achieve national averages.

Last year 515 OOC took places at Kent Grammar schools and effectively pushed local kids into these schools. I suspect the amount is higher this year due to the increased amount taking the test since VAT introduction.

If it wasn't a postcode lottery people wouldn't be so upset. I do think this requires a bit more thinking about if the numbers keep increasing.

OOC completed the same test paper days after the Kent kids… something to consider if test papers being shared.

Also consider the prep schools who will do anything for bums in seats and I mean anything… some prep schools in Kent have been closed down due to the help being given for the Kent test.

Still not enough to compete with the better education the OOC clearly get before they arrive.

Nearly double the pass rate. Kent parents of state primaries should be up in arms at the disparities.

Look at the standard distribution for 2026 - there’s more going on here than you realise

You can't compare pass rates for Kent and OOC children and conclude that London schools are better. If you live in Kent and have a child doing reasonably well, you will most likely think it is worth sitting the Kent 11+. If you live OOC then (unless you live close to the border) you are only likely to apply for the Kent 11+ if:

• your child is super bright and has a good chance at a superselective place OR
• you are very motivated by a grammar school place and willing to tutor hard

Therefore the OOC kids who sit the 11+ are overall much more prepped/high achieving as a group, so have a higher pass rate.

The 'better education' the OOC kids are getting is huge amounts of tutoring and prep, because their parents have decided grammar schools are super important and know they have to work particularly hard for an OOC place. They are not being prepped by state primary schools.

That's a bold statement - which schools are those?

I am sorry, but to quote 'The point being made is that for the 2026 Kent Test, 67.5% of OOC children passed, compared to 46.8% of children living inside Kent', shows a complete misunderstanding of the situation, whether deliberatley or through innocence is difficult to say. As Peter Read points out above, 26.1% of c hildren in Kent's pimary schools were found selective. The 46.8% quoted is the proportion of those who sat the test, which is very different, and comparisons by this measure are meaningless. Consder for example, a Kent primary school where just one pupil in the class takes and passes the Test. By your measure that produces a 100% pass rate for the school. Brilliant! or not?. As we have no knowledge whatever of the number of children in the London classes from whom those taking the test are drawn, or on what basis they chose to take the Kent Test, such comparisons as quoted above become fatuous, as is the reasoning behind them.

I cannot understand what you have written here at all. "As Peter Read points out above, 26.1% of c hildren in Kent's pimary schools were found selective." What does this entire sentence mean?

I don't need to repeat my points as they are clear.

This low pass rate for Kent state primaries correlates with the low achievements many secondary schools around grammars get at GCSE level compared to other parts of the South East. You seem to repeatedly choose to ignore the fact that towns with Grammar schools have sink schools which often do not achieve 5 grade 5's which is where local kids are sent as a result. I am not sure why you can't agree that Kent's educational system isn't as robust as Surrey and London, which is clearly the case when you look at any figures. You have very stark differences between West Kent and East Kent as well.

Key Takeaways When Grammars Are Excluded

• Kent's Non-Selective Drop. Once the 32 Kent grammar schools are removed, only about 1 in 10 non-selective schools in Kent clear the 50% Grade 5+ benchmark. According to 2026 GCSE analysis by MySchoolHub, non-selective schools inside grammar-school councils average just 41.9% at Grade 5+ nationally, compared to 46.6% in non-grammar councils. Standout Kent comprehensives like Duke of York's Royal Military School (Dover) and Bennett Memorial Diocesan School (Tunbridge Wells) are rare exceptions. 1, 2, 3]
• Surrey Remains Unchanged. Because Surrey County Council operates a fully comprehensive system, all 57 state secondary schools remain in the pool. Around 70% of Surrey's comprehensives see at least half of their pupils achieve Grade 5+ in English and Maths, led by high-performing faith and academy schools such as St Andrew's Catholic School in Leatherhead (83.7% at Grade 5+) and Gordon's School in Woking. 1, 2, 3]
• London's Comprehensive Depth. Removing the 19 London grammar schools barely dents London's overall performance. Over 300 non-selective London schools still clear the 50% Grade 5+ threshold, with dozens of state comprehensives—including Orleans Park School, JFS, Ark Greenwich Free School, and The Kingston Academy—achieving 79% to 86% at Grade 5+. 1, 2]

If Google helps you understand the issue then hopefully this helps. Only 1 in 10 non-selective schools state schools get the national average in Kent. THIS is why it is upsetting for locals that their precious grammar spaces are freely given to kids who do not live here, when the areas they come from have better non-selective options than we can even dream of.

Its hardly a difficult sentence to understand. It is the fact. I previously wrote 'The point being made is that for the 2026 Kent Test, 67.5% of OOC children passed, compared to 46.8% of children living inside Kent', shows a complete misunderstanding of the situation, whether deliberately or through naivety is difficult to say. How can I make it clearer? I'll try. I agree that 67.5% of the OOC children THAT TOOK THE KENT TEST passed it. However, that is a small self selecting group, and all the other OOC children didn't even take the test, but ought to be counted in.Again, 26.1% of ALL Kent children, that is every child in the school Year Six, passed the test. Oh by the way, could the stark differences between East and West Kent outcomes possibly reflect the stark difference between their economic circumstances, as you would know if you lived in the county.
As I also wrote, slighly enhanced: Consider for example, a Kent primary school or a London Borough where just one pupil in the class or Borough takes and passes the Test. By your measure that produces a 100% pass rate for the school or London Borough. Brilliant! or not?. Please advise if you can't undrstand the arithmetic!

You seem to be labouring under the idea that every child in Kent takes the test. Please stop pretending you know about this if you do not actually understand it is actually self selecting few (usually around 50%), just as OOC children. I think you might be the one who doesn't live here if you think every child takes it.

I will not argue with you about the fact that London and Surrey state schools are markedly better than those in Kent. It is simply a fact.

Again NOT TRUE. I have never claimed this, but in order to measure the success rate, one needs to start with the cohort from which those who take the tes are drawn. You appear to wish to ignore this simple fact. This will be my last attempt to get you to understand, I now have better things to do.