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!

My son came home today and said his and 3 others from his class have been taken. Sounds like a headteachers appeal doesn't it 😬😭

Were they taken today? Surely they would have finished the appeals process by now, I would have thought?

Yes, my other son goes to Leigh academy so was aware of the new grammar stream. Would like to try and avoid another £615 bus pass for a 2 mile journey if possible! 😂. We like the look of st Greg’s and it is walkable. This time next week will be decision time! It’s a shame there isn’t an all boys equivalent to hillview as have nothing but good things to say about that school. I guess that’s what Leigh academy was when it was hayesbrook.

Glad to hear there’s sparky kids at TWGSB and skinners… that definitely wasn’t my experience of TWGGS, but as I said in an earlier post, I’m sure things have changed.

Did anyone go to Dartford Grammar Girls school opening evening tonight? If so, what did you think?

Whilst the school is clearly outstanding for academics, I’m not sure what to make of their pastoral care. They don’t have registration in the morning- not even for year 7s! Registration doesn’t take place until just before lunchtime. Having contact with a form tutor first thing in the morning is quite an important safeguarding measure as this is dedicated time to touch base with students in a pastoral capacity and gives time to potentially notice and flag any safeguarding concerns.

safeguarding aside, registration also acts as a buffer between travelling to school and preparing mentally for a day of learning. After speaking to about 5 different teachers ( none of whom could explain the rationale for not having a morning registration) I eventually got Somewhat of an explanation. Not halving a morning registration is apparently to maximise learning time as they believe getting students in class learning as soon as possible is key. This perspective just doesn’t sit right with me - safeguarding should always be the priority 🤔

keen to hear thoughts on this or more general opinions of DGGS. My daughter liked it , but she’s liked every school she’s visited for various superficial reasons 😅

According to his friend they were taken at the end of last week 😂 My son has only just noticed. They get two shots at it where we live as the grammar school has its own entrance exam. If he has failed the Kent he might still get in if he's passed the schools one 🤞🏼

My children’s school avoided this issue by retaining ALL of the Year 5 books, and returning them after HT appeals. It did mean some obsessed parents (I may have been one of them) checked through books looking for any sign that they’d had post-it notes or similar attached, to provide evidence for the appeals.

Ours also did this. However pretty much everyone bar a couple of kids did the test.

Yes I’m pretty sure our HT kept all the Year 5 books, but they also (apparently) took the Y6 ones too!? Would that be necessary? I have no idea.

What was worrying was that this happened to one of the most clever DCs in the year but I don’t know what to make of it

I would also expect a school to have morning registrations. Do they not even have assemblies?

I’ve just seen news on Kent Test changes for 2027, which won’t directly affect our DCs that sat it this year, but it does suggest that KCC haven’t been happy with renewing contract with GL.

I quote from a Facebook post which seems to have been written by one of the admins of 11+ Kent Test group. I hope this is ok to paste, but if it’s a problem please feel free to report this post.

“Last week, for the first time in well over a decade, GL Assessment lost the contract with KCC to write the 2027, 2028 and 2029 Kent Test exam.
The tender was awarded to Quest Assessment which is owned by Atom Learning, effective immediately, starting with the next test in September 2027.
GL have been losing contracts up and down the country recently, mostly to Quest. This is Quest's biggest contract by far as there are 30+ grammars in Kent.

The way it works is as follows: KCC decide the format of the test and Quest delivers their specifications. As far as I'm aware, nobody yet knows what Kent will decide: whether to keep it exactly the same format but simply written by Quest, or whether they'll change anything about the test (format, timings, content).”

Good luck to you all!

I wish they had data on how many take more than 1 test at a time and where, as I am sure the London kids who are missing top tier places there due to the private school kids increasingly taking it, are now taking Kent papers which is forcing the boundaries up further.

It would be nice to have the data to track anyway.

We live in Kent and our dd took 3, Kent, Medway and Bexley.

Slightly the reverse to your point but I did wonder how fair it would be if our dd took the test and got Top 180 in Bexley and then didn't take up the place, as we'd prefer the Kent schools closer to home. But speaking to friends who actually live in the area I was told not to feel guilty about it because a decent proportion of those Top 180 don't take up a place and the reality is that smaller number is balanced against the smaller number of students leaving the area to take up places at super selective. So basically people like us form part of the calculation made by people more informed than us.

AFAIK the planning is similar for Kent grammars, to keep the intake standard high, 'Out of area' pupils supplement the pupils that leave for private schools, or choose comprehensives (because they don't like single sex options).

I don't think the VAT change has caused a big private to grammar school exodus but I agree it would be interesting to know if there were some hot spots.

Of course a lot of kids won't take up a place. I suppose I am wary because there are 4k houses being built, deliberately within the catchment here and I have a feeling they are being marketed to London families. It will be interesting to see the new tests set next year too and how they differ as I suppose if they are very different to the London ones that could make it easier for local kids to get in.

In our area (in Kent) I think about half who were considering private (admittedly where they would be paying for boarding due to distance) have decided to throw everything at the KT instead. We also have a few who were boarding coming "home" for 6th form which adds a challenge to people trying to get in for the few spaces left open to the public at 16+.

Hello, can you put the link to this quote please? I was looking at it earlier now can't find it and it is driving me insane - its 2am and it is keeping me awake!

@RealOrca I’m not sure how to link as I’m using the Facebook app but it was posted in “11+ Kent Test” group.

Do the primary schools know if DC’s have passed the Kent test or do they only know of headteacher appeals before the rest of us find out. And with the headteacher appeals is that definitely for their pupils and not random allocation for the written element to be marked which I understand is only reviewed if borderline? Thanks so much for your input

They already know who has passed and who hasn't.

Feeling v nervous after reading this because DD found it v hard and it sounds like others found it easy!

I take it they are not allowed to put us out of our misery and tell us before Thursday?

Yes, they know who passed. The head teachers appeals are discretionary for their pupils only. If someone has missed the mark by a point or two (or narrowly not got enough marks in any one paper but did well in the others) their headteacher can appeal.

Sadly not.

It’s very hard to know. Most DC here found the English paper difficult, so I thought the pass mark for that paper might be lower. But I understand the pass mark for every paper is higher this year. Usually it’s 106-108 per paper, but understand it’s 111 for each paper this year.

Thank you that's interesting - yes it was the english she found hard. I guess we'll find out soon enough 😬

This is interesting. Who do you think they are aiming to attract? Maybe Tonbridge boys who don’t reach the Judd level and would otherwise go to TWells. Not sure why a Tonbridge girl would go there over Weald.

I’m not even sure if they’re allowed to just create a “grammar college”? But I’ve heard there are grammar streams in local comps too - for those that passed but didn’t get a grammar place or narrowly missed out and I guess it’s something similar.

Good idea to have a mixed grammar school though

I am too.

My DD found the English and reasoning quite easy, but maths hard (as she does generally) so it doesn't bode well if that paper was meant to be relatively easy.

I went to a grammar in the time when it was just attended by children from the local area so I am also not a fan of increased numbers of hothoused children coming from 40 miles away pushing up the boundaries!