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 do feel it’s a bit unfair that OOC children sit the exact same test 2-3 days after the Kent pupils, and this is something I would love KCC to reconsider.

But a) how many IC candidates are bosom buddies with OOC candidates, to be passing on info to them (and would you not at least warn your dc not to?) and b) even if a child were able to recite significant chunks of exam content, if they did this to their parents, why on earth would said parent then sabotage their own DC's chances by passing that info on to OOC parents or their tutors?

Wasn’t the Bexley test before the Kent test this year? How can children use the Kent test as practice for the Bexley test if the Bexley test comes first?

As far as my memory goes back over 4 DC, the Bexley test is always before the Kent test! I think Sutton is later.

Either all grammar schools become local only or this state of affairs continues. And if they all become local, then the top superselectives will drop out of the league tables on attainment - at the moment a fair few can compete with top private schools. The Government are also invested in stating that our “state” schools are as good as any private school. But really a lot of it boils down to ability of cohort, that is not to take away from teachers or schools as they also make a huge difference.

But as it stands, you cannot have Kent County Council suddenly charging £100 to sit the Kent test to cover “costs”. I mean what next? Is QE or St Olave’s as a state school going to be able to directly enrich themselves by charging for entrance tests? That is not how it works.

But realistically everyone warned that this would be the consequence of VAT on school fees - more money being thrown at tutoring and more ooc places being sought.

Yes grammar school heads warned about this specifically. However, people who contribute taxes and want their kids to do well aren’t exactly a problem for society. We need them to do that. We also need children without backing to be given a leg up. The two shouldn’t be mutually exclusive.

I agree but it's just the harsh reality of what's happened. My daughter scored 402 so she passed comfortably but there is a little girl at her prep school who was tutored to within an inch of her life and passed with a score of 347. That girl would have gone to private secondary previously. When you compare that to the poor lady and her child on here who just missed out without tutoring, you can see what is happening.

I don’t think it is just private school VAT though either. There are a huge number of immigrant families from India, China, Hong Kong etc etc who are happy to push their DC to work extremely hard and many of them are getting places in grammar schools. And we need them too, to grow up work hard, contribute to society. None of it is simple. I just wish the division between us and them etc would be less stark, whether it is local vs OOC or English vs immigrant or state vs private. None of the division ever helps. Every child deserves and should be getting a good education whoever they are, whoever their parents are etc

A talented child who missed out without tutoring would surely be greater depth and excelling at school. That is on the head teacher of the primary school to fight for that child and make sure they get what they deserve. Unfortunately different head teachers are more or less on the ball as well. That is not “fair” either!

My DC goes to a Kent grammar (year 8) and the ooc children mainly have left. Uprooting your entire life or making a child travel for over an hour doesn't seem to pan out so well.

I’d have to agree with you here @MarchingFrogs . My husband was convinced that the test would be different for in and out of county otherwise there could be exam bias. However my daughter, after walking out of the Kent test could barely remember anything apart from a couple of questions, and then she couldn’t remember the answers , which I think is down to the multiple choice answer sheet element. There’s no way 10/11 year olds under that much pressure could remember enough info to benefit their OOC mates.

It could also be argued that OOC are disadvantaged as they don’t get the privilege of a headteachers appeal prior to results being released, they also don’t get to sit the test surrounded by their friends and in the familiar setting of their school/ classroom with familiar teachers.

The fact of the matter is local children are prioritised and OOC are all fighting for a much smaller percentage of places. Even the super selectives reserve spaces for local children. OOC also have to get a much higher score - well done to them! And this is from someone who lives in county. The issue is with the state education system in this country!

Questions should be asked as to why state school children are not taught the content needed to pass the exam by the end of year 5. This would make it fairer and tutoring wouldn’t be needed.

Unfortunately, Just being greater depth isn’t enough without some form of tutoring- whether that be a paid for tutor, an online platform or parents that have time to do it themselves. A 10 year old can’t teach themselves the knowledge, skills and exam technique needed to pass and they most definitely can’t teach themselves NVR without extra help.

Well done to all children who passed locally and OOC. Good luck to those who just fell short and submitting appeals. We all just want the best for our children in a system that will always be deemed unfair.

Next year the Kent test will be Quest/Atom Learning instead of GL.
I wonder if that will help some pupil premium kids who can access the Atom Learning platform for free.
Slightly suspicious though here on whether Atom Learning Ltd the company is going to be coining it in on added subscriptions now to their platform. It seems very expensive to me!

I would argue that children with strong academic ability can pass the threshold without formal tutoring, whereas tutoring makes the biggest difference for those in the middle.

Compared to immigrant families, do ordinary British parents tend to prioritize personal consumption and leisure over private tutoring or parent home coaching? Is there an underlying anti-intellectualism in mainstream British culture that downplays academic effort, even while parents still expect access to great educational resources?

Sorry to jump in, but it’s not just the candidates who could potentially share exam details. I have two in grammar and have heard all sorts about some of the tutors out there.

Indeed, but the tutors have to get it from somewhere. Apocryphal or not, it used to be said (not specific to Kent) that some parents with no intention of applying for grammar schools in a given area would allow their DC to sot exams with the express intention of passing on as much information as possible about the content.

The other possibility, of course, is someone at the school passing on the information.

I doubt very much that a child sitting the test will remember anything of use. But there may be teachers, who are tutors on the side, who grab a copy of the test. Yes, I know this isn’t allowed. But I also know that there are Kent Test papers floating around the various tutoring agencies (I had copies a few years back - through a tutor).

If this happens (which it may well do), it can't be organised or widespread enough to cause any meaningful distortion of results, surely?

Everyone always talks about OOC candidates. There are a lot of us in Orpington who count as OOC but there are also a lot of children coming the other way for Olaves and Newstead amd the Bexley grammars as they are closer for some Kent children.
I know that some tutors in our area really push the kids from Y3 or 4 with large quantities of homework on top of at least an hour a week. We tutored but only Y5 and focused on maths, English and vocabulary as those are useful even if you don't pass 11+. I'm just impressed that anyone could get a child to work that hard.
Local parents who want private also do Kent and bexley in case they dont pass for a private school so you should see a drop out from those kids anyway.

Probably doesn’t distort the results. But it is not fair. I always said it would be much fairer if old papers were available on-line to everyone, rather than a couple of practice questions for the many, and illicit papers available to the few. I didn’t realise initially that old papers weren’t readily available. But it didn’t stop me using them when I became aware, making me (and my children) part of the problem. The only thing I can say in my defence is, I shared them with as many people as possible.

I do wish that they all sat the same test on the same day so there’s no nonsense going on, and also agree that all past papers should be available for everyone, not just a select few. GCSE and A level past papers are widely available, and they definitely wouldn’t allow students to take the same papers on different days.

I doubt they would ever do that. The 11+ is meant to be a selection test based on aptitude, where schools often downplay the importance of preparation and pretend it is no big deal. To be honest locational constraints mean the system can never be truly fair. By contrast, GCSEs and A-Levels are nationwide, serious, achievement-based exams that explicitly reward sustained effort and targeted revision. In reality, however, many families still prepare extensively for the 11+, an advantage schools are often reluctant to acknowledge.

I see your point, but it does have a distorting effect on the pass mark. My son's classmate scored 342 this year. He lives in Tunbridge Wells and last year would have been eligible for a place at Boy's Grammar as he lives less than a mile from the school. But due to the large number of kids with high marks, he hasn't been assessed suitable for grammar school. 41% of the children who passed are OOC, so unless significant numbers of families are planning to move, I wonder whether some of the grammars in certain areas with lower pass rates will be able to fill their places with kids who have 345+ scores? Kids might commute from Orpington etc to West Kent, but places further afield may struggle to attract sufficient numbers of applicants.

“Compared to immigrant families, do ordinary British parents tend to prioritize personal consumption and leisure over private tutoring or parent home coaching? Is there an underlying anti-intellectualism in mainstream British culture that downplays academic effort, even while parents still expect access to great educational resources?”

@Breeze67 - “culture” changes according to circumstance. When I was a child there was no tutoring for grammar or additional help for O Levels/GCSEs. You were expected to get on with it yourself and schools were expected to provide the foundations needed to do well enough according to your underlying ability. My parents read to us extensively etc and talked to us, but I cannot remember them sitting with me daily listening to me read age 4.
Meanwhile in some other countries, educational resources were far more limited, especially uni places so there was much more competition from an early age to achieve top results. Seems like we have now imported some of that here too. I would say 30 years ago kids were just expected to be kids for as long as possible but there was more of a focus on independence than now.

Culture around stuff like this changes all the time. Before the Soviets, much of Russia was illiterate. I mean a few generations here or there can change absolutely everything, especially in education. Whatever is the norm now won’t be the norm when I have grandchildren either.

@Osakagirl - no I thought they set the pass mark at 21% roughly of number of in county kids in year 6 in primary in Kent, allowing for 4% (or might have been 5%) for head teacher appeal. So OOC is separate.

Total target was always about 25% of ability range (in county).
Happy to be corrected if that is no longer the case!