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The Kent Test: dates, format and pass mark

The Kent Test is the 11+ for Kent’s grammar schools. It is run by Kent County Council (KCC) and sat at the start of Year 6. It decides whether a child is “grammar assessed”, which makes them eligible to be offered a Kent grammar school place. Kent grammar schools are designed for roughly the top 25% of the ability range, so many children find the test hard.

News for 2027: KCC has appointed a new test provider, Quest Assessments, for the Kent Test from 2027. KCC says the test’s purpose, format, timing and role in admissions will stay the same, and new familiarisation materials will follow. Until then, the previous years’ materials still apply.

Kent Test dates (2026 test, for September 2027 entry)

The 2026 test was for children born between 1 September 2015 and 31 August 2016. If registration has closed and your child still needs to sit the test for September 2027 entry, KCC asks you to email kent.admissions@kent.gov.uk with your child’s name, date of birth, address and current school.

Who can take it

• Children in Year 5 at registration who will move to secondary school the following September.
• Children living anywhere in England can register, but KCC asks families outside Kent to register only if they really plan to apply for a Kent grammar school.
• The result only counts for Kent grammar schools. Medway and Bexley run their own separate tests.
• If your child has special educational needs or a disability that affects testing, talk to their primary school’s SENCO before you register: the school applies for access arrangements, and the deadline is the registration closing date.

What is in the Kent Test?

Every question is multiple choice, answered on a separate answer sheet that is marked by computer. There are two tests and a writing task:

• Test 1: English and maths, 1 hour. Each section starts with a 5-minute practice exercise, then 25 minutes of test questions. The English section includes a comprehension, plus extra questions on literacy skills such as spelling, punctuation and grammar.
• Test 2: reasoning, about 1 hour including the practice questions. It has a verbal reasoning section and a non-verbal reasoning section of roughly the same length. The non-verbal reasoning is split into short sections, each one timed separately.
• Writing task: 40 minutes, including 10 minutes to plan. It is not marked for the score. It can be used by a local headteacher panel if your child’s case is reviewed.

How the scores and pass mark work

Your child gets three standardised scores, one each for English, maths and reasoning, plus a total (aggregate). Standardisation compares each child with the average performance of everyone who sat the test, with a small adjustment for age, so the youngest children in the year are not at a disadvantage. Each score runs from 69 to 141, so the highest possible total is 423.

The 2026 grammar school threshold was a total of 345 or more, with no single score below 111. The threshold is set each year, so it can move. Being grammar assessed makes your child eligible for a Kent grammar school but does not guarantee a place: each school then applies its own admissions rules, and some of the most popular schools give priority to the highest scores.

Results day and what comes next

• Results are emailed on results day to the address used at registration, or posted first class if no email was given.
• Apply for secondary school through your home council by 31 October, listing the grammar schools you want.
• If your child was not grammar assessed, a headteacher assessment may still find them suitable. If not, you can still name a grammar school on your application, but it will be refused on offer day and you can then appeal.

A simple preparation plan

1. Year 5, autumn and spring: read widely and talk about word meanings, keep times tables and arithmetic sharp, and try the official familiarisation paper so the format is not a surprise.
2. Year 5, summer: practise each area against the clock, especially non-verbal reasoning, where each short section has its own timer.
3. The final weeks: sit full timed mocks on a separate answer sheet, review every wrong answer, and do one or two timed writing tasks with 10 minutes of planning.
4. The day before: keep it light. Sleep and a good breakfast matter more than one more paper.

Practise for the Kent Test

Our GL Assessment-style mock papers cover all four Kent Test areas (English, maths, verbal and non-verbal reasoning) in multiple-choice format, timed and marked instantly with a worked solution for every question. Set A, Paper 1 is free. See also our GL Assessment 11+ guide and the 11+ exam dates for other areas.

Always check the official source. Written and checked by the Exam Mocks UK team against the official sources on 5 November 2026. Official information: Kent County Council.