Grammar School Applications
This page is currently being rewritten.- I am regularly asked the latest position with regard to Kent grammar school entry for 2009. I have set out the currrent situation at scheme. I HAVE RECENTLY MADE MAJOR REVISIONS TO THIS PAGE, PROVIDING ADDITIONAL INFORMATION(11 May).
- There are three immediate questions to ask when considering grammar school application. Why do I wish my child to go to grammar school? Is there a reasonable chance of being accepted? Will a failed grammar school application see my child go to a school I dislike? The only disadvantage in applying for a grammar school in Kent or Medway, is that you reduce the number of other schools on your list.
- The first of these three questions is personal and depends on circumstances in your area. A recent report by the respected National Foundation for Educational Research concludes that the main academic impact of grammar schools appears to be on those pupils who narrowly pass the test. Borderline pupils who achieve a grammar school place obtain much better results at key stage 3 than those in the same ability group who narrowly fail.
- There are 33 grammar schools in Kent, six in Medway and a further four in Bexley. The six NW Kent grammar schools now operate the normal Kent tests. None of these three LAs recognises test results of the others, so children applying for schools in two LAs will take both sets of tests. If you can reach schools in more than one local authority, look across the border between Kent and Medway or Bexley. Many West Kent parents use a comprehensive school in East Sussex as back up.
Verbal Reasoning, non verbal reasoning (day 1), mathematics, writing task (day 2).
When
results are sent out on 20th
October, they will simply confirm whether the child has passed the Kent
tests or not. Further details will be supplied to the primary school
headteacher who will be able to give parents the exact scores. Parents
will be able to ask their primary school for this information. Those
who consider appealing are in for a long wait, as you cannot appeal
until you are allocated a school on 2nd March. The first appeals are
generally heard by the beginning of May. Feel sorry for those
given an assessment on 20th October 2008, whose appeal is not heard
until the beginning of July 2009!
- Kent
grammar schools require success in three tests: verbal reasoning, non
verbal reasoning and mathematics. All are multiple choice and are set by the NFER. In addition
there is an English assessment used in borderline cases. Kent seeks to
select 25% of its children for grammar school and the pass marks are
set annually to achieve an initial pass rate of 21% (it used to be 22%). After test results
are disclosed to primary headteachers, they are entitled to make a
‘headteachers appeal’ on behalf of strong candidates who have narrowly
missed the pass mark. In such cases, a panel of headteachers, with representatives from local primary and secondary schools, consider all the relevant information before making a decision. This can include your child’s test scores, recent school work, the writing task and comments from your child’s current headteacher. The panel will expect to see a full range of work for a child, regardless of which scores may be below the threshold. The process is
confidential at this point, and parents are not consulted. The target
is to select a further 3%. In 2007, out of around 1200 Headteacher Appeals, some 600 were successful. I understand that the succss rate in 2008 was similar.
- Medway grammar
schools use a different process to select 25% of their children. There
are again three tests: verbal reasoning, mathematics and English. These
are standardised across the Medway cohort of grammar school applicants, with a score above 100 being in the top 25% of all Medway children.
Each subject is then weighted, verbal reasoning – one; mathematics –
two and English – two. The scores are added together to produce a total
and the pass mark is defined as the score allowing the top 23% of children in Medway to pass. One result of this mechanism is that the "total pass mark" varies year by year, although variations are not indicative of any change of difficulty. The pass mark total this year was 525, although last year it was 519, the previous year 507. The reason the figure this year is higher is because the change of process encouraged many more children to take the tests, although the pass standard remains constant.
- Further details of the new Medway admissions scheme are here. Parents of unsuccessful candidates in Medway are entitled to ask for a review, and a further 2% are selected on the basis of headteacher and parental cases, school work and test results.
- If you wish to appeal against a Medway Review decision you must include at least one grammar school on your Common Application Form. You can then appeal against the decision of that grammar school to turn you down. There is no way to appeal against a Review decision in itself.
- In
the selective areas of Kent, 51% of boys and 55% of girls took the Kent
11+ tests in 2007, some 6300 children. There were 1300 Headteacher assessments of which 632 were successful, adding a further 3.4% to those selected, producing a total of 26% of boys and 25% of girls out of the
whole cohort being found selective. This
excludes children living in 'comprehensive' areas or outside Kent who
took the tests. The proportion of children in the west of the county taking
the tests is lower than in the east, whilst the proportion passing is
higher.
- In Kent and Medway, a number of grammar schools take only the top scoring candidates who have applied for them. These are: Judd School, Skinners School, Tonbridge Grammar School for Girls, and Rochester Grammar School for Girls. Rainham Mark Grammar School & Chatham Grammar School for Girls also operate the process but, in recent years, have not had sufficient successful candidates to operate it. If applying for one of the Kent schools in this list, you need to be confident that your child is likely to pass with a high score, otherwise you waste an application. Alternatively, select another grammar school as second choice. The pressure at Rochester Girls in Medway is not so great, as the pass level is lower, a number of childen are accepted on appeal, and Medway parents have six choices, so can also name other grammar schools.
- The Judd School website has some useful information on Kent tests: the number of questions, maximum scores, the relationship between test scores and the number of questions answered. You will find this at Judd.
- The new Code of Practice for Admissions prohibits the use of sibling priority for admission to grammar schools that select the highest scoring pupils.
- In West Kent, where competition for grammar school places is fierce, parents should give consideration for naming a non selective school on their application form, even where their child has been found selective. For if all grammar school places in the area are offered to other children, then KCC may offer a non selective school with vacancies.
- In 2007, several East Kent foundation grammar schools saw large numbers of pupils gaining entrance on appeal, as they filled up vacancies. Do not assume this will happen each year.
- Parents have the right to make a grammar school application once in any school year. This replaces any historical idea such as 'thirteen plus entry'. Schools are required to assess the child each time.
- After March 27th, parents can apply to any grammar school in Kent. If the child has taken the Kent test and passed, they will be offered a place if there are vacancies, otherwise they will be put on the waiting list operated according to the school oversubscription criteria.If the child has taken the Kent test but not passed, the application will be turned down. Parents then have the right to appeal. If the child has not taken the test, they will be asked to do so.
- There is still an urban myth that there are several stages of appeal. This was once the case, but there is only one statutory stage ( Medway Review & Kent Headteacher Assessment are not counted as appeal stages).
- Rochester Grammar School, Rochester Maths and Rainham Mark Grammar School are each oversubscribed this year in Medway.
- The pass mark for the Judd School in 2007 was an aggregate of 413, for Skinners was 404, for Tonbridge Girls Grammar (inners) is 410, (outers) is 403.
- All applicants for Rainham Mark who passed the Medway test in 2007 were offered places.
- Maidstone Grammar School has at last published its proposed admission criteria for entry in September 2009. Whilst watered down on the original controversial proposals, they are now the most complicated grammar school criteria I can recall and will still cut out local boys. Details are here. Dartford Grammar School is looking to attract high scorers rather than boys local to North West Kent outside Dartford. Details here.
- A website for information on admissions and appeals is: eleven plus exams. However, you need to treat the contributions with caution. It is very Buckinghamshire based but whilst the school appeal advice varies considerably from the many varieties in Kent, it can be very helpful. Currently, the Kent and Medway forums contain misleading advice on the interpretation of the new code of practice for appeals, so be very careful not to be taken in. There is lot of forum discussion about West Kent issues, very different from those in the rest of the county. You will find some older contributions from me under the name of Peter, but I have removed recent contributions. This website contains the factual information I initially posted.