It is designed primarily for parents resident in Kent, whose children will be transferring to state secondary schools in September 2014. Parents considering a grammar school application should also look at the pages on Kent and Medway Grammar School Admissions and Medway Secondary School Admissions.
I have wide experience of the secondary school transfer schemes in Kent and Medway, and am happy to place my expertise at your service, advising on choice of schools and patterns of application, drawing on my extensive local knowledge of the area and its schools. I give talks for parents at several Kent primary and secondary schools by invitation, and am also happy to talk with groups of parents, as well as individuals. For admissions you may well find my telephone consultation service useful.
You will find the full details of the Kent Secondary transfer scheme together with next year's oversubscription rules for individual Foundation and Voluntary Aided Schools on the KCC website here. I have simplified the regulations here. For parents applying for any school in Kent or Medway outside the normal admission round, there is a new process for admissions. You will not be able to apply directly to individual schools unless they already have a number of vacancies in the year group, although I would of course encourage you to talk to them in advance of an application. You will find further details here.THE KENT ADMISSION SCHEME
The scheme operates for Kent residents, no matter where the schools for which they are applying are situated, and refers to entry in September 2014.
TIMETABLE
| Key Action | Scheme Date |
| Registration for testing opens |
Monday 3 June 2013 |
| Closing date for registration | Monday 1 July 2013 |
| Test date for pupils in Kent primary schools | Wednesday 11 & Thursday 12 September 2013 |
| Test date for out of county pupils | Saturday 14 September 2013 |
| Assessment decision sent to parents | Wednesday 16 October 2013 |
| National Closing Date for Secondary Common Application Forms (SCAF) | Thursday 31 October 2013 |
| Final closing date for exceptional late applications. | Tuesday 5 November 2013 |
| National Offer Day: e-mails sent after 4pm and letters sent 1st class post | Monday 3 March 2014 |
| Schools send out welcome letters Not before | Thursday 6 March 2014 |
| Date by which places should be accepted or declined | Friday 21 March 2014 |
| LA re-allocates places that have become available from the schools' waiting lists | Wednesday 23 April 2014 |
In each Local Authority (LA), an admissions booklet will be issued at the beginning of September. There is now a national closing date for applications although grammar school registration process and dates and testing dates differ. Each LA has some differences in procedure, for example Kent parents have four choices, and Medway parents have six choices. These booklets contain details of the all important oversubscription rules, which determine if you will be offered a place if too many people apply. Do not try and take part in the process without the relevant admissions booklet to guide you.
It is essential that all parents, who are considering entering their child for the Kent tests, register their child on a form obtainable from the primary school. Your child cannot take the Kent tests if he or she has not been registered. You cannot apply for a grammar school if your child has not sat the Kent tests. Copies of the registration form will be distributed through primary schools and can be downloaded here.
There is nothing to lose by entering your child for the tests. Parents in Kent living near the Medway border may also wish to consider entering their child for the Medway tests, which assesses children on different skills. Further details of Kent grammar school admissions are here.
You will find some posible scenarios on the next page.