Last Updated: October 2021

Please note you will find considerable additional information about every Kent secondary school by visiting Individual Schools, and also for most of these by entering their name in the search engine of this website.

Please note that this section is rather lengthy, and hence is spread across several pages. You will find the links below.

It is designed primarily for parents resident in Kent, whose children will transfer to state secondary schools in September 2022. Parents considering a grammar school application should also look at the pages on Kent and Medway Grammar School Admissions and Medway Secondary School Admissions.

Kent Schools

There is more information, advice and comment on the School Admission Code page. 

I am afraid I have completely retired from my Consultation Service, but I am available to give talks for parents at Kent primary and secondary schools by invitation, and am also happy to talk with groups of parents on more general aspects.  

KCC publishes annually online a guide to Admission to Secondary School in Kent. At the time of updating this article, the 2022 Admission Guide is available here. This comprehensive document sets out the full rules and procedures for application and admissions, including those relating to school offers, assessment for grammar school, residence rules, applying for Kent schools if you live outside the county, late applications and In-Year admissions, eligibility for free transport and the KCC Travel Saver pass. You will find the full formal details of the Kent Secondary transfer scheme for 2021/22 admissions on the KCC website here, together with next year's oversubscription and admission rules for community and voluntary controlled schools here, and individual Foundation, Voluntary Aided Schools and academies here where, in the Spring of 2022 you will also find any proposed changes for individual schools for 2023.  

TIMETABLE

There is 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. The admission booklets or websites contain details of the all important oversubscription rules, which determine if you will be offered a place at a particular school if too many people apply.  Do not try and take part in the process without referring to the rules for the schools in which you are interested.  

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 or downloaded from the Kent Website.  Your child cannot take the Kent tests if he or she has not been registered. You will not be considered for a grammar school if your child has not sat the Kent tests and they will only be able to take the test late, after 26 April and be considered as a late applicant whether or not the school is named on the SCAF. 

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.

The Dover Grammar Schools, Folkestone Grammar Schools, Mayfield and Highsted Grammar Schools all offer alternative tests that qualify children for admission to their schools only. Admission is by either (but not necessarily both) tests.

You will find some possible scenarios on the next page.