Weald of Kent Grammar School 11+ guide

Applying to Weald of Kent Grammar School for September 2028? This guide covers the Kent Test and the optional Weald Grammar Assessment, the qualifying score, how the 270 Year 7 places are allocated and the key dates for September 2028 entry.

Weald of Kent Grammar School 11+ at a glance

• School type: girls' grammar school, with a second campus in Sevenoaks
• Location: Tonbridge, Kent
• Number of places in Year 7: 270 (2027-entry figure — Weald of Kent Grammar School confirms each year's admission number in its determined arrangements, published the spring before entry.)
• Qualifying score: Girls qualify by passing either the Kent Test or the school's own Weald Grammar Assessment. Kent County Council sets the qualifying score after each test. After the 2025 test (for September 2026 entry), children needed a total of 332 or more, with no single score below 108. The Weald Grammar Assessment's pass standard is set by reference to local results and corresponds roughly to the top 25% of the age group nationally. Qualifying girls are then offered places using the criteria below, not by score.
• 11+ test: Kent Test (two multiple-choice papers of about an hour each, plus a writing task that isn't marked; or the school's own optional Weald Grammar Assessment)
• Catchment or priority area: yes — named postcodes and parishes (see below)

Source: Weald of Kent Grammar School Admissions Policy 2027/2028; test provider and format: Quest Assessments parent guidance page for the Weald Grammar Assessment. Last checked October 2026.

Key dates for September 2028 entry

Kent County Council runs the Kent Test and sets its dates in the county's co-ordinated admissions scheme, and Weald of Kent sets the dates for its own assessment. Neither has published 2028-entry dates yet, so the windows below follow the 2027-entry timetable. For the Kent Test, registration ran from Monday 1 June 2026 to Wednesday 1 July 2026, the test took place on Thursday 10 September 2026 for children at Kent primary schools (the weekend of 12 and 13 September 2026 for everyone else) and results were due on Thursday 15 October 2026. For the Weald Grammar Assessment, the Quest Assessments parent guidance page gave registration from Monday 1 June 2026 to Friday 10 July 2026, the assessment on Saturday 12 September 2026 and results on Thursday 15 October 2026. We'll update this page as soon as the 2028-entry dates are published.

How to apply to Weald of Kent Grammar School

Weald of Kent Grammar School is selective, so your child needs to sit the 11+ test to be considered for a place.

You register your child for the Kent Test with Kent County Council during its registration window. Late registrations go to Kent County Council by email at kent.admissions@kent.gov.uk. To sit the Weald Grammar Assessment, you register separately with Weald of Kent Grammar School, using the form on its website or a paper copy from the school office.

Once you have your child's result, you apply by naming Weald of Kent Grammar School on your common application form, which goes to your home local authority. Application deadline: Sunday 31 October 2027. This is the national closing date. Kent County Council has in the past moved the deadline to the following Monday when 31 October falls on a weekend — it did so for 2027 entry, when the date moved to Monday 2 November. The council confirms its own closing date in its co-ordinated admissions scheme, usually published the year before. Treat 31 October as the date to work to, and check the council's scheme before you submit.

Reaching the qualifying score makes your child eligible, but it doesn't guarantee a place. If more qualifying children apply than there are places, the school uses its oversubscription criteria, set out further down this page.

What will my child be tested on?

The Kent Test is run by Kent County Council and used by the grammar schools across Kent, so your child only sits it once to be considered for any of them. Kent County Council says the tests in English, maths and reasoning are devised by GL Assessment.

There are two multiple-choice papers, and answers go on a separate answer sheet. The first is an English and maths paper lasting an hour. Each section starts with a 5-minute practice exercise, followed by a 25-minute test. The English section is a comprehension exercise plus questions on literacy skills. The second is a reasoning paper of about an hour, including practice, with verbal and non-verbal reasoning sections of roughly the same length.

Your child also completes a writing task. It lasts 40 minutes, including 10 minutes of planning. It isn't marked, but a local headteacher panel may read it as part of the headteacher assessment stage. Results give three standardised scores, for English, maths and reasoning, plus a total. Each score ranges from 69 to 141.

Weald of Kent also runs its own optional Weald Grammar Assessment, an alternative route to a place at this school only. Its policy says girls can qualify by meeting the standard in either the Kent Test or the Weald Grammar Assessment. It takes place at the school on the Saturday following the Kent Test, and results are emailed to parents in line with Kent County Council's results.

Quest Assessments, one of several companies that set 11+ tests for schools, provides the Weald Grammar Assessment. It doesn't provide the Kent Test. The Weald Grammar Assessment is a paper-based test of two 60-minute papers, sat in the same session with a short supervised break. The first covers English and verbal reasoning, and the second covers maths and non-verbal reasoning. All questions are multiple choice, usually with five options (A to E), and answers go on an OMR (Optical Mark Recognition) answer sheet. The school says it doesn't test anything beyond the Year 5 National Curriculum. Questions about the assessment go to the school at admissions@wealdgs.org, as Quest Assessments doesn't answer enquiries from parents.

The Kent Test is still the main selection test. It's the route to Weald of Kent and to every other Kent grammar school, while the Weald Grammar Assessment counts for this school only.

Weald of Kent Grammar School is named on the Quest Assessments parent guidance page for the Weald Grammar Assessment, which sets out the test format and links to the official familiarisation materials. Read our guide to the Quest Admissions exam for what the test looks like and how it's marked.

The table below shows what each paper covers.

How are places allocated at Weald of Kent Grammar School?

If more children reach the qualifying standard than there are 270 Year 7 places, Weald of Kent Grammar School offers places in the order below. This order comes from the school's admissions policy for 2027/28. The school sets its 2028-entry policy separately, and we'll update this table if anything changes.

Distance is measured in a straight line from home to a fixed point at the Tonbridge campus. Which campus a girl attends, Tonbridge or Sevenoaks, is decided internally by the school.

Does Weald of Kent Grammar School have a catchment area?

The priority area under criterion 6 covers Tonbridge town postcodes TN9, TN10, TN11 and TN12; the parishes of Ightham, Ivy Hatch, Kings Hill, Pembury, Platt, St Mary's Platt, Plaxtol and Shipbourne; and, in Sevenoaks District, Brasted, Chevening, Chiddingstone, Cowden, Dunton Green, Edenbridge, Godden Green, Halstead, Hever, Kemsing, Knockholt, Leigh, Otford, Penshurst, Riverhead, Seal, Sevenoaks town, Sevenoaks Weald, Underriver, Shoreham, Sundridge, Ide Hill, Westerham and Crockham Hill. Girls living elsewhere can still be offered places under criterion 7, by distance.

If distance can't separate two or more girls for the last place, random allocation decides.

If you don't live close to the school, it's worth thinking about how your child will get there every day. How long will the journey take? What transport options are available? Will they be travelling independently or with support?

A longer or more complex journey can affect your child's daily routine, including how much time they have for homework, rest and after-school activities. It's a good idea to think about how manageable the school run will be and whether it will work for your family day to day.

How can I help my child prepare for the test?

The Kent Test can feel like a big milestone, but preparation doesn't have to be overwhelming. Here's how you can help your child prepare for test day.

Stay on track with a clear plan

One of the hardest parts of 11+ preparation is knowing what to focus on, when, and how to make steady progress without it taking over family life.

A clear, structured plan helps your child feel less overwhelmed and more in control. It ensures they build skills in the right order, cover everything they need, and avoid last-minute cramming.

Atom's exam plan makes this easier. Enter your child's target schools and exam dates, and we'll create a personalised weekly plan tailored to the topics they'll be tested on. It shows them what to work on and when, adapts as they improve, and helps them build progress in a calm, manageable way — little and often.

That means less guesswork for you, less stress for them, and a clearer path all the way to exam day.

Build smart exam technique

As your child's knowledge grows, practice tests can help them feel more comfortable with the real exam format.

Atom's 11+ practice papers give your child practice working to time across the curriculum the tests draw on, so the skills they build are useful whichever test they sit. They're also unlimited — you can download the same paper again and again, and your child will get new questions each time. This helps them practise without repeating the same content.

We've made marking easy for you, too. Simply photograph your child's answer sheets and upload them to Atom. The papers are marked instantly, showing your child's standardised age score (SAS), where they're doing well, and what they should focus on next. You'll also learn how they compare to other children applying to the same school.

Encourage regular reading

Strong reading skills play a big role in 11+ preparation.

Encourage your child to read every day, even for just 10–15 minutes. The key is variety. Mix fiction and non-fiction, different genres, and a range of authors. This helps them become more confident in understanding tone, purpose, and meaning across different texts.

Over time, regular reading will:

• broaden their vocabulary
• improve comprehension and inference
• build confidence in tackling unseen texts

And just as importantly, it can help them enjoy reading — not just see it as exam preparation.

Looking for inspiration? Atom's recommended reading lists have suggestions spanning fiction and non-fiction for Years 3–6.

Celebrate progress, not just scores

When you're supporting your child through 11+ preparation, what really matters is knowing they're moving in the right direction — not just how they scored on a single test.

Atom's progress tracking gives you a clear, simple picture of how your child is doing in each topic and the direction they're moving in. You can see where they're on track, where they might need more practice, and spot progress as it happens.

That makes it easier to give meaningful encouragement, keep motivation steady, and focus on what matters most: consistent improvement, not just one-off results.