KENT TEST 2016

Kent Test Because we have grammar schools in Kent, children can take a test called the Kent Test or eleven plus. It is taken by children at primary school in Year 6 who will be going to secondary school the following September. If they pass they can apply to go to a Kent grammar school. A grammar school can only offer a place to a child who has a grammar school assessment. Passing the Kent test does not guarantee your child will be offered a grammar school place as they may be over-subscribed. For more information the Kent Test familiarisation booklet gives a description of the different parts of the test and advice on approaching the types of questions asked. This can be found at or on the school website also.

The Kent Test Kent have introduced some changes to the Kent Test since Pupils will not take practice papers. Instead, practice exercises will be incorporated into the main papers. There will be 2 main tests: 1 assessing reasoning ability and 1 assessing literacy and numeracy. The first test will be a multiple choice English and Maths paper with a separate answer sheet. The English test is the first section. The test will take an hour. Each section will involve a 5 minute practice exercise followed by a 25 minute test. The English section will involve a comprehension exercise as well as some additional questions drawn from a set designed to test literacy skills. The second test will be a multiple choice reasoning paper. It will take about an hour, including the practice sections and questions. It will contain a verbal reasoning section and a non-verbal reasoning section of roughly the same length, with the verbal reasoning first. The non-verbal reasoning will be split into four sections, administered and timed individually (as in the previous tests).

The new Kent Test There will also be a writing exercise which will not be marked but may be used by a local headteacher panel as part of the headteacher assessment stage of the process. Forty minutes will be allowed for the writing task, including 10 minutes planning time. All tests will be in multiple-choice format and will be standardised against the performance of a national sample. All the tests will be sat in one morning.

Pass mark The pass mark is different every year. Kent set it depending upon the range of results children achieve. If lots of children scored very highly on the test, the pass mark would be higher. If lots of children got very low scores, the pass mark would be lower.

Threshold scores To be automatically assessed suitable for a grammar school in 2015's Kent Test, a child needed to score a total of 320 out 420 in the tests, with no single score lower than 106. Some grammar schools, like Simon Langton in Canterbury, require a high pass mark.

Standardised Scores The pass mark is adjusted very slightly to allow for a child's age when they take the test. This is done through a statistical process called standardisation, which ensures that a child’s results are compared with the performance of other children the same age. A standardised score of 100 represents an average performance for a child of a given age, with the lowest standardised score normally around 70 and the highest around 140. This year the lowest standardised score on any paper is 69 and the highest is 141.

If your child is not grammar assessed You can not appeal the outcome of the test. You can still name a grammar school as 1 of your preferences, on the Secondary Common Application Form (SCAF). Your child will not be offered a place at a grammar school on offer day (March 2017). After offer day you can appeal for a place any school you put on your form, including grammar schools.

If your child is grammar assessed A grammar assessment does not guarantee your child a grammar school place. Places at any grammar school are allocated according to the school's oversubscription criteria. The number of children who apply and how well they meet the admission criteria will decide who can be offered a grammar school place in March 2017.

Should I enter my child? You have from 1 st June – 1 st July 2016 to make this decision The test is in place to highlight children who are above average ability (top 20% approx) A good bench mark for higher ability would be if they are working above age expectations by the end of year 5. It is entirely your choice if you enter your child If you do not enter the children then they cannot sit the test.

Key dates Registration for the 2016 Kent Test will open on 1 June 2016 and close on 1 July th September 2016 Kent Test Date. The results for the 2016 Kent Test will be sent out on 13 October Applications for secondary school will open in early September 2016 and close on 31 st October.