Kent Test results day

More than 14,300 children who sat the Kent Test last month will find out if they have been assessed for grammar or high school over the next day or two.   

Kent County Council will email families who registered online for the test after 4pm on Thursday 13 October with their child’s assessment result. However, the volume of emails sent out mean that some internet service providers delay the delivery of the emails to personal email accounts; this is outside of the control of the county council.

Families who registered online can log on after 5pm on Thursday 13 October and view their child’s results if they have retained their log-in and password details. For the first time this year parents will also be able to view their child’s individual test scores online.

Letters will be sent to all 14,349 families on Thursday afternoon, to arrive on doormats from Friday.

Parents need to submit an application for their child’s secondary school by Monday 31 October and can name up to four schools in order of preference.

Roger Gough, Kent County Council Cabinet Member for Education said: “In the past, parents had to go in to their child’s primary school to find out how they scored in the Test. However this year, parents will now be able to view their child’s scores on our website from 5pm on Thursday, results day. This has been a regular request from parents over the years and it is possible this year as we have a new software system. Your child’s Primary school will be able to provide help and advice if needed.

“As in previous years many children from outside of Kent will be unsuccessful in their grammar school applications, this is due to the nature of the oversubscription criteria for Kent schools. Consequently the 4369 children from Kent that have been assessed suitable for grammar school will, in most circumstances, enjoy priority for the majority of 4959 places available at Kent grammar schools. We anticipate a high proportion of the 2145 pupils from outside of Kent will be naming Kent schools, but experience also tells us the vast majority of these children ultimately secure school places in a variety of provision in their home local authorities.

 “I appreciate this is a stressful time for families and we try to make the process as straightforward as possible. Kent offers a rich and diverse mix of schools and parents should make use of all their available preferences naming the schools they want most in priority order.

“Details of the secondary schools in Kent and how to apply can be found in the ‘Admission to Secondary School in Kent 2017’ booklet available on the www.kent.gov.uk website.

“It is also vital that parents carefully consider how their child will get to school, before applying for a school place. The county council’s policy on home-to-school transport shows if there is any help available for their child. See www.kent.gov.uk/schooltransport for more information.”

 

1.         Kent Test in figures (comparing last year to this) 

a.   Number who registered for the test (starting school September 2016): 14,486 

b.   Number who registered for the test (starting school September 2017): 15,253 

c.   Number who sat the test (starting school September 2016):  13,724

d    Number who sat the test (starting school September 2017):  14,349

e.   Number assessed suitable for grammar school, admission September 2016: 6,259 (4,282 Kent /1,966 out of county/ 11 others such as ‘educated at home’)

f.    Number assessed suitable for grammar school, admission September 2017: 6,537 (4,369 Kent /2,145 out of county/ 23 others such as ‘educated at home’)

g.   Grammar school places available for September 2016: 4,767

h.   Grammar school places available for September 2017: 4,959 

Grammar schools retain the ability to request that the county council make offers in excess of their planned admission number, so this number may increase.

2.      If a child passed the Kent test, will they automatically be offered a grammar school?

No. A Kent grammar school assessment does not guarantee a child will be offered a Kent grammar school place. If more children apply for places than a school can accommodate the school will use its oversubscription criteria to decide which children it can take. Some children assessed suitable for grammar school may be offered places at all-ability schools if no local grammar school can offer them a place or if their parents name it as a higher preference.

3.      When will families find out which school they have been allocated?

The national offer day is 1 March, 2017. Families who registered online and provided a valid email address will be sent an email after 4pm on 1 March.  Families will also be sent a letter posted 1^st Class on 1 March 2017, advising which school their child has been offered.  

 4. How is the Kent Test scored?

Children will get three standardised scores, 1 for English, 1 for Maths and 1 for Reasoning.

Standardisation is a statistical process which compares a child’s performance with the average performance of other children in each test. A slight adjustment is made to take into account each child’s age so that the youngest are not at a disadvantage.

The score ranges for 2017 will be published later this year. 

5. What was the grammar school threshold in 2015?

To be given a grammar school assessment in 2015, children needed to get a total score of 320 or more, with no single score lower than 106.

If they did not reach this score and their primary school referred their case to the local Head Teacher Assessment panel, their written piece would then have been looked at. The panel will also have looked at their achievement in school and examples of their work before a final decision was made. 

For further information contact Ella Watkins at Kent County Council

Press Office on 03000 416282 or 03000 418080 or

 email [email protected].