Selective grammar in Sittingbourne, Kent, for boys from age 11 with a mixed sixth form. 150 places, Kent Test results on 15 October 2026, applications close 2 November 2026, Ofsted report published 7 July 2026. Expert one-to-one 11+ preparation from Leading Tuition.
Book a Free ConsultationChecked October 2026
Kent Test results are emailed on 15 October 2026, and Kent's secondary school application closes at midnight on Monday 2 November 2026, with offers on 1 March 2027. Ofsted inspected Borden on 12 May 2026 and published its report on 7 July 2026. Sources: Kent County Council, Borden Grammar School's admission policy, Ofsted and Get Information About Schools.
Borden Grammar School is a selective grammar school on the Avenue of Remembrance in Sittingbourne, Kent, educating boys aged 11 to 16, with a mixed sixth form to age 18. It operates as an academy converter within its own single-academy trust and had 938 pupils on roll against a site capacity of 949 places at its most recent Get Information About Schools return — a school running close to full. Its motto, Nitere porro ("to strive forward"), reflects an ethos the school itself describes as a small, personal community committed to supporting and inspiring boys to achieve their potential.
Entry to Year 7 is selective. Borden Grammar School's admission policy says it will admit at least 150 pupils in the relevant age group each year if sufficient applications for eligible boys are received. Our detailed background reading on the school and the wider Kent Test system is available in our Borden Grammar School 11+ guide and our broader Kent 11+ borough guide — this page focuses specifically on what you need to know and do to give your son the best chance of a place for September 2027.
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| School name | Borden Grammar School |
| Type | Selective grammar school — boys from age 11, mixed sixth form (to age 18), academy converter |
| Location | Avenue of Remembrance, Sittingbourne, Kent |
| Published Admission Number | At least 150 boys into Year 7 each September |
| Roll / capacity | 938 pupils on roll against capacity of 949 |
| Entrance routes | Kent Test (PESE) and the optional Borden Assessment Procedure |
| Kent Test threshold | 2025 threshold: total score of 332 or more, no single score below 108. The 2026 threshold will be available in October 2026 |
| Ofsted rating | Report card inspection on 12 May 2026, published 7 July 2026: Strong standard in five areas, Expected standard in two |
Borden Grammar's primary entry route is the Kent Test, formally known as the Procedure for Entrance into Secondary Education (PESE). Kent County Council states that the test is only valid for Kent grammar schools. The test comprises two multiple-choice papers, marked by computer: an English and maths paper of 1 hour, and a reasoning paper of about 1 hour. There is also a writing exercise, with 40 minutes allowed, which is not marked but may be used by a local headteacher panel at the headteacher assessment stage.
For September 2027 entry, registration for the Kent Test opened on Monday 1 June 2026 and closed on Wednesday 1 July 2026. Pupils at Kent primary schools sat the test on Thursday 10 September 2026, and pupils who do not attend a Kent primary school sat it over the weekend of 12 and 13 September 2026. Kent Test results are emailed to the address used to register (or posted by first class post if no email address was given) on Thursday 15 October 2026, and the Kent secondary school application closes at midnight on Monday 2 November 2026 (other local authority deadlines may differ), so that is the date to finalise the school preference order.
To be assessed as "Grammar" and therefore eligible to be considered for admission to Borden, a boy must reach the Kent Test grammar school threshold. For 2025 that was a total score of 332 or more, with no single score lower than 108, and Kent says the grammar school threshold for 2026 will be available in October 2026. Kent notes that being grammar assessed does not guarantee a child a place in a Kent grammar school. For September 2026 entry, Borden's own allocation document records a Planned Admission Number of 150, with 125 places allocated by the local authority on 2 March 2026.
Borden Grammar also offers boys who do not achieve a selective Kent Test result a second opportunity to meet the entry threshold: the Borden Assessment Procedure (BAP). The school says the Borden test is designed by Quest Learning, and it is only open to boys who have already sat the Kent Test. It is a paper-based test of two papers that assess English, Mathematics, Verbal Reasoning and Non-Verbal Reasoning, taken at Borden Grammar School.
For September 2027 entry, BAP registration opened at 9am on Monday 1 June 2026 and closed at 4pm on Wednesday 1 July 2026; the school's admissions page says Borden Assessment registration is closed. Registration was by a form from the school office or the school website, with no online registration facility. The assessment itself took place on Saturday 12 September 2026 at Borden Grammar School, and the school states that there are no other opportunities to take it. Results are posted to parents by first class post on Thursday 15 October 2026.
The school's admission policy anticipates that the Borden Assessment Procedure pass mark will correspond approximately with the level attained or exceeded by 25% of the age group nationally. In other words, the BAP is not described as a lower, "easier" route: Kent says its grammar schools provide for children in about the top 25% of the ability range, and the BAP's anticipated pass mark corresponds to the same 25% of the age group nationally, measured through different papers. Boys and families should prepare for the BAP with exactly the same seriousness as the Kent Test, not as a fallback safety net.
Boys eligible for Pupil Premium can access free online 11+ preparation materials through the school's partnership with Atom Learning; the school's form is for children who have been eligible for free school meals at any point in the last six years.
Borden Grammar School's admission policy says all eligible boys will be admitted if 150 or fewer apply; if more eligible boys apply than there are places, it applies its oversubscription criteria in this order, with no difference between the Kent Test and BAP routes:
This means a boy's home postcode matters once the selective threshold has been crossed. Families outside the Tier 1 and Tier 2 postcodes fall in Tier 3, the last area band, and where a criterion is oversubscribed the policy allocates places by the straight-line distance between home and school.
Preparing Your Son for Borden Grammar School Entry?
Our specialist tutors prepare boys for both the Kent Test and the Borden Assessment Procedure, covering English, maths, verbal reasoning and non-verbal reasoning to the standard both routes demand. The Kent Test was sat on 10, 12 and 13 September 2026 and the BAP on 12 September 2026, with Kent Test results to be emailed on 15 October 2026; our structured programme builds real fluency — not last-minute cramming — for the next round of tests.
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Kent's offer day for September 2027 entry is Monday 1 March 2027, when offers are emailed after 4pm; parents then have until Monday 15 March 2027 to accept or decline. For the previous round, September 2026 entry, the school's own allocation document of March 2026 says the local authority allocated 125 places on 2 March 2026 against a Planned Admission Number of 150, and that the year group still had vacancies for boys deemed to be of grammar school ability. The same document lists 147 boys in Year 7 in March 2026. Together with a total roll of 938 pupils against a capacity of 949 on Get Information About Schools, that shows a school close to full across its year groups, which the document lists as between 138 and 150 boys each in Years 7 to 11.
Ofsted inspected Borden Grammar School on 12 May 2026 and published its report on 7 July 2026. The report card gave a Strong standard in five areas (Achievement; Attendance and behaviour; Inclusion; Leadership and governance; Personal development and wellbeing) and an Expected standard in two (Curriculum and teaching; Post 16 provision), and the safeguarding standards were met. The full report card is on Ofsted's provider page for Borden Grammar School.
On academic outcomes, Ofsted's 12 May 2026 report says pupils' achievements in national examinations at the end of Year 11 have been above the national average for several years.
Leading Tuition's specialist 11+ tuition programme supports families across Sittingbourne, Sheerness, Faversham, Rainham and the wider Mid Kent area preparing boys for Borden Grammar School entry. Because Borden offers both the Kent Test and the Borden Assessment Procedure, we build preparation programmes that cover both formats from the outset, rather than treating the BAP as an afterthought once Kent Test results are known.
We begin with a diagnostic assessment spanning verbal reasoning, non-verbal reasoning, English and maths, benchmarked against the Kent Test grammar threshold and the BAP's anticipated pass mark. This identifies precisely where a boy currently sits relative to both requirements and shapes a clear, staged plan running up to the Kent Test and the BAP.
Preparation progresses through three phases: first, systematic coverage of every question type across both the Kent Test and the BAP papers; second, timed practice under realistic conditions from spring onwards; and third, full mock papers and stamina-building in the final weeks before the Kent Test and the BAP sittings. Tutors track progress after every session using short diagnostic tasks, adjusting focus where drift appears, and parents receive regular updates throughout.
We also advise families directly on the admissions mechanics that decide outcomes as much as raw scores do — the tiered postcode priority system, the Free School Meals reserved-places category and its Supplementary Information Form deadline of 31 October 2026, and how to sequence Common Application Form preferences if applying to Borden alongside other Kent grammar schools. Getting these administrative details right matters because, if more eligible boys apply than there are places, the school's policy allocates them in the order of its oversubscription criteria.
Dates sourced from Kent County Council and Borden Grammar School's own published admissions documentation. Always check the school's official admissions page directly before finalising registration, as arrangements can be revised. Families comparing timelines across several Kent grammar schools may also find our 11+ exam dates guide useful.
Leading Tuition is rated 4.8 out of 5 on Trustpilot from 59 reviews, read on 3 October 2026, and 91% of our students achieve their desired grades.
Reviewed October 2026: dates, figures and rules checked against Kent County Council's Kent Test pages and 2027 secondary admissions leaflet, Borden Grammar School's 2027-28 admission policy, Borden Assessment Procedure document and March 2026 allocation document, Ofsted and Get Information About Schools.
In 2025, a grammar school assessment needed a total score of 332 or more, with no single score lower than 108, and Kent says the grammar school threshold for 2026 will be available in October 2026. Reaching the threshold makes a boy eligible to be considered by Borden, but Kent notes that being grammar assessed does not guarantee a place in a Kent grammar school.
The Borden Assessment Procedure (BAP) is an optional second-chance test for boys who have already sat the Kent Test but did not achieve a selective score. The school says the test is designed by Quest Learning, and it covers English, Mathematics, Verbal Reasoning and Non-Verbal Reasoning in two paper-based tests. For September 2027 entry, registration ran from 1 June to 1 July 2026, the test was held on 12 September 2026, and results are posted by first class post on 15 October 2026. The school's policy anticipates that the pass mark will correspond approximately with the level attained or exceeded by 25% of the age group nationally.
Borden has a Published Admission Number of at least 150 boys. For September 2026 entry, the local authority allocated 125 places on 2 March 2026 against that PAN, and the school's allocation document said the year group still had vacancies for boys deemed to be of grammar school ability. The school had 938 pupils on roll against a capacity of 949, so it runs close to full across all year groups. Where the school is oversubscribed, its September 2027 admission policy ranks qualified boys by area: first those living in postcodes ME9, ME10, ME11 and ME12, then ME8 and ME13, and finally any other area.
Borden's admission policy gives priority by postcode area, which it calls Traditional School Areas. Tier 1 (highest priority) covers ME9, ME10, ME11 and ME12. Tier 2 covers ME8 and ME13. All other postcodes are Tier 3. Where a criterion is oversubscribed, places go by the straight-line distance between home and school; the area criterion comes after EHCP, looked-after children, Free School Meals reserved places, sibling and health and special access criteria.
Ofsted inspected the school on 12 May 2026 and published its report on 7 July 2026. The report card gave a Strong standard in five areas (Achievement; Attendance and behaviour; Inclusion; Leadership and governance; Personal development and wellbeing) and an Expected standard in two (Curriculum and teaching; Post 16 provision), and the safeguarding standards were met. Its next steps for Borden include embedding consistent approaches to teaching and assessment so that higher attaining pupils and sixth form students improve their achievement even further.
Year 4 or early Year 5 is ideal, well ahead of the Kent Test. This gives time to build fluency across verbal reasoning, non-verbal reasoning, English and maths before shifting to timed practice and mock papers. Because Borden offers both the Kent Test and the Borden Assessment Procedure, thorough early preparation gives boys a genuine second opportunity if the first test does not go to plan.
Our specialist tutors prepare boys one-to-one for the Kent Test and the Borden Assessment Procedure, covering English, maths, verbal reasoning and non-verbal reasoning. We begin with a diagnostic assessment to show where a boy currently sits, then build a staged plan that moves from systematic coverage of each question type to timed practice and full mock papers, tracking progress after every session and sending parents regular updates. You can book a free consultation to talk through your son's year group, the dates that apply to him and how the admissions steps fit together.