The places figure, Kent Test dates, priority areas, Ofsted result and exam results for September 2027 entry
Book a Free ConsultationGravesend Grammar School is a selective boys' grammar school on Church Walk in Gravesend, Kent, and its own admission arrangements confirm it will seek to admit 210 boys to Year 7 in September 2027 via the Kent Test. Kent County Council's dates for September 2027 entry are: the Kent Test on Thursday 10 September 2026 for pupils at Kent primary schools, results day on Thursday 15 October 2026, applications closing at midnight on Monday 2 November 2026 and offers on Monday 1 March 2027. The school gives priority by area, was inspected by Ofsted on 18 March 2025, is part of Aletheia Academies Trust, and describes its 2025 A-level results as its best in over 10 years. This guide sets out each of those points against the school's own documents and the relevant official registers.
Checked October 2026
For September 2027 entry, Kent County Council's dates are: Kent Test on Thursday 10 September 2026, results day Thursday 15 October 2026, applications close at midnight on Monday 2 November 2026, offers Monday 1 March 2027. Gravesend Grammar School's own arrangements say it will seek to admit 210 boys; Ofsted inspected on 18 March 2025.
The school's own 2027 admission arrangements document states that Gravesend Grammar School will seek to admit 210 boys in September 2027 using the Kent Procedure for Entrance to Secondary Schools (PESE) Age 11 Assessment Process.
Passing the Kent Test is a separate question from securing a place. Kent County Council's dates for September 2027 entry are: the Kent Test on Thursday 10 September 2026 for pupils at Kent primary schools and on the weekend of 12 and 13 September 2026 for pupils who do not attend a Kent primary school (both sittings are past), then results day on Thursday 15 October 2026. Kent County Council sends results by email to parents who registered with an email address and by first-class letter to all other parents, and online applicants can view their child's assessment and test scores after 5pm. Applications close at midnight on Monday 2 November 2026, and offers are made on Monday 1 March 2027. Kent County Council's guide says the assessment decision is based on the test results, and that a child's primary school headteacher can refer a decision they disagree with to the Headteacher Assessment Panel before parents receive it.
| Measure | Date |
|---|---|
| Kent Test, pupils at Kent primary schools | Thursday 10 September 2026 |
| Kent Test, pupils not at a Kent primary school | Weekend of 12 and 13 September 2026 |
| Results day | Thursday 15 October 2026 |
| Applications close | Midnight on Monday 2 November 2026 |
| Offers made | Monday 1 March 2027 |
Source: Kent County Council, Register for the Kent Test, Secondary school places and Admission to secondary school in Kent 2027, retrieved 3 October 2026.
A family can name up to 4 school preferences on the Kent application before it closes at midnight on Monday 2 November 2026, and Kent County Council notes that naming only one school does not give priority over another child. Gravesend Grammar School's Open Days page lists open mornings on Thursday 15 October 2026 (encouraged for Year 5 pupils) and Friday 16 October 2026 (encouraged for Year 6 pupils).
Passing the Kent Test qualifies a child for a grammar school place in general; it does not by itself secure a place at Gravesend Grammar School, which allocates places using a published order of priority once the number of Eligible Children seeking admission exceeds the number of places available. The school's 2027 admission arrangements set out eight criteria in order:
| Criterion | Who it covers |
|---|---|
| 1 | Looked After Children and previously Looked After Children |
| 2 | Medical, social and special access reasons |
| 3 | Children with a sibling already due to attend the school |
| 4 | Children of a parent who is a member of staff at the school, if employed for a minimum of two years or recruited to fill a vacant post with a demonstrable skills shortage |
| 5 | Children living within the Borough of Gravesham |
| 6 | Children living in named civil parishes, including the Unparished Area of Ebbsfleet, Southfleet, Swanscombe and Greenhithe, and Stansted |
| 7 | Children living in the parishes of Stone, Darenth, Horton Kirby and South Darenth, Cliffe and Cliffe Woods |
| 8 | All other eligible children |
Source: Gravesend Grammar School, admission arrangements for entry in September 2027, retrieved 3 October 2026.
Criterion 6 names the Unparished Area of Ebbsfleet. The school's own document reads: "Eligible Children who live within the civil parishes of Ash-cum-Ridley, Bean, Fawkham, Hartley, Longfield and New Barn, Southfleet, Swanscombe and Greenhithe, Stansted and the Unparished Area of Ebbsfleet." An eligible child living in the Unparished Area of Ebbsfleet is therefore ranked above those in criterion 7 and above "all other Eligible Children".
The practical implication: a child living in the Borough of Gravesham (criterion 5) is ranked ahead of a child living in the Ebbsfleet area (criterion 6), who is in turn ranked ahead of a child in Stone or Darenth (criterion 7). All are ranked ahead of all other Eligible Children (criterion 8), and the priority order applies only to boys the Kent process has found suited to grammar school. Within each criterion, children in receipt of Pupil Premium are ranked first, and children are ranked by the straight-line distance from home to the school. Pupil Premium applicants must return the school's Supplementary Information Form by 31 October 2026.
Ofsted inspected Gravesend Grammar School on 18 March 2025. From September 2024, Ofsted no longer makes an overall effectiveness judgement in inspections of state-funded schools. Instead, Ofsted reports separately against a fixed set of areas, and Gravesend Grammar School's results were:
| Judgement area | Grade |
|---|---|
| Quality of education | Good |
| Behaviour and attitudes | Outstanding |
| Personal development | Outstanding |
| Leadership and management | Good |
| Sixth form provision | Good |
Source: Ofsted, Gravesend Grammar School inspection outcome, retrieved 3 October 2026.
Read together, the two Outstanding judgements — for Behaviour and attitudes, and Personal development — sit alongside Good judgements for Quality of education, Leadership and management, and the Sixth form, and none of the five is below Good. Ofsted's page for the school gives no overall effectiveness grade, and the last full inspection before March 2025, on 25 June 2015, graded the school Outstanding.
The school's own published 2025 results show an Attainment 8 score of 6.5, the average pupil achievement across eight qualifications including English and maths. Of all GCSE grades awarded in 2025, 44% were at grade 7-9 and 24% at the very top band of grade 8-9.
At A level, the school's 2025 grade profile was 33.1% A*-A, 63.5% A*-B and 83.8% A*-C. The school describes this itself as its best set of A-level results in over ten years, attributing the improvement to "our programme of improving progress at A level".
| Measure | 2025 result |
|---|---|
| GCSE Attainment 8 score | 6.5 |
| GCSE grades at 7-9 | 44% |
| GCSE grades at 8-9 | 24% |
| A level A*-A | 33.1% |
| A level A*-B | 63.5% |
| A level A*-C | 83.8% |
Source: Gravesend Grammar School, Examination Results, retrieved 3 October 2026.
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Year 7 entry at Gravesend Grammar School is boys-only, but the school's Sixth Form is co-educational and has its own admissions process, entirely separate from the Kent Test. The Published Admission Number for students joining the school in Year 12 for the first time is 30. For September 2027 entry, the minimum is two grade 5s and four grade 6s at GCSE, including at least a grade 5 in English and mathematics and at least a grade 4 in English Language; entry is assessed on GCSE results rather than the Kent Test.
The Sixth Form also has a Sporting Aptitude admission criterion. Up to 10 Sixth Form places are reserved for students who have demonstrated aptitude in one of the school's three performance sports — Rugby, Basketball or Netball. It is a distinct oversubscription criterion in the Sixth Form's own admission arrangements. A student is only eligible to apply for sporting aptitude if they meet the academic entry requirements; both boys and girls are considered for Rugby places, while Basketball is limited to male students and Netball to female students.
For families whose sons are already at the school, or whose daughters are considering it for Sixth Form only, the school's arrangements say applicants for a sporting aptitude place must make themselves known to the head of PE by the application deadline, and must still meet the GCSE entry requirements.
Gravesend Grammar School converted to academy status on 1 August 2011 , according to the DfE's Get Information about Schools register. The school is part of Aletheia Academies Trust, according to the DfE's school performance tables.
On scale: Gravesend Grammar School has 1,495 pupils on roll, of whom 10.8% are eligible for free school meals, according to the DfE's Get Information about Schools register. Set against the 210 boys the school will seek to admit to Year 7 and a total roll of 1,495, this is a substantial school spanning Year 7 to Year 13.
Families comparing Gravesend Grammar School with other Kent grammar schools may also find our page on Dartford Grammar School useful, or our wider overview of grammar school entry across Kent. For general Kent Test preparation, see our 11+ tuition page.
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Reviewed October 2026: dates, figures and rules checked against Kent County Council's Kent Test registration page, secondary school places page and guide to secondary admissions for 2027, Gravesend Grammar School's 2027 admission arrangements, Open Days and Sixth Form Admissions pages and published results, Ofsted, and the DfE's Get Information about Schools register and school performance tables.
Gravesend Grammar School's own admission arrangements confirm it will seek to admit 210 boys in September 2027 using the Kent Procedure for Entrance to Secondary Schools (PESE) Age 11 Assessment Process. This is the number the school states in its admission arrangements for September 2027 entry. Families comparing several Kent grammar schools should always check the specific school's own admission arrangements document for the entry year they are applying for.
Kent County Council's dates for September 2027 entry put the Kent Test on Thursday 10 September 2026 for pupils at Kent primary schools and the weekend of 12 and 13 September 2026 for pupils who do not attend a Kent primary school. Results day is Thursday 15 October 2026, applications close at midnight on Monday 2 November 2026 and offers are made on Monday 1 March 2027. The assessment decision is based on the test results; a headteacher can refer a decision they disagree with to the Headteacher Assessment Panel. Passing the Kent Test does not itself guarantee a place at Gravesend Grammar School, which also applies its oversubscription criteria.
Not strictly, but it matters a great deal once the school is oversubscribed, and the school describes its year groups as frequently over-subscribed. Gravesend Grammar School's admission arrangements set out eight oversubscription criteria in order, running from Looked After Children through sibling and staff links, then the Borough of Gravesham, then two further bands of named civil parishes. Criterion 6 explicitly includes "the Unparished Area of Ebbsfleet" alongside parishes such as Southfleet and Swanscombe and Greenhithe . A family just outside these named areas can still apply and may still be offered a place if there is space after higher criteria are filled, but they are placed behind every child who qualifies under criteria 1 to 7.
Ofsted inspected Gravesend Grammar School on 18 March 2025. From September 2024, Ofsted no longer makes an overall effectiveness judgement in inspections of state-funded schools. Across the five judgement areas it does still report, the school was graded Good for Quality of education, Outstanding for Behaviour and attitudes, Outstanding for Personal development, Good for Leadership and management, and Good for Sixth form provision.
At GCSE in 2025, Gravesend Grammar School reported an Attainment 8 score of 6.5, with 44% of all grades awarded at 7-9 and 24% at the very top band of 8-9. At A level, the school's own published grade profile was 33.1% A*-A, 63.5% A*-B and 83.8% A*-C — results the school itself describes as its best in over ten years, attributing the improvement to a specific programme of work on A-level progress.
Year 7 entry at Gravesend Grammar School is boys-only, but the school's Sixth Form is co-educational, with its own Published Admission Number of 30 for students joining in Year 12 for the first time. Entry requires a minimum of two grade 5s and four grade 6s at GCSE, including at least a grade 5 in English and mathematics. The Sixth Form also has a Sporting Aptitude route, reserving up to 10 places for applicants who have demonstrated aptitude in one of the school's three performance sports: Rugby, Basketball or Netball.
Gravesend Grammar School converted to academy status on 1 August 2011 and is part of Aletheia Academies Trust, according to the DfE's Get Information about Schools register and its school performance tables. The school has 1,495 pupils on roll, of whom 10.8% are eligible for free school meals, according to the same register. The school's own admission arrangements say it will seek to admit 210 boys in September 2027.
Leading Tuition's specialist tutors teach online, one to one. For boys who sat the Kent Test in September 2026, we can talk through the assessment decision due on Thursday 15 October 2026 and how Gravesend Grammar School's priority order applies before applications close at midnight on Monday 2 November 2026. For boys who have not yet sat the Kent Test, tutors prepare for it; Kent County Council describes it as a Reasoning test and a combined Maths and English test, both multiple choice. A free consultation is the first step.
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