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Schools in Kent

659 open schools · Ofsted ratings, catchment areas and admission criteria · best primary schools · best secondary schools

Kent has 609 state schools: 459 primary, 100 secondary, 4 all-through, 1 nursery. Between them they teach around 248,929 pupils. 524 have enough published data for a score, averaging 5.2 out of 10, and 72 score 8 or above.

135 have a sixth form. 102 take children from age three or under. 201 have a religious character, which usually means the school sets its own admissions criteria rather than the council's. 32 are selective and set an entrance test. How the score works.

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Kent covers several towns — jump straight to the schools in yours.

Ashford 50 schools Aylesford 10 schools Broadstairs 12 schools Canterbury 49 schools Chatham 31 schools Cranbrook 14 schools Dartford 35 schools Deal 12 schools Dover 33 schools Faversham 14 schools Folkestone 26 schools Gillingham 33 schools Gravesend 37 schools Herne Bay 9 schools Longfield 9 schools Maidstone 64 schools Margate 11 schools Orpington 32 schools Ramsgate 18 schools Rochester 47 schools Sevenoaks 35 schools Sheerness 13 schools Sittingbourne 35 schools Swanley 9 schools Tonbridge 36 schools Tunbridge Wells 37 schools West Malling 11 schools Whitstable 9 schools

Undersubscribed schools rated Good or Outstanding

These schools didn't fill on first preference in the latest admissions year, despite an Ofsted rating of Good or Outstanding — worth a look if you're chasing the same handful of famous names everyone else applies to.

How places are allocated in Kent

Primary schools: 'Nearness of home to school' is the criterion for community/VC schools; a defined catchment area is only created ad hoc where new housing development requires a new/enlarged school — the exception, not the rule. (source)

Secondary schools: Same 'nearness' principle applies under the Secondary Co-ordinated Admissions Scheme. (source)

Most schools use the local authority's default scheme rather than a school-specific catchment map — see each school's page for its own designated/catchment area where one is published.

Kent entrance test format

The Kent Test has two multiple-choice papers, each roughly an hour long: 1. English & Maths — split into two 30-minute sections: English (reading comprehension, grammar, punctuation, vocabulary) and Maths (Key Stage 2 curriculum up to the start of Year 6). 2. Reasoning — Verbal Reasoning (vocabulary, sequences, logic, analogies) and Non-Verbal/Spatial Reasoning (shapes, rotations, matrices, pattern recognition), combined into a single reasoning score. There is also an unmarked writing task (around 40 minutes including planning time). It isn't scored directly, but may be used by a local headteacher assessment panel for borderline cases. Note: the Kent Test is NOT the same as the Medway Test — Medway is a separate authority with its own different test (separate registration, different papers). Passing one does not qualify a child for the other area's schools (except Chatham Grammar, which accepts either).

Key dates

Entry year	Event	Date
Sept 2028	Application deadline	2027-10-31
Sept 2028	Primary application deadline	2028-01-15
Sept 2028	Offer day	2028-03-01
Sept 2028	Primary offer day	2028-04-17
Sept 2027	Registration opens	2026-06-01 (passed)
Sept 2027	Registration closes	2026-07-01 (passed)
Sept 2027	Test date	2026-09-10
Sept 2027	Results released	2026-10-15
Sept 2027	Application deadline	2026-10-31
Sept 2027	Primary application deadline	2027-01-15
Sept 2027	Offer day	2027-03-01
Sept 2027	Primary offer day	2027-04-16
Sept 2026	Registration opens	2025-06-02 (passed)
Sept 2026	Registration closes	2025-07-01 (passed)
Sept 2026	Test date	2025-09-11 (passed)
Sept 2026	Results released	2025-10-16 (passed)
Sept 2026	Application deadline	2025-10-31 (passed)
Sept 2026	Primary application deadline	2026-01-15 (passed)
Sept 2026	Offer day	2026-03-01 (passed)
Sept 2026	Primary offer day	2026-04-16 (passed)

Out-of-area applications

Any child in Year 5 (aged 9–10) can register to sit the Kent Test regardless of where they live. Children from East Sussex, Medway, London and other counties routinely apply to Kent grammar schools. Registration: families outside Kent register through the Kent Test portal. The registration deadline is the same as for Kent residents — typically late June or early July. See kent.gov.uk/education-and-children/schools for current dates. Applying for a place: apply via your home LA's Common Application Form by 31 October, listing the Kent grammar school(s) you want. Note on Medway: Medway is a separate unitary authority with its own grammar schools and its own selection test — it is NOT part of the Kent Test. To apply to Medway grammar schools you need to sit the Medway test separately. Criteria impact: Kent grammar places are allocated by test score rank — higher-scoring children get priority. There is no fixed pass mark; the top roughly 25% of the ability range qualify. Living outside Kent does not automatically disadvantage you, but some Kent grammar schools have a defined geographic priority area as a tiebreaker when scores are equal.

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