“The email comes on Thursday. What do the numbers actually mean, and what do we do with them?” I hear that question every October from Kent families.
Results day for the Kent Test is Thursday 15 October 2026. The email is short. It gives you three scores, a total and a decision. This is how I would read it, and what I would do in the two and a half weeks before the application deadline.
One tip before Thursday: check your spam folder. Kent says some email providers hold these messages back.
Your child sat two papers in September: English and maths together, then reasoning (verbal and non-verbal). The marks are turned into three standardised scores. That means each child is compared with the average of everyone who sat the test, with a small adjustment for age, so a child born in August is not at a disadvantage against one born the September before.
A comprehension, plus separate questions on spelling, grammar and punctuation.
Key Stage 2 maths from the National Curriculum, multiple choice.
Verbal reasoning with words and numbers, and non-verbal reasoning with patterns and shapes.
It does not count towards the scores, but a panel of local head teachers may read it (more on that below).
Kent sets a threshold every year and publishes it in October. For 2025 a child needed two things at once: a total of 332 or more, and no single score below 108. The 2026 figure was not out when I wrote this, so use the 2025 one as a guide only.
That second rule is the one that surprises parents. Here is how it works with real numbers, using the 2025 threshold:
English 115, maths 112, reasoning 108. The total is 335, which clears 332, and the lowest score is exactly 108. Both rules met.
English 130, maths 118, reasoning 107. A much higher total, but one score sits below 108, so on its own it does not meet the threshold.
“Look at the lowest score first, not the total.”
The Kent Test rewards a child who is solid in all three areas. A brilliant mathematician with one weak paper can miss out, which is why I never let a child neglect the subject they find easiest to avoid.
If you are curious how your child compares, Kent publishes a spreadsheet each year showing how many children got each total score. The link is on the council’s results page.
This part happens before you see anything. Your child’s primary head teacher is sent the scores first, and can refer a decision they disagree with to a panel of local primary and secondary head teachers. The panel can look at the test scores, recent schoolwork, the unmarked writing task and comments from the school.
So the decision you get on 15 October has already been through that check. The panel only changes a decision if it is confident the child will be well placed at a grammar school. You cannot appeal the decision itself, but your child’s primary school is the right place to ask how it was reached.
Well done to them. Now the quiet bit of advice: being assessed suitable does not guarantee a place. Grammar schools are often oversubscribed, and each one ranks applicants by its own admissions criteria. Some, especially those that take many children from outside Kent, give priority to the highest scores. Read the criteria for every school you are thinking of before you fill in the form.
“Passing the test is only step one.”
Put the school you love first, but make sure at least one of your four is a school your child has a realistic chance of being offered under its criteria.
You can still name a grammar school on your application. Kent explains that the application will be refused on 1 March, and you then have the right to appeal to an independent panel and explain why the school is a suitable option for your child. Some families also sit independent school tests this winter.
Most of all, keep the tone at home calm. A child of ten hears far more in how we react than in the number on the email.
Plenty of Kent families also apply to independent schools such as Sevenoaks or Tonbridge School, so the work is not over for everyone on Thursday. If that is you, this is how I would use the next few weeks:
Some use the ISEB Pre-Test, some set their own papers. The school finder shows how entry works at each one.
The lowest of the three tells you where to spend the next month. Reasoning low? Start there.
Write A to Z across the top of the page. Mirror pairs add up to 27: G is letter 7, so its partner is letter 20, T. It turns a guess into a quick sum.
For 35% of 80, find 10% (8), times it by 3 (24), add 5% (4). That is 28, with no calculator and no panic.
The Kent writing task was not scored, but independent schools often do mark writing. I mark it out of 30: the five senses, five literary devices, and the way the piece is built and joined up.
Twenty careful minutes beats a two-hour paper.
The children who score highest are not always the cleverest.
They are the ones who manage their time, leave the hard question for later and come back to it calmly.
Next year’s registration is the date to watch. This year it opened on 1 June and closed on 1 July, months before the test, and any special arrangements had to be requested through the primary school by the same date. Kent will publish the dates for next year on its website. Remember too that the Kent Test is only for Kent grammar schools: Medway and Bexley set their own tests.
The free 11+ guide covers the skills behind all of these tests, and the Kent Test page has a short overview.
Thursday 15 October 2026. Parents who gave an email address when they registered are emailed the result that day. Everyone else gets a letter by first class post, sent on results day.
Kent County Council publishes the threshold each October. For 2025 it was a total of 332 or more, with no single score below 108. The 2026 figure had not been published when this was written.
Each of the three scores runs from 69 to 141, so the highest possible total is 423.
No. You cannot appeal the assessment decision itself. You can still name a grammar school on your application, and if a place is refused on 1 March 2027 you can appeal to an Independent Appeal Panel for that school.
Monday 2 November 2026. You can name up to four schools, in your order of preference, and offers are sent on Monday 1 March 2027.
No. The Kent Test is only valid for Kent grammar schools. Medway Council and the London Borough of Bexley each run their own selection test.
I prepare children 1:1 online for 11+, 13+ and 16+ entry to the UK’s leading independent and grammar schools. Tell me about your child and the schools you are considering, and I will tell you honestly what the preparation should look like.
Enquire About LessonsSources: Kent County Council: Kent Test results · Kent County Council: prepare for the Kent Test (format and dates) · Kent County Council: register for the Kent Test · Kent County Council: apply for a Kent grammar school place · Kent County Council: secondary school places (applications for 2027) · Kent County Council: Admission to secondary school in Kent 2027 (PDF). Details change from year to year, so always check the official websites before you apply.