Kent Test

Registration for the Kent Test for children due to start secondary school in September 2024 opened on Thursday 1 June 2023 and closed at midnight on Monday 3 July 2023. We cannot accept late registrations.

If you have not registered your child for the test but still want them to attend a Kent grammar school, please name the school as one of your preferences when you apply for a secondary school place.

Assessment is normally done through testing during the autumn term. This year, the tests took place on Thursday 7 September 2023 for pupils in Kent primary schools, and on the weekend of Saturday 9 September 2023 for other pupils. Any reference to ‘Kent Test’ or ‘registration’ does not guarantee when or if testing will take place.

The assessment results were sent on Wednesday 18 October 2023.

If your child will be starting secondary school in September 2023 and has not taken the Kent Test, see our information about moving to a different school.

Message from St Simon Stock

Dear Parents

This message is only for parents who are applying for a Year 7 place at St Simon Stock Catholic School.

Just a reminder that if you have listed St Simon Stock as one of your choices, they have a supplementary form to be completed but ONLY FOR;

Applicants who meet any of the faith criteria  - this includes baptised Catholics, other Christians (even if baptised/dedicated but not regularly practising) and all other faiths.

Applicants who have a sibling in Years 7 – 12 at St Simon Stock.

If you meet this criteria and have not yet completed the form, please do so here and email it to admissions@ssscs.co.uk OR hand in to the school. 

There is no need to complete the form if you do not meet any of the above criteria and please ignore this message if you have already submitted your form.

Key information and dates regarding the application process for secondary school, can be found on this page: Secondary School places

For Open Days, Mornings or Evenings, please check the Secondary School websites:

Aylesford School

Cornwallis Academy

Hadlow Rural Community School

Invicta Grammar School

Maidstone Grammar School

Maidstone Grammar School for Girls

Mascalls Academy

New Line Learning Academy

Oakwood Park Grammar School

School of Science and Technology, Maidstone

St Augustine Academy

St Simon Stock Catholic School

The Lenham School

The Malling School

The Maplesden Noakes School

Valley Park School

Family Transition Tips:

• Look at the Secondary School webpage and familiarise yourself with uniform, policies and practices.
• If you have any specific questions, you can always contact the school via their 'Contact Us' form.
• Try to find ways to become more independent - put away your own clothes, make your own sandwiches and help out with any jobs around the house.
• Find out who else is going to the same school as you and start to form some friendships with them - possibly via the class blog.
• Plan your journey to school. Think about how you will get there. Can you practise it?
• Start thinking about how your daily routine might look. What time will you get up? What will you have to remember each day for school? How will you complete your homework?
• How will you eat at Secondary School? Where will you eat your packed lunch? How will you make sure you have enough money to buy your lunch each day? What will you choose to buy?
• Think about what problems you might face and how you will you solve them. Who can you ask for help?
• Start to think about how you feel about leaving Primary School.
• Remember that while you might feel negative about the change it is still a positive experience so pick out the positive things about the new challenge.

** BBC Bitesize has lots of great videos and information, under 'Starting Secondary school'....worth a look!

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/tags/zh4wy9q/starting-secondary-school/1