What is the Kent Test?

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The Kent Test is a set of assessment papers that children complete, in exam conditions, at the start of Year 6 (the last academic year of primary school).

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The Kent Test is run by Kent County Council and the results of the test are used by KCC to decide which children can attend their Grammar Schools. 

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At the same time that the Kent Test is being taken, other entrance tests are available for some independent schools. They often assess similar skills to those covered by the Kent Test. These include Maths, English, Verbal Reasoning and Non-Verbal Reasoning.

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What does the Kent Test contain?

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The Kent Test papers are multiple-choice questions with a separate answer sheet.
They are marked by a computer.

The first test will be an English and maths paper and will take 1 hour.

Each section will involve a 5 minute practice exercise followed by a 25 minute test.
The English section will involve a comprehension exercise as well as some additional questions drawn from a set designed to test literacy skills.

The second test will be a reasoning paper.
It will take about 1 hour, including the practice sections and questions. It will contain a verbal reasoning section and a non-verbal reasoning section of roughly the same length. The non-verbal reasoning will be split into short sections, administered and timed individually.

There will also be a writing exercise which will not be marked but may be used by a local headteacher panel as part of the
headteacher assessment stage of the process. 40 minutes will be allowed for the writing task, including 10 minutes planning time.

For more details about the Kent Test, key dates and how to apply please see the Kent County Council website.