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Highsted Grammar School
11 Plus (11+) Exam Information
Key Information
Address: Highsted Grammar School, Highsted Road, Sittingbourne, Kent, ME104PT
County: Kent
School Website: www.highsted.kent.sch.uk
School Type: Girls
Number of Pupils: 895
Number of Places in Year 7: 150
Open Day Date: Contact School
Exam Date: September
Exam Board Type: GL
About Highsted Grammar School
Highsted Grammar School is a smaller than average selective grammar school in Kent that educates girls from 11-18. The school offers a wide range of subjects and has a strong emphasis on modern foreign languages.
Highsted Grammar School specialises in all aspects of musical performance and competition. The school also provides an extensive programme of extra-curricular and enrichment activities such as subject clubs, sports fixtures and career conventions.
Highsted Grammar School was graded Good in their most recent Ofsted inspection (2023).
Application Process
There are two tests that applicants can take in order to obtain a place at Highsted School: Kent 11+ and Highsted Grammar School Test.
Kent 11+
Parents must register their child to sit the Kent Test, which can be done online via Kent County Council. Once students have taken the test in September, parents will receive their results in October and must then submit their Secondary School Common Application Form (SCAF) via the Kent local authority website.
Highsted Grammar School Test
Pupils looking to obtain a place at Highsted Grammar School are also able to take an additional, optional test at the school in September. The school’s test will have equal status for a place in Year 7 as a pass in the Kent 11+ exam. The Highsted test is an optional, additional opportunity to check eligibility.
Kent 11+ Exam Format
The tests are multiple-choice with a separate answer sheet. They are marked by an automated marking machine.
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.
Highsted Grammar School Exam Format
The test will comprise of two main elements: a computer-based test and a written exam. The computer-based test will assess Verbal Reasoning, Non-Verbal Reasoning and Maths. The written exam will assess English (reading and writing).
Prepare for Kent 11+ Exam
What We Provide
Kent 11+ Standardised Scores
Your child will get 3 standardised scores, one for English, one for maths and one for reasoning, and a total (aggregate) score.
Standardisation is a statistical process which compares your child's performance with the average performance of other children in each test. A slight adjustment is made to take account of each child's age so that the youngest are not at a disadvantage.
The grammar school threshold for the test will not be published until the results have been sent out.
In order to calculate a standardised score the company producing and marking the tests will create a reference table – called a “look-up table” – for each test paper that is written, and the table is specific to that test paper, because it takes account of the difficulty of the paper. The minimum standardised score is derived from the look-up table and the actual number will vary depending on the average score of all those taking the test and the number of applicants.
Below is an example look-up table. The vertical axis is the “raw score”, i.e. the number (percentage) of actual questions that a child gets right on a paper. The horizontal axis represents the age of the child at the time of taking the exam, shown as years + months.
Kent 11+ Pass Mark
In 2021, children needed a total score of 332 or more, with no single score lower than 109 to be allocated a place at a Kent grammar school. Test scores ranged from 69 to 141. The highest possible total score is 423.
Kent 11+ Appeals
If your child did not reach the threshold score and their primary school referred their case to the local Head Teacher Assessment Panel, the panel will have looked at their achievement in school and examples of their work, including the writing task completed on the day, before a final decision was made.
If your child does not qualify, the Head does not seek a review or if the review is unsuccessful, you still have the right to have your child’s case heard by an Independent Appeals Panel. You are only able to appeal a decision after school allocations have been sent out to parents in March.
How to Prepare for the Kent 11+ Exam
Your child will need to develop the following skills:
Verbal Reasoning
Non-Verbal Reasoning
Maths
English
Creative Writing
Kent 11+ Past Papers
Use these papers to practise the question types for the Kent 11+ exam.
Verbal Reasoning Test 1
Verbal Reasoning Test 1 Answer Sheet
Verbal Reasoning Test 2
Verbal Reasoning Test 2 Answer Sheet
Verbal Reasoning Test 3
Verbal Reasoning Test 3 Answer Sheet
Verbal Reasoning Mark Scheme
Maths Test 1
Maths Test 1 Answer Sheet
Maths Test 2
Maths Test 2 Answer Sheet
Maths Mark Scheme
English Test 1
English Test 1 Answer Sheet
English Test 2
English Test 2 Answer Sheet
English Mark Scheme
Non-Verbal Reasoning Test 1
Non-Verbal Reasoning Test 1 Answer Sheet
Non-Verbal Reasoning Test 2
Non-Verbal Reasoning Test 2 Answer Sheet
Non-Verbal Reasoning Test 3
Non-Verbal Reasoning Test 3 Answer Sheet
Non-Verbal Reasoning Mark Scheme
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