Beths Grammar School 11+ Admissions: The Bexley Test and Entry Criteria

How do you get into Beths Grammar School at 11+? A boy must be deemed selective in the Bexley Selection Test, sat in Year 6 and registered for directly with Bexley Council, and then be allocated one of the school's 192 Year 7 places through Bexley's co-ordinated secondary admissions scheme and its published oversubscription criteria.

Beths Grammar School sets no catchment area; eligibility rests on the test result, with distance to the school coming into play once places are oversubscribed. The process runs across a school year: registration for the test, the test itself, results, a common application form naming preferred schools, and finally an offer and acceptance deadline, with a statutory right of appeal if no place is offered.

How entry to the school works

Entry to the school at 11+ depends on a boy being deemed selective in the Bexley Selection Test and then being allocated a place through Bexley's co-ordinated secondary admissions scheme. The school's Published Admission Number is 192 boys a year, and it also participates in the local Fair Access Protocol. A second entry point opens at 16, when the Sixth Form takes in both boys and girls from outside the school, with a minimum of 183 places available to external applicants who meet the academic entry requirements.

How the 11+ assessment works

The Bexley Selection Test is sat by all boys applying to the school and to the borough's other grammar schools, since a single test serves all four. It consists of two multiple-choice papers, each around 50 minutes long with a break between them, sat in one session; the papers are administered for Bexley Council by Quest Assessments and cover verbal ability and comprehension, numerical reasoning and non-verbal reasoning. Raw scores are age-standardised, since children sitting the test can be up to a year apart in age, so that a younger child's score is compared fairly against an older peer's.

There is no separate interview and no school report required as part of the test itself; the local authority sets the qualifying, or 'selective', standard each year once all scripts are marked, and Beths and the other three grammar schools then apply their own oversubscription criteria to the boys deemed selective.

Registering and applying, step by step

Parents register their son directly with Bexley Council to sit the Bexley Selection Test, normally in the spring before the test, using the online form on the council's website; the school does not handle test registration itself. Bexley then organises the test sitting, which takes place in the second or third week of September, and sends results to parents by post or email within four weeks. Families then complete the Local Authority Common Application Form, listing Beths and any other preferred schools in order, by the CAF deadline. Offers follow later in the school year, with a set deadline for accepting a place and, for boys not offered a place, a statutory right of appeal to an independent panel.

• Register with Bexley Council for the Selection Test
• Sit the Bexley Selection Test in September
• Receive the selective/non-selective result by post or email
• Submit the Common Application Form naming preferred schools in order
• Return any relevant supplementary form (siblings, staff, Pupil Premium/Free School Meals, Kent 11+) by the school's deadline
• Receive the offer and confirm acceptance by the published date

Catchment and oversubscription criteria

The school sets no catchment area, so any boy deemed selective in the Bexley test may apply regardless of where he lives. Where places are oversubscribed, the school works through its criteria in order: children in local authority care; boys among the highest 180 scorers in the Bexley test, who are given priority similar to a sibling; boys with a sibling already at the school; boys with a parent employed there on a permanent contract; up to 12 places for Pupil Premium or Free School Meals-eligible boys who are selective, ranked by distance; then all remaining selective boys by straight-line distance to the school's Hartford Road entrance. Distance ties are broken by test score. Boys who are selective in the Kent (Dartford) 11+ test yet unselective in the Bexley test are considered last, against the same ordered criteria.

In-year admissions and Sixth Form entry

The school also considers applications outside the normal Year 7 intake, for years up to the start of Year 10, whenever the number on roll falls below 192; boys who have not already sat the Bexley test are typically tested within 30 school days of applying, using the same selective/non-selective standard, and only selective boys join the waiting list. At 16, the school's Sixth Form is co-educational, and external boys and girls apply using the school's own online form by the published January deadline, needing a minimum of seven full-course GCSEs at grades 9 to 5, with a minimum points total of 42 across their best seven subjects, including at least grade 5 in English and mathematics, alongside any individual subject requirements.

How to prepare for the Bexley Selection Test

Since the Bexley Selection Test covers verbal ability and comprehension, numerical reasoning and non-verbal reasoning across two multiple-choice papers in one sitting, preparation tends to focus on building speed and accuracy across all three areas, with less emphasis on depth in any one. Working through timed practice papers in the same two-paper, single-session format helps a child get used to the pace, while regular reading and mental arithmetic practice through Year 5 and Year 6 support the verbal and numerical elements without turning preparation into a long slog. Because the score is age-standardised, a calm, steady run-up matters more than any last-minute push, and it usually helps to treat the test as one part of a normal school term, without viewing it as a single decisive event.

Related guides

• Kent grammar schools guide
• Tutors for families in Kent
• Grammar schools in England: the full directory

Preparing for the Beths Grammar School 11+ with Taylor Tuition

The Beths Grammar School 11+ rewards steady preparation over a year or so, with the last term given to timed practice and interview confidence. Having prepared pupils for entry to leading independent and grammar schools, with placements including Westminster, St Paul's, Wycombe Abbey and Eton, our tutors match the programme to the school's assessment format and to where the child is starting from.

Because the pool includes former heads of department, exam-board examiners and teachers from independent and boarding schools, and more than half of our tutors hold Qualified Teacher Status, families get a tutor who understands what the assessors are looking for. Every tutor who works with children holds an enhanced DBS check.

Families work with us online from anywhere in the UK or abroad, and in person in central London. Fees start from £50 per 50-minute session and depend on tutor level and subject, with no registration fee and a free initial consultation to talk through your child's current level and the timeline to the 11+. Families receive progress reports after sessions and have a dedicated point of contact, and we reply to enquiries within one working day with tutor recommendations.

Read more about our 11+ entrance exam tutors, or send an enquiry and we will come back with tutor recommendations.