Dane Court Grammar School 11+ Admissions: The Kent Test and How to Apply

A child gets into Dane Court Grammar School at 11+ by registering for the Kent Test, meeting the required standard, and then naming the school on the Kent Secondary Common Application Form; passing the test confirms grammar school eligibility but does not by itself secure a place, since Dane Court allocates its 165 Year 7 places using its own published oversubscription criteria whenever demand exceeds supply, which it does in most years.

The Kent Test itself is set and marked by Kent County Council, so the assessment format, registration and results timetable are the same whichever Kent grammar school a family applies to; the oversubscription criteria used to rank applicants once the results are known are what differs from school to school.

How the 11+ assessment works

Entry to Dane Court at 11+ depends on the Kent Test, a countywide assessment set and marked centrally by Kent County Council. The test has two computer-marked papers: one covering English and maths, taken in a single sitting of about an hour, and one covering verbal and non-verbal reasoning, also about an hour. Children also complete an unmarked writing task of around 40 minutes, including planning time; it carries no score, though a headteacher panel may refer to it if a result is borderline. Most Kent children sit the papers at their own primary school early in the autumn term of Year 6, while children from outside Kent, including those educated at home, register directly with the county and sit the test at a Kent testing centre on a specified weekend shortly afterwards.

How to register and apply

Registration for the Kent Test happens separately from, and ahead of, the school application itself: parents register through their child's primary school, or directly with Kent County Council if the child attends a school outside Kent or is home-educated. Results follow before the main secondary admissions round opens, so families know whether their child has met the required standard in good time. Parents then name Dane Court as a preferred school on the Kent Secondary Common Application Form, submitted to their home local authority; Kent allocates places on National Offer Day, after which families accept, join a waiting list, or appeal.

Oversubscription criteria and priority order

When more children meet the Kent Test standard than Dane Court has places, any child with an Education, Health and Care Plan naming the school is admitted first, with the remaining places allocated in a fixed order set out in the school's published admissions arrangements. Where children are otherwise equally placed, the school uses random allocation, independently verified, as a final tie-break.

• Looked-after children and previously looked-after children, including those adopted from care
• Children with a medical or health need, or another special access reason, supported by written evidence from a qualified medical practitioner
• Children who have been eligible for free school meals at any point in the past six years (the pupil premium link criterion)
• Children with a sibling already on the school's roll
• All other children who met the Kent Test standard, ranked by straight-line distance from home to school

Is there a catchment area for Dane Court?

Dane Court Grammar School does not operate a fixed catchment or priority area. Distance from home to school is used only as the last of the oversubscription criteria, measured as a straight line from the National Land and Property Gazetteer address point for the child's home, and only among children who have already met the Kent Test's required standard. In practice this means proximity narrows the field once the higher-priority categories, such as looked-after children and siblings, have been applied.

Results, offers and the waiting list

Kent Test results reach parents before the Secondary Common Application Form is due, confirming whether a child has met the standard needed for grammar school consideration. Places are then allocated on National Offer Day. Children who met the standard but were not offered a place join Dane Court's waiting list, which is re-ranked using the published oversubscription criteria every time a new name is added; position does not depend on how long a child has waited, and the list remains open until the end of the calendar year of admission. Parents who are unsuccessful can also lodge an appeal, handled by an independent panel through a third-party clerking service independent of the school.

Entry points beyond 11+

Year 7 is the school's main entry point, though it also admits into its Sixth Form at 16+, where the minimum published admission number is 30. Entry to the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme, which the Sixth Form runs instead of A-levels, requires eight GCSE passes at grade 5 or above, including English, mathematics and a modern language, with at least six at grade 6 or above; other IB pathways at the school carry lower thresholds. The school also operates a means-tested 16-19 Bursary Fund that can help with costs such as transport, equipment and university visits.

How to prepare for the Kent Test

Preparing for a Dane Court place means preparing for the standard Kent Test, since the school sets no assessment of its own. Familiarity with computer-marked English, maths, verbal reasoning and non-verbal reasoning questions, worked calmly and at pace, is the priority above any single topic, and the unmarked writing task is worth treating as a chance to write clearly under time pressure without it being the deciding element. The school offers free 11+ familiarisation materials, including practice papers, to pupil premium and free-school-meal-eligible children through a partnership with Atom Learning. Families whose children will sit the test away from their own primary school should also check the arrangements for out-of-county or home-educated candidates in good time.

Related guides

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

Preparing for the Dane Court Grammar School 11+ with Taylor Tuition

Families preparing for the Dane Court Grammar School 11+ usually come to us a year or so before the assessment, though shorter runs work where the foundations are already sound. Having prepared pupils for entry to leading independent and grammar schools, with placements including Westminster, St Paul's, Wycombe Abbey and Eton, our tutors build each programme around the format the school actually uses, whether a written paper, an online pre-test, an interview or a combination of them.

More than half of our tutors hold Qualified Teacher Status and around three in five hold a master's degree or doctorate, and the pool includes former heads of department, exam-board examiners and teachers from independent and boarding schools, so the preparation is led by people who know how selective schools assess. 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.