Rochester Grammar School 11+ Admissions: The Medway Test and How to Apply

Entry to Rochester Grammar School at 11+ turns on passing the Medway Test, a set of GL Assessment papers in English, mathematics and reasoning administered by Medway Council, and then on the school's published oversubscription criteria if applications for its 205 Year 7 places outnumber supply. There is no fixed catchment area: any girl assessed as grammar-ability in the test may apply, wherever she lives, with distance from home to school used only to break ties within priority categories.

The school, part of the Thinking Schools Academy Trust, admits girls into Years 7 to 11 and runs a co-educational sixth form. Places are offered through Medway's co-ordinated admissions scheme, and the school does not accept direct applications. Families register separately for the Medway Test and for the secondary school preference form, both through Medway Council's Parent Portal.

How entry to the school works

Entry to Year 7 is selective, based on passing the Medway Test, and is coordinated through Medway Council's admissions scheme; families do not apply directly to the school. The published admission number for Year 7 is 205 girls, and only candidates assessed as being of grammar ability in the Medway Test are considered. Girls with a Statutory Education, Health and Care Plan naming the school are admitted where they meet the entry requirement.

Beyond Year 7, the sixth form is co-educational and admits up to 20 external students into Year 12 each year, once the school's own Year 11 pupils have transferred and entry requirements for their chosen course of study are met.

How the Medway Test is structured

The Medway Test is set by GL Assessment specifically for Medway Council, and it is the only test accepted for the standard Year 7 admissions round; only applications from candidates assessed as grammar-ability through it are considered. The assessment comprises three timed papers: English (30 minutes), mathematics (50 minutes), and reasoning (45 minutes, split into spatial and non-verbal reasoning, then verbal reasoning), each preceded by short practice questions and separated from the next by a break of at least 20 minutes.

There is no resit and no remarking of any paper. Medway Council issues results to parents ahead of the deadline for the secondary school preference form, so families know the test outcome before they have to rank their school choices.

How to register and apply, step by step

Registration for the test and application for a school place are two separate steps, both handled through Medway Council. Neither is dealt with directly by the school.

• Register for the Medway Test via Medway's Parent Portal, giving your daughter's current school; each child, including siblings in the same year group, needs a separate registration
• Sit the Medway Test papers: pupils at Medway maintained primary or junior schools test on set weekday dates, other pupils on a weekend date, always at a Medway venue
• Receive the test outcome from Medway Council, issued ahead of the preference deadline
• Complete Medway's Common Application Form, ranking the school among your preferences, by the autumn closing date; families applying under Pupil Premium priority also return a Supplementary Information Form direct to the school
• Receive the offer from Medway Council on behalf of the school's governors, then accept or refuse the place by the stated deadline

Catchment and oversubscription criteria

The school does not use a catchment area, so any girl assessed as grammar-ability in the Medway Test may apply regardless of where she lives. When applications for the 205 places exceed supply, offers follow seven published priority categories, in order:

• Looked-after and previously looked-after children
• Children eligible for Pupil Premium funding, including current or recent free school meals eligibility, or a forces family
• Siblings already attending the school
• Children attending named Thinking Schools Academy Trust primary schools in Medway
• Children of staff employed at the school
• Children with a documented medical need to attend the school
• Distance from home to school, measured as the shortest straight-line route

Waiting lists and in-year applications

Parents refused a place can ask for their daughter's name to be added to the Year 7 waiting list, which the school holds and orders by the same priority categories used for admissions. Length of time on the list has no bearing on order, and a child's position can move as other names join or leave the list. The school holds the list only until the date set out in that year's admissions policy.

Applications outside the normal admissions round go direct to the school, which sets and administers its own entrance test according to a published calendar. The Medway Test itself is valid only for entry within the co-ordinated scheme's Year 7 round; it cannot be used for later in-year applications.

How to prepare for the Medway Test

Because the Medway Test covers English, mathematics and reasoning in three separate timed papers, with only a short run of practice questions before each, familiarity with the format matters alongside subject knowledge. Practising under the same timings, including the breaks between papers, helps a child pace herself through the reasoning papers, which are split between spatial/non-verbal reasoning and verbal reasoning.

Since there is no resit or remark once the test is sat, most families treat preparation as a settled routine of short, regular practice, avoiding a last-minute push, and check with their daughter's class teacher whether she is working at or above the expected standard for her age before registering.

Sixth form entry at 16+

External candidates for Year 12 need at least five GCSEs at grades 6 to 9, including grade 5 in mathematics and in English literature or language, to study the International Baccalaureate diploma, with subject-specific requirements published separately for each course; offers are conditional on final GCSE results. Where external places are oversubscribed, priority runs from looked-after children, to pupils transferring from named Thinking Schools Academy Trust secondary schools, to siblings, to staff children, to documented medical need, and finally to distance from home.

Related guides

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

Preparing for the Rochester Grammar School 11+ with Taylor Tuition

The Rochester 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.

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