Tunbridge Wells Girls' Grammar School 11+ Admissions Guide

Entry to Tunbridge Wells Girls' Grammar School at 11+ depends on being assessed suitable for grammar school through the Kent Test, then naming the school on the Kent Secondary Common Application Form; the school does not set its own entrance exam. Places are then allocated against published oversubscription criteria if applications exceed the 174 places available, with priority given first to looked-after children, then Pupil Premium applicants, sibling links, medical need, staff daughters, and only after that to catchment residents and distance from home.

Registration for the Kent Test happens online through Kent County Council in the summer before Year 6, with the test itself sat in the early autumn and results sent before the secondary application deadline. Because the school is heavily oversubscribed within its catchment, a qualifying Kent Test result does not guarantee a place; where a child lives relative to the school, and any sibling or Pupil Premium status, matters once demand exceeds supply.

How entry to Year 7 works

The school admits 174 girls into Year 7 each year, of which 17 places are reserved as Governors' Places for catchment-area applicants with the highest Kent Test scores who would not otherwise be offered a place under the standard criteria. Entry depends on a Kent Test assessment of suitability for grammar school combined with naming the school on the Kent Secondary Common Application Form (SCAF); the application is processed through Kent's co-ordinated admissions scheme.

Where applications exceed places, which the school describes as the usual position, a published order of oversubscription criteria decides who is offered a place. Children with an Education, Health and Care Plan naming the school are admitted first, ahead of any oversubscription criteria, which reduces the admission number available to everyone else.

How the Kent Test works

The Kent Test used for entry to Tunbridge Wells Girls' Grammar School and every other Kent grammar school consists of two multiple-choice papers: a reasoning paper covering verbal reasoning (using words and numbers) and non-verbal or spatial reasoning (using patterns and sequences), and a combined English and Maths paper. The English section includes a comprehension exercise plus questions on spelling, grammar and punctuation; the Maths section reflects the Key Stage 2 National Curriculum.

Children also complete a piece of writing under test conditions. The writing task sits outside the marked score, though a local Headteacher Assessment Panel may consider it, alongside a primary headteacher's referral, recent work and comments from the child's current school, where a result sits close to the threshold. All scores are standardised by age so that younger children in the year group are not disadvantaged. The school does not set any additional entrance test or hold an admissions interview at 11+.

• Paper 1: combined English and Maths, multiple choice
• Paper 2: reasoning (verbal and non-verbal), multiple choice
• Unmarked writing task, considered only in borderline cases

Registering and applying, step by step

Registration for the Kent Test is completed online with Kent County Council while a child is still in Year 5, ahead of sitting the test early in Year 6. Children attending a Kent primary school sit the test at their own school; children from outside Kent, or those educated at home, sit it at an allocated test centre a few days later.

Kent Test results are emailed to parents in the autumn, before the Secondary Common Application Form deadline. Parents then name up to four preferred schools, in order, on the SCAF; naming the school without a suitable Kent Test result means the application cannot be considered for a grammar place, though a right of appeal remains. Pupil Premium applicants relying on criterion 2 must also return a Supplementary Information Form directly to the school by the same October deadline as the SCAF closes. Kent ranks and allocates places, with results sent to parents on National Offer Day the following March; families who are not offered a place can join the waiting list or lodge an independent appeal.

• Register for the Kent Test online with Kent County Council
• Sit the test in the early autumn of Year 6
• Receive the Kent Test decision by email
• Name the school on the Secondary Common Application Form
• Submit any Supplementary Information Form directly to the school
• Receive the offer, then accept, decline, wait-list or appeal

Catchment area and oversubscription criteria

The school's catchment, used in criteria 3, 6 and 8, covers girls living within four miles of the school in a straight line, measured from national address-point data, or living in one of a long list of named parishes stretching from Sevenoaks and Westerham in the north to Cowden and Hever in the south, and including Tonbridge, Southborough, Pembury and Royal Tunbridge Wells itself.

Once demand exceeds the 174 places, criteria are applied strictly in order: looked-after and previously looked-after children; Pupil Premium applicants within the catchment area who have passed the Kent Test; current sibling links within the catchment area; medical or special access need; daughters of long-serving staff; catchment residents generally; then straight-line distance from home to school; and finally the 17 Governors' Places, awarded by combined Kent Test rank order to the highest-scoring catchment applicants otherwise missing out. Living outside the catchment area and distance list means a place depends on distance from school once all higher criteria are exhausted, which the school's own record of being oversubscribed makes unlikely in most years.

• 1. Looked-after and previously looked-after children
• 2. Pupil Premium applicants within the catchment area
• 3. Sibling (current family association) within the catchment area
• 4. Medical or special access need
• 5. Daughters of long-serving staff
• 6. Catchment area: within four miles, or a named parish
• 7. Distance from home to school
• 8. Governors' Places (17), by combined Kent Test rank order

Pupil Premium priority and support

Girls receiving Pupil Premium, meaning those eligible for targeted free school meals within the past six years, are prioritised under criterion 2, ahead of sibling links and catchment residency, provided they also meet the catchment requirement of criterion 6 and have passed the Kent Test. Parents applying under this route must complete and return a Supplementary Information Form to the school as well as naming it on the SCAF.

Once admitted, Pupil Premium pupils can receive financial assistance towards uniform, equipment and school trips. The school also gives Pupil Premium-eligible families free access to an online 11+ preparation platform, Atom Learning, ahead of the Kent Test.

How to prepare for the Kent Test format

Because the assessment is entirely multiple choice across two papers, reasoning and combined English and Maths, familiarity with the question types matters as much as subject knowledge: verbal and non-verbal reasoning items reward pattern recognition and working quickly under time pressure, while the English and Maths paper draws on comprehension, spelling, grammar, punctuation and Key Stage 2 maths content.

The unmarked writing task is best approached calmly, without last-minute cramming; it is only referred to a Headteacher Assessment Panel where a child's scores sit close to the threshold, alongside their recent classwork and their primary teacher's view. Since the test is standardised by age, a steady run-up of practice across reasoning, English and Maths tends to serve children better than a late burst of preparation or a focus on any one paper alone.

In-year and Sixth Form entry

Outside the main Year 7 round, the school considers in-year applications to Years 8 to 11 directly, using an In-Year Application Form, with all applicants tested by the school itself to check they can keep pace with a selective curriculum; any waiting list is ranked using the same oversubscription criteria as the Year 7 round.

Sixth Form entry is separate from the Kent Test route. External candidates, alongside internal Year 11 pupils who meet the entry grades, apply directly to the school; the published number for external Sixth Form places is 30, though this can be exceeded if the total intake into Year 12 falls short of the school's target year-group size.

Related guides

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

Preparing for the Tunbridge Wells Girls' Grammar School 11+ with Taylor Tuition

Families preparing for the Tunbridge Wells Girls' 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.