How to prepare for the Highworth Grammar School 11+

The exam at a glance

Highworth Grammar School admits girls into Year 7 through the Kent Test. For 2028 entry, the verified format is GL Assessment via the Kent Test, covering Maths, English, Verbal Reasoning and Non-Verbal Reasoning.

For parents, the key point is that this is a broad test rather than one that rewards heavy focus on just one area. Children need steady, well-balanced preparation across all four subjects, with enough timed practice to stay accurate when the clock is running.

The school’s admissions information makes clear that Year 7 entry is for children who have passed the Kent Test and been assessed as grammar suitable. Kent County Council coordinates the process through its secondary assessment round.

For 2028 entry, ElevenReady’s verified information confirms the subjects and exam route, but the delivery method is not confirmed. Check the school’s admissions page and Kent County Council’s Kent Test pages when registrations open for the latest practical arrangements.

Exam route: Kent Test
Exam board: GL Assessment
Subjects: Maths, English, Verbal Reasoning, Non-Verbal Reasoning
Who it is for: children seeking grammar school entry in Kent, including applicants to Highworth Grammar School
Usual point in school year: September of Year 6

On the day itself, Kent usually runs the test in school for children attending Kent primary schools, while children attending primary schools outside Kent typically sit it at a Kent test centre on a separate date. That distinction matters for planning travel and nerves, so it is worth checking which arrangements apply to your child as soon as registration opens.

Registration and key dates

Registration for the Kent Test is run by Kent County Council, not by Highworth Grammar School directly. Highworth’s admissions page points parents to the county’s secondary assessment process, and Kent County Council explains that the process runs from June, when parents register their child, through to the following spring.

For 2028 entry, a full set of current dates was not available on the pages reviewed, so the safest way to plan is by using the typical timing published by Kent County Council and the school:

Registration usually opens in June of Year 5.
The Kent Test is taken in September of Year 6.
For children at primary schools outside Kent, the test is usually taken at a Kent venue on the weekend after the in-school test.
The national secondary school application deadline is 31 October.

Because dates can move slightly from year to year, parents should treat these as planning markers and then confirm the exact 2027 timetable as soon as Kent County Council publishes it.

In practical terms, registration is normally completed through Kent County Council’s admissions or Kent Test portal. You should expect to need your child’s basic details, current school information and home address. If your child may be eligible under Pupil Premium-related arrangements, Highworth links to a supplementary form on its admissions information, so check that alongside the council registration.

A simple timeline for a child starting Year 7 in September 2028 looks like this:

Stage	Typical timing
Kent Test registration opens	Usually June in Year 5
Kent Test sat	Usually September in Year 6
Secondary school application submitted	By 31 October in Year 6
Coordinated admissions process continues	Through the following spring, with the round described by Kent as running to mid-April

Useful next steps:

Read the school overview here: The Highworth Grammar School 11+ guide (format, catchment, dates)
Sign up for reminders here: Free email alerts for this school's key dates

Who can apply: catchment and admissions

Highworth Grammar School states that Year 7 entry is for students who have passed the Kent Test and been assessed as grammar suitable. That is the first hurdle: without a grammar assessment, a child will not be considered for a standard Year 7 grammar place.

The school says it does not have a fixed catchment area. That is helpful for families outside the immediate area, but it does not mean distance is irrelevant. Highworth’s published admissions information says that distance from school appears as its fifth admission criterion, so families living further away may be ranked lower than otherwise similar applicants.

The school also links a supplementary form for children eligible for Pupil Premium. If that may apply to your family, do not leave it until the last minute: read the school’s admissions page carefully and complete any extra paperwork requested.

What parents should take from this is:

There is no fixed catchment map to rely on.
Passing the Kent Test is essential for the normal Year 7 route.
Distance still matters as part of oversubscription criteria.
If the school is oversubscribed, published admission rules decide the order in which places are offered.

The school pages reviewed did not clearly publish a confirmed current number of Year 7 places for 2028 entry within the material reviewed for this guide, so parents should check the latest determined admissions arrangements on the school website before relying on any figure quoted elsewhere.

Likewise, Highworth does not publish a simple school-specific pass mark for parents to work towards. The Kent Test is a county process, and schools consider applicants through their admissions criteria after assessment. If you are looking for the most up-to-date admissions rules, always read the school’s own policy page alongside Kent County Council’s guidance.

A month-by-month preparation plan

For most children, calm consistency works better than very long study sessions. A sensible plan is to build steadily through Year 5, then add timed work gradually in the months before the September test.

October to December in Year 5

Aim for about 1.5 to 2 hours a week in short sessions.
Focus on core arithmetic, vocabulary, reading comprehension and pattern recognition.
Use untimed practice first so your child can learn methods properly.
Read widely at home: strong reading helps English and verbal reasoning.

January to March in Year 5

Increase to 2 to 3 hours a week.
Start rotating all four subjects every week.
Keep a notebook of errors: missed keywords, careless arithmetic, unknown vocabulary, weak question types.
Introduce short timed drills, but not full papers yet.

April to May in Year 5

Keep to roughly 3 hours a week, split across several sessions.
Begin mixed practice so your child has to switch between skills.
Start building exam stamina with sections completed under gentle time pressure.
If your child is anxious, keep one weekly session deliberately easy to protect confidence.

June in Year 5

This is the point when Kent registration usually opens, so check official pages promptly.
Move to around 3 to 4 hours a week if your child is coping well.
Start the first full timed paper only when individual question types feel familiar.
Review every paper carefully; the learning happens in the correction, not just the sitting.

July in Year 5

Use one full paper or one substantial timed section each week.
Keep one session for targeted repair work on weak areas.
Practise bubbling answers or moving through sections neatly if official guidance later confirms that format.

August before Year 6

Keep work steady but not overwhelming: about 3 to 4 hours a week is usually enough.
Complete timed mixed papers in realistic conditions.
Focus on pacing, checking and recovery after a difficult question.
Protect sleep, exercise and downtime. Tired children rarely test at their best.

September in Year 6

In the final fortnight, reduce volume slightly.
Use short refreshers, quick arithmetic, vocabulary review and one or two confidence-building papers.
Do not try to cram new techniques at the last minute.

If your child is already strong academically, the temptation is to leave preparation late. For the Kent Test, that is rarely wise. Even bright children benefit from learning the style of verbal and non-verbal reasoning and from practising under time limits.

Subject by subject: what to practise

Maths

For Highworth applicants, maths preparation should be practical and fluent. Your child needs secure number skills, quick arithmetic, comfort with fractions, decimals and percentages, and confidence interpreting short worded problems. Timed maths practice should include deciding which method to use, not just getting the final answer.

Practise the four operations until written and mental methods are reliable.
Revise place value, factors, multiples, fractions, decimals, percentages, ratio basics and simple measures.
Include multi-step word problems and data handling.
Build speed gently: first accuracy, then pace.

A good routine is one arithmetic drill, one reasoning set and one review of corrections each week.

English

English preparation should centre on reading carefully. In selective tests, children often lose marks not because the text is too hard, but because they rush. Work on comprehension, inference, vocabulary in context and recognising what a question is really asking.

Read fiction and non-fiction regularly.
Discuss meanings of unfamiliar words and how they are used in context.
Practise retrieving information quickly and supporting inferences from the text.
Encourage full concentration on instructions and answer choices.

If your child enjoys reading but works slowly, timed comprehension practice will matter just as much as vocabulary building.

Verbal Reasoning

Verbal reasoning is often the least familiar area for parents, but it is very learnable. The aim is to become comfortable with common question styles and to spot patterns quickly. Strong vocabulary helps a great deal, as does secure spelling.

Practise word relationships, letter patterns, codes, sequences and logical language tasks.
Build vocabulary steadily from reading and word lists.
Revise prefixes, suffixes and common spellings.
Teach your child to move on from one sticky question rather than freezing.

Short, frequent practice works especially well here.

Non-Verbal Reasoning

Non-verbal reasoning rewards children who learn to look methodically. Instead of guessing from the overall picture, they should check shape, position, rotation, reflection, shading and sequence in a set order.

Practise identifying one change at a time.
Cover rotations, reflections, symmetry, similarities, odd one out and series.
Use error review to name the missed rule, such as rotation or shading, rather than just marking it wrong.
Train speed only after your child can explain the pattern clearly.

This is one of the best subjects for visible improvement over time, provided practice is regular.

Practice papers and mock exams

Practice papers are useful only when they are used thoughtfully. It is better to complete fewer papers and review them well than to race through many and repeat the same mistakes.

A sensible approach is:

Start with untimed or lightly timed work to learn each question type.
Move on to timed sections once methods feel secure.
Introduce full papers later, under realistic conditions.
Mark every paper carefully and write down the reason for each mistake.
Revisit weak topics within a few days.

Mock exams can help with stamina and nerves, but they are most useful when a child is already familiar with the format. If done too early, they can feel discouraging without giving much useful information. If you use a mock, treat it as a rehearsal rather than a verdict.

For free school-specific practice, use these ElevenReady resources:

When your child completes a paper, look beyond the score. Ask:

Were the errors caused by weak knowledge, rushing or misunderstanding the instructions?
Did timing collapse near the end?
Were there patterns, such as careless arithmetic or missed vocabulary?
Was your child calm enough to think clearly?

Those answers tell you far more than one raw mark.

On the day

The best exam-day preparation is practical and boring in the best possible way. Children usually do well when the morning feels familiar.

Check the venue, start time and travel plan in advance.
Prepare anything required the night before.
Aim for a normal breakfast and plenty of time, rather than a rushed start.
Keep conversation calm; avoid last-minute quizzing.
Remind your child that some questions will feel hard, and that this is normal for everyone.

Useful reminders for your child:

Listen carefully to instructions at the start of each section.
If one question feels impossible, move on and come back if there is time.
Keep an eye on the pace without panicking.
Check work only if there is time and do not change answers casually.

If your child is sitting at a Kent test centre rather than their own primary school, the unfamiliar setting can add nerves. A practice journey can help. If they are sitting in school, the advantage is familiarity, but they should still be ready for a more formal atmosphere than an ordinary school day.

After the exam: results, allocation and appeals

After the Kent Test, the immediate question is whether a child has been assessed as suitable for grammar school. Highworth’s admissions route then sits within the normal local authority secondary admissions process.

The broad sequence is:

Your child sits the Kent Test in September of Year 6.
You submit your secondary school application by 31 October, listing your preferred schools in order.
Applications are processed under the published admissions rules.
Offers are made through the coordinated admissions process.

Kent County Council describes the PESE coordinated round as running through to the middle of April of the following year. In practice, parents should follow the council timetable closely and read every email or portal update carefully.

If your child is assessed grammar suitable, that does not automatically guarantee a place at Highworth Grammar School. If the school is oversubscribed, places are allocated using its admissions criteria. Equally, if your child is not offered a place you had hoped for, there is usually an appeals process after allocations. The exact appeal arrangements should always be checked on the relevant local authority and school admissions pages for that year.

If you are considering an appeal, keep expectations realistic and work from the official guidance. Appeals are about published admissions law and procedure, not simply about how much a family likes a school.

What has changed recently

No clearly announced recent change to Highworth Grammar School’s test board or subject mix was identified in the official material reviewed for this guide. The school continues to admit through the Kent Test, and ElevenReady’s verified information for 2028 entry confirms GL Assessment via the Kent Test across Maths, English, Verbal Reasoning and Non-Verbal Reasoning.

Parents should still check the school’s admissions page and Kent County Council’s Kent Test information each year, because practical arrangements and dates can change even when the overall exam route stays the same.

Frequently asked questions

Does Highworth Grammar School have its own 11+ exam?

No. Highworth Grammar School uses the Kent Test for Year 7 admission.

Is there a catchment area for Highworth Grammar School?

The school says it does not have a fixed catchment area. However, distance from school is one of its admission criteria, so where you live can still matter if the school is oversubscribed.

When do you register for the Highworth Grammar School 11+?

Registration is through Kent County Council and typically opens in June while your child is in Year 5. Check the official Kent Test pages for the exact dates for your year.

When is the exam sat?

The Kent Test is typically taken in September of Year 6. Children attending primary schools outside Kent usually sit it at a Kent venue on the following weekend.

What should my child revise for Highworth Grammar School?

For 2028 entry, preparation should cover Maths, English, Verbal Reasoning and Non-Verbal Reasoning, all through the Kent Test format.

Do you need to live near Highworth Grammar School to apply?

No fixed catchment is published, so families from wider areas can apply. But distance is used within the admission criteria, so living further away may reduce priority.

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Sources

Highworth Grammar School – Procedures for Entry to Secondary Education (PESE): Highworth admits to Year 7 via the Kent Test; applicants must have passed the Kent Test and been assessed as grammar suitable; the school says it has no fixed catchment area; distance from school is its fifth admission criterion; a supplementary form is linked for children eligible for Pupil Premium

Preparing for other schools in Kent

Written by ElevenReady from the school's published information and reviewed by a person before publishing. Last reviewed 4 October 2026. Exam arrangements change. Check the school's admissions page for the current year.