Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
11-plus and pressure to get children from poorer families into grammars
Thousands of children in Kent have only just returned from the summer holiday but will be sitting an exam next week that will determine whether they will get a place at one of the county’s 33 grammar schools.
The Kent Test takes place over one day, and consists of two multiple-choice papers: an English and maths paper lasting an hour, followed by a reasoning paper, also lasting an hour comprising a verbal reasoning section and a non-verbal reasoning section.
As in previous years, the competition for places at the county’s grammar schools is intense with children not just from Kent but neighbouring areas sitting the 11-plus.
And many fee-paying prep schools continue to add to that pressure on available places by entering pupils for the test.
This year, the issue of whether there should be more grammar school places has taken centre stage in the political debate about education policy.
And part of that debate has centred on whether selective schools are doing enough to encourage brighter children from poorer backgrounds to apply for places. The gove rnment had announced that it would introduce legislation to permit new grammar schools, a move that inevitably split political opinion. In the event, the Conservative government has had to shelve its plans following the general election result in June.
Nevertheless, the debate continues with a particular focus on the question of social mobility and the perception that the intense competition for grammar school places continues to favour those who can afford private tuition to help them pass the exam.
It is a discussion which has had a particular resonance in Kent, which remains the largest wholly selective authority in the country.
Kent County Council’s Conservative administration has been urged to take steps to ensure that more encouragement and support is provided to both families and schools where brighter pupils from less well-off backgrounds have traditionally not considered a selective education as a viable prospect.
There have been some signs that grammar schools themselves are beginning to take some steps in that direction.
From 2018, four west Kent grammars are to bring in admissions arrangements that could help that objective:
Weald of Kent Girls Grammar will reserve 16 places for children eligible for pupil premium money
Tonbridge Grammar School will offer 10 places for girls eligible for pupil premium money and whose 11-plus scores are below automatic qualifying score
The Judd School will offer five places to children on free school meals who pass the 11-plus but do not necessarily get the higher score
Skinners’ School will continue with a new policy of offering five places for pupils on free school meals, provided they pass the 11-plus and are no more than 10 marks below lowest qualifying mark
Obtaining a ‘grammar assessment’ in the Kent test does not guarantee that a child will be offered a grammar school place as – like any popular schools – grammar schools may be oversubscribed.