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Area guide · entry in September 2027

The 11+ in Medway

Medway runs its own 11+, the Medway Test, which is separate from the Kent Test and counts only for Medway's six grammar schools. Passing it makes your child eligible, but places are then given mainly by how close you live — so for families outside Medway, a pass rarely turns into an offer.

On this page
  1. The calendar
  2. The six Medway grammar schools
  3. Who can sit the test
  4. What is in the papers
  5. How the test is marked, and the pass mark
  6. Applying, and how places are decided
  7. Things that catch families out

Medway at a glance

  • The Medway Test 15 and 16 September 2026 in Medway primary schools; 19 or 20 September for everyone else. English, maths and reasoning.
  • Results Emailed after 10am on Wednesday 14 October 2026. For 2026 admissions, a grammar assessment needed a total weighted score of 481.
  • Apply by 31 October 2026 Registering for the test is not applying. Name the grammar schools on your home council's application.
  • How places are decided Medway's grammar schools are all oversubscribed and places go mainly by distance from home, not by test score. Offers on 1 March 2027.

What the test covers

Three papers: English (comprehension, punctuation and grammar), maths, and reasoning (verbal, non-verbal and spatial). English and maths count double. The council lists no separate writing task.

The calendar

Every date for entry in September 2027, from the published arrangements. Dates that have passed are in grey.

Date What happens
9am on Monday 18 May 2026 Medway Test registration opened
5pm on Friday 12 June 2026 Medway Test registration closed Late registrations are not accepted, with no exceptions.
Monday 22 June 2026 Closing date for special arrangements requests from schools The request has to come from your child's current school, not from you.
By the end of August 2026 Test invitations sent By email, or by post if you gave no email address. Email medwaytest@medway.gov.uk if nothing has arrived by September.
Tuesday 1 September 2026 Secondary school applications opened
Tuesday 15 and Wednesday 16 September 2026 Medway Test, for children at Medway primary and junior schools Sat at their own school. Children with special arrangements may test on Thursday 17 and Friday 18 September instead.
Saturday 19 or Sunday 20 September 2026 Medway Test, for children at non-Medway schools At a Medway test centre. One day is allocated to each child.
Wednesday 14 October 2026 Results day Results are emailed after 10am, or posted that day if you gave no email address.
5pm on Saturday 31 October 2026 Secondary school application deadline Apply through the council for the area you live in on 31 October 2026, even for Medway schools.
Monday 7 December 2026 Last date for changes to on-time Medway applications Only if a valid application was made by the closing date.
Monday 1 March 2027 Offers made Emailed after 4pm to families who applied online through Medway.
Friday 12 March 2027 Deadline to accept or refuse offers and to ask for waiting lists
Tuesday 13 April 2027 Deadline for on-time appeal requests
Monday 19 April 2027 Reallocation of places and processing of late applications begins

The six Medway grammar schools

The Medway Test is used by these six schools and no others. Places for September 2027 are each school's published admission number.

  • Chatham Grammar, Chatham: 150 places. Year 7 is mixed from September 2026; other years below the sixth form remain girls only. It also accepts children assessed as suitable through the Kent Test.
  • Fort Pitt Grammar School, Chatham: 150 places. Year 7 is mixed from September 2026; other years below the sixth form remain girls only.
  • Holcombe Grammar School, Chatham: 180 places. Year 7 is mixed from September 2026; other years below the sixth form remain boys only.
  • Rainham Mark Grammar School, Gillingham: 235 places, mixed. Needs a supplementary information form.
  • Sir Joseph Williamson's Mathematical School, Rochester: 203 places, boys.
  • The Rochester Grammar School, Rochester: 205 places, girls, with a mixed sixth form. Needs a supplementary information form.

Who can sit the test

Children born between 1 September 2015 and 31 August 2016 could register for the 2026 Medway Test. A child can sit it whether or not they live in Medway, but must sit it at a Medway Council venue in Medway: there is no remote testing and no testing for children living outside the UK.

Registration ran from 18 May to 12 June 2026 and has closed. A child who was not registered cannot sit the test later.

  • The council's advice is to talk to your child's teacher first, and that a child not working at or above the expected level for their age should not sit the test.
  • Test dates and venues are allocated by the council. There is no alternative date if the Medway Test clashes with another test, and twins or triplets sit on the same day.
  • Medway's admissions scheme says a child too ill to sit the test must provide a medical certificate and may be offered another date, but there is no guarantee one will be available.
  • Once you withdraw your child from the test in writing, you cannot re-register them.

What is in the papers

There are three papers, written specifically for Medway Council by GL Assessment, with at least a 20-minute break between them. The council says that test materials found online or in shops, other than on GL Assessment's own website, are not official. It publishes a free familiarisation booklet showing the format and layout of the papers.

English
30 minutes, after three practice questions. Comprehension, punctuation and grammar, completed as one timed test.
Mathematics
50 minutes, after two practice questions, completed as one timed test.
Reasoning
45 minutes in total: four timed sections of spatial and non-verbal reasoning (20 minutes) and one timed section of verbal reasoning (25 minutes), each with practice questions first.
Writing
The council lists only these three papers. It does not list a separate writing task.

How the test is marked, and the pass mark

Each paper's raw score is standardised for the child's age, so children born later in the school year are not disadvantaged. The three scores are then weighted: English × 2, plus maths × 2, plus reasoning × 1 gives the total weighted score.

The pass mark is set fresh each year. The test is designed to assess the equivalent of 26% of children attending Medway maintained schools as grammar: those children are ranked by weighted score, and the score of the child at that 26% line becomes the minimum. Any child from outside Medway, or from a Medway independent school, who reaches the same score is also assessed as grammar.

2026 admissions
Minimum weighted score 481 (25% of the cohort assessed as grammar)
2025 admissions
482 (25% of the cohort)
2024 admissions
492 (23% of the cohort)
Your results show
Your child's total score, a breakdown for each paper, and whether they are assessed as suitable for grammar or non-grammar school.
Not provided
Raw scores, percentages, the pass mark for each paper, the highest or lowest scores achieved, the standardisation calculation, or the papers themselves.
  • There is no resit and no re-marking, and no appeal process for a re-mark. There is no academic review either: the route for a child assessed as non-grammar is an appeal after offers are made.

The part most families need

Applying, and how places are decided

Registering for the test is not an application. You apply separately, through the council for the area where you live on 31 October 2026, and you must name the grammar schools you want. Medway residents can name up to six schools.

All Medway grammar schools are oversubscribed, and Medway Council's own guidance is that places are mainly allocated by how far your child lives from the school, not by test score. Each school ranks applicants against its own oversubscription criteria, published in its admission arrangements.

If your child is assessed as non-grammar you can still name grammar schools, but the council cannot offer one on 1 March 2027. It recommends naming a mix of grammar and non-grammar schools. You then have the right to appeal to each school you named.

Chatham Grammar
1,152 applications for 150 places in September 2026. Furthest distance offered: 28,870 metres.
Fort Pitt Grammar School
1,140 applications for 150 places. Furthest distance offered: 3,321 metres.
Holcombe Grammar School
969 applications for 180 places. Furthest distance offered: 36,953 metres.
Rainham Mark Grammar School
948 applications for 235 places. Furthest distance offered: 4,161 metres.
Sir Joseph Williamson's Mathematical School
742 applications for 203 places. Furthest distance offered: 5,388 metres.
The Rochester Grammar School
838 applications for 205 places. Furthest distance offered: 18,312 metres.

Things that catch families out

  • Living outside Medway. In 2026 admissions, 2,379 non-Medway children registered, 1,426 were assessed as grammar, and only 184 were offered a Medway grammar place. For families outside Kent, fewer than 3% received an offer.
  • The Medway Test is not the Kent Test. It counts only for Medway's six grammar schools; Chatham Grammar is the one school that also accepts the Kent Test.
  • Rainham Mark Grammar School and The Rochester Grammar School need a supplementary information form as well as your application. The form is not an application on its own.
  • A child who was not assessed as grammar cannot go on a Medway grammar school's waiting list.
  • Accept the place you are offered even if you plan to appeal or join a waiting list. A refused place cannot be claimed back.
  • Medway Council has not published any dates for the following round yet.

Sources

15 official pages, checked 4 October 2026

Admissions rules are set again every year, so check the council's own pages before you rely on a date, and tell us if you find something out of date.

Medway Council

All areas Practise for the Medway test