For parents and guardians: Please verify all school data — cut-off scores, applicant numbers and competition ratios — against official sources (school websites, local authority admissions data) before making any decisions. The figures on this page are researched but not guaranteed and change each admissions cycle.
Complete 2025/26 11+ Guide to Grammar Schools in Medway
Medway is home to 4 fully selective grammar schools and 1 partially selective school. This guide covers every school — admissions criteria, competition data, cut-off scores, GCSE results, and specific prep advice — so you can make an informed decision.
How the Medway 11+ works
Three papers: (1) Extended Writing — creative/persuasive writing task marked by Medway grammar school teachers; (2) Maths — KS2 curriculum-based, multiple choice (GL Assessment); (3) Verbal Reasoning & Non-Verbal Reasoning — multiple choice (GL Assessment). All answers recorded on OMR sheets. Scores are age-standardised then weighted: Extended Writing ×2, Maths ×2, VR/NVR ×1.
A single Medway Test result is accepted by all six Medway grammar schools — there is no need to sit separate tests per school. The Medway Test is entirely separate from the Kent Test; passing one does NOT qualify a child for the other. The selective pass mark is set annually as a percentile threshold of the whole Medway Year 6 cohort (25th percentile for 2025 entry; 26th percentile for 2026 entry). Passing the threshold does not guarantee a place — oversubscribed schools then apply their own oversubscription criteria. Chatham Grammar also accepts the Kent Test result.
Key dates
Who can apply?
Must register for the Medway Test during the published registration window (May–June of Year 6).
Test is open to children in both Medway and non-Medway primary schools; non-Medway pupils are allocated a weekend test centre.
Applicants must be assessed as selective (achieving the minimum percentile threshold) before the school's oversubscription criteria are applied.
Children with an EHCP naming a Medway grammar school are admitted above PAN without needing to sit the test.
Late registrations cannot be accepted; there is no alternative test date or resit.
There is no remarking of any Medway Test paper and no appeal process for a remark.
Results are valid for Year 7 entry only within the co-ordinated scheme dates.
Out-of-area applicants: results are not transferable to Kent, Bexley or Bromley — separate tests are required for those authorities.
Admissions process
Register via the Medway Council Parent Portal (admissions.medway.gov.uk) between mid-May and mid-June of Year 6. Children attending Medway primary schools sit the test at school on a weekday in September; all others are allocated a weekend test centre. Results are released in mid-October.
If your child's weighted score places them within the top percentile threshold (25th percentile for 2025 entry), they are assessed as "selective". A selective assessment is required to be eligible for a grammar school place. The minimum score is set after all tests are marked.
Name up to four preferred Medway schools on the SCAF (or your home LA's CAF if you live outside Medway) by 31 October. Grammar schools may also require a Supplementary Information Form (SIF) for Pupil Premium applicants. Submitting only the Medway Test registration — without the CAF — is an incomplete application.
Where more selective applicants apply than there are places, each grammar school applies its own oversubscription criteria. Criteria typically include: (1) looked-after/previously looked-after children; (2) Pupil Premium/Service Premium (some schools); (3) siblings; (4) children of staff; (5) distance from school (shortest available route). The Rochester Grammar School also gives priority to children attending named TSAT primary schools.
Offers are made on National Offer Day (2 March 2026). If refused, families may appeal to an independent panel. Appeals for grammar schools where a child did not achieve the selective threshold are also possible. Waiting lists are managed by the LA until 31 December of the entry year; thereafter by the school.
School Directory
Disclaimer: Data from official school/LA sources, April 2026. Key sources: Medway Council admissions directory (medway.gov.uk), individual school admissions policies, Ofsted reports (reports.ofsted.gov.uk), DfE School Performance Tables (compare.education.gov.uk), school websites. Progress 8 scores are not published for 2024/25 or 2025/26 due to COVID-related KS2 data gap; most recent P8 for RGS is from 2023/24. Attainment 8 figures for Holcombe Grammar not confirmed from verified official sources at time of writing. Verify all data at individual school websites and medway.gov.uk before acting. Always verify figures on the school or local authority website before making decisions — data changes each admissions cycle. Last updated: 2026-04-19. We aim to refresh this guide every year after new DfE data is published (typically June/July).