Maidstone Grammar School

Maidstone Grammar School uses the Kent Test, a shared exam administered across Kent grammar schools rather than a school-specific paper. The test is split into two papers sat on the same day in September and covers Verbal Reasoning, Non-Verbal Reasoning, Mathematics and English. It's worth noting that this is a boys' school with around 150 places available each year, making it selective and competitive.

The exam sits at a standard difficulty level compared to typical GL papers — it's not exceptionally hard, but it is competitive. The main area where children tend to find it challenging is vocabulary, particularly in the Verbal Reasoning and English sections. If your son isn't a keen reader, synonym and antonym questions may catch him out, so building vocabulary knowledge (especially more advanced words) should be part of your preparation plan.

Time pressure is moderate but real. Children who spend too long deliberating over individual questions risk running out of time, so practising under timed conditions from an early stage is important. Maths is generally fair and predictable — children who've thoroughly covered the Year 5 and 6 curriculum usually manage this section well. In English, reading comprehension is age-appropriate, but inference questions (where children need to read between the lines) tend to be trickier than straightforward factual retrieval, so it's worth practising both types.

The registration deadline for the Kent Test is typically late June or early July, so check the Kent County Council admissions timetable for the exact date. There's no published qualifying score — the exam is used to rank applicants — so focus your preparation on building confidence across all four areas rather than chasing a specific target mark.