Borden Grammar School 11 Plus (11+) Exam Guide

About Borden Grammar School

Borden Grammar School is a boys’ state grammar school in Sittingbourne, Kent, taking pupils from age 11 to 18. The school’s Published Admission Number for Year 7 is 150.

Entry into Year 7 is by the Kent Test, sat in September of Year 6, with an optional additional school test, the Borden Assessment Procedure, for boys who do not reach the required standard first time.

Key information for 2027 entry to Borden Grammar School at 11 Plus (11+)

• School type: boys’ state grammar school
• Test provider: Kent Test (GL Assessment papers, administered by Kent County Council); optional Borden Assessment Procedure run by Quest Assessments
• Kent Test registration opens – deadline: 1 June – 1 July 2026 (midnight)
• Borden Assessment Procedure registration opens – deadline: 1 June 9am – 1 July 2026 4pm
• Kent Test date: Thursday 10 September 2026 (Kent primary schools) or the weekend of 12-13 September 2026 (out-of-county and home-educated children)
• Borden Assessment Procedure date: Saturday 12 September 2026
• Results date: Thursday 15 October 2026
• SCAF deadline: 31 October 2026
• National Offer Day: 1 March 2027
• Year 7 places available: 150
• Contact details: bordengrammar.kent.sch.uk

Admissions information for 2027 entry to Borden Grammar School at 11 Plus (11+)

Boys can become eligible for a place at Borden through the county-wide Kent Test, set by GL Assessment and run by Kent County Council. For a general explanation of how the Kent Test works, see our full Kent Test guide.

Borden also runs its own additional assessment alongside the Kent Test, the Borden Assessment Procedure, provided by Quest Assessments. Unlike Weald of Kent’s equal-alternative approach, Borden’s own admissions policy describes this as a second-chance route: the school “will also admit boys through success in the Borden Assessment Procedure where a boy has been unsuccessful in the Kent testing process.” Your son must have sat the Kent Test to be eligible for the Borden Assessment Procedure, and it is entirely optional; a Kent Test pass on its own is enough for a place. For more on how Quest-run 11+ tests work, see our Quest Assessments guide.

Registration for the Kent Test is completed directly with Kent County Council, not with Borden, between 1 June and 1 July 2026. You must separately name Borden Grammar School on your Secondary Common Application Form (SCAF) by 31 October 2026. Registering for either test and applying for a school place are different steps, and both are required.

When the school is oversubscribed, priority is given first to looked after and previously looked after children, then to a proportion of places reserved for Pupil Premium-eligible boys living in the ME9-ME12 postcode areas, then to siblings already at the school, then to health and special access reasons, then by home postcode area (ME9-ME12 first, then ME8 and ME13, then elsewhere), with distance from home to school used as a tie-break within each category. Make sure you check the school’s current admission arrangements for the full ordered list, as it is reviewed each year.

How can I register my child for the 11 Plus (11+) exams at Borden Grammar School?

You do not register with Borden itself for the Kent Test. Registration for the Kent Test is completed on the Kent County Council website, and Kent does not accept late entries.

If you also want your son to have the option of the Borden Assessment Procedure, registration is separate and completed directly with the school; there is no online registration facility, so the form must be downloaded from the school website or collected from the school office.

Make sure you check the school’s admissions page and the Kent County Council website for the current registration links, as the exact process and closing times are confirmed there each year.

The application process is:

• Register your son for the Kent Test with Kent County Council between 1 June and 1 July 2026
• If you also want to keep the Borden Assessment Procedure open as a safety net, register separately with the school between 1 June and 1 July 2026
• Sit the Kent Test in September 2026, either at his Kent primary school or, for out-of-county and home-educated children, at a test centre, and, if registered, sit the Borden Assessment Procedure at the school on Saturday 12 September 2026
• Complete the Secondary Common Application Form (SCAF), naming Borden Grammar School, by 31 October 2026
• Receive your offer on National Offer Day, 1 March 2027

What is the 11 Plus (11+) entrance exam format for Borden Grammar School?

Boys applying to Borden sit the county-wide Kent Test, and may additionally sit the school’s own Borden Assessment Procedure if they want a second opportunity to reach the required standard.

The Kent Test is made up of two multiple-choice papers plus a separate writing task:

• Paper 1 (English and maths) – about an hour, in two sections. Each section starts with a short practice exercise before a timed 25-minute test.
• Paper 2 (verbal and non-verbal reasoning) – about an hour, split into a verbal reasoning section and a non-verbal reasoning section of roughly equal length.

There is also a writing task of 40 minutes, including about 10 minutes for planning. This is not scored as part of the Kent Test result; it is kept on file and only looked at by a headteacher panel if a child is referred for a closer look. Multiple-choice answers go on a separate answer sheet that is read by a machine, not written in the question booklet itself.

The Borden Assessment Procedure covers the same four areas as the Kent Test, across two papers: English (reading comprehension, grammar, vocabulary and spelling), maths (problem-solving, arithmetic and reasoning), verbal reasoning and non-verbal reasoning. It is designed by Quest Assessments to draw on what pupils have covered in primary school up to the end of Year 5.

A rough guide to topics covered:

• Maths – arithmetic, fractions, decimals and percentages, measurement, geometry, statistics and word problems
• English – comprehension, spelling, punctuation and sentence completion
• Verbal reasoning – word and logic puzzles such as letter sequences, codes and hidden words
• Non-verbal reasoning – patterns, sequences, rotations and odd-one-out questions with shapes

Borden Grammar School 11 Plus (11+) top tips for your child

• Get comfortable with all four areas: English, maths, verbal reasoning and non-verbal reasoning. Both the Kent Test and the Borden Assessment Procedure draw on this same core knowledge, so keep everything ticking over rather than focusing on just one subject.
• Use the short practice exercise at the start of each Kent Test section properly! It is there to show you exactly what to do, so listen carefully and ask yourself if you understand before the timed section begins.
• Practise on a separate answer sheet. Getting used to finding the right box and shading it in properly means one less thing to think about on the day.
• Remember the Borden Assessment Procedure is there as a safety net, not a hurdle! If you sit both tests, you only need to reach the standard in one of them, so try to relax and do your best on the day rather than worrying about a single test result.
• Plan before you write. In the Kent Test writing task, a few minutes spent thinking of a beginning, middle and end will make your writing clearer.
• Don’t panic about one hard question! Move on, keep your pace steady, and come back to anything you have skipped if there is time left.

How to prepare your child for the 11 Plus (11+) Borden Grammar School exam

Because every applicant needs to register for the Kent Test, preparing for Borden starts there: English, maths, verbal reasoning, non-verbal reasoning and the separate writing task. The Borden Assessment Procedure, if you choose to register for it too, draws on the same four subject areas, so the same groundwork covers both.

The most useful way to prepare is to use practice tests that match this format, so your son gets used to working across all four subjects, transferring answers to a separate answer sheet, and keeping to time in each section. That familiarity is what stops the format itself being a surprise on the day.

For Borden Grammar School 11+ preparation, we recommend the following packs: