Dartford Grammar School 11 Plus (11+) Exam Guide

About Dartford Grammar School

Dartford Grammar School is a state grammar school for boys aged 11 to 18 in Dartford, North-West Kent. It is one of the county’s most established grammar schools and is heavily oversubscribed, with around 1,293 applications received for its 180 Year 7 places in a recent year.

Entry to Year 7 is through the Kent Test, the shared 11+ entrance exam sat by boys and girls applying to any of Kent’s grammar schools. Dartford Grammar does not set its own separate exam; instead, it uses the countywide Kent Test result alongside its own published admissions criteria to offer places.

Of its 180 places, 130 are reserved for boys living in the school’s priority area, with the remaining 50 open to all addresses; pupil-premium sub-priorities apply within both groups. Because the school receives so many more qualified applications than it has places, a strong, secure score across all three papers of the Kent Test gives your child the best chance.

Key information for 2027: Dartford Grammar School at 11 Plus (11+)

• School type: State grammar school (boys)
• Consortium: Kent Test (Kent County Council, countywide)
• Registration deadline: midnight, 1 July 2026
• Exam date: September 2026 (Kent primary schools sit the test in their own school; children at schools outside Kent sit it at an allocated test centre on the following weekend)
• CAF deadline: 31 October 2026
• National school offer day: March 2027
• Contact details: Dartford Grammar School, www.dartfordgrammarschool.org.uk; Kent County Council Kent Test team, www.kent.gov.uk/kenttest

Admissions information for 2027 entry: Dartford Grammar School at 11 Plus (11+)

Registration for Year 7 entry into Dartford Grammar School is made through Kent County Council’s online Kent Test registration, which closes at midnight on 1 July 2026. The test itself is held in September, with results emailed to parents in mid-October.

You must also submit the Kent Common Application Form (or your home authority’s equivalent) by 31 October 2026, listing Dartford Grammar School among your preferences. The order in which you list schools is treated as your order of preference, so list your genuinely preferred schools in order.

National school offer day falls in March 2027. The published admission number (PAN) is 180 boys, split between 130 priority-area places and 50 all-address places, with the qualifying score for 2027 entry set at 332 total, with no single subject score below 107.

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

To register your child for the Kent Test, you as their parent or legal guardian complete the online registration through Kent County Council, before the 1 July 2026 deadline. Registering does not commit your child to Dartford Grammar; you still choose which schools to name, and in what order, on the secondary application form in the autumn.

When registering, make sure you register in good time, as late registrations are not guaranteed a test place. If your child attends a school outside Kent, you will need to arrange a test centre place as part of registration.

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

The Kent Test used by Dartford Grammar School is sat over one morning and consists of two multiple-choice papers plus a short writing exercise.

• Paper 1 (English and maths): around one hour, including a short practice exercise at the start of each section. The English section includes a comprehension exercise; the maths section covers the Year 5 curriculum at pace, rewarding speed and accuracy.
• Paper 2 (reasoning): around one hour, including practice sections. A verbal reasoning section and a non-verbal reasoning section of roughly equal length; these subjects are not usually taught in primary school, so familiarity with the question types makes the biggest difference.
• The writing exercise: 40 minutes, including 10 minutes of planning. This is not scored as part of the main result, but may be read if a borderline result goes to a headteacher assessment panel.

Your child receives three standardised scores, one each for English, maths and reasoning. Standardisation compares your child with the whole year group and adjusts slightly for age, so summer-born children are not disadvantaged.

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

Because Dartford Grammar is so heavily oversubscribed, the aim is not just to clear the qualifying threshold but to build a strong, secure score across all three papers. Little and often works best in the run-up: short daily sessions on verbal and non-verbal reasoning are particularly valuable, since these question types are the least familiar from school.

Closer to test day, full timed practice tests under exam conditions help your child get used to the pace and to transferring answers onto a separate answer sheet, a skill that costs easy marks if it is not practised. Kent County Council also publishes free familiarisation materials showing exactly how the real papers and answer sheets look, which are worth using alongside full practice tests.

For Dartford Grammar School (Kent Test) 11+ preparation, we recommend the following packs: