Tonbridge Grammar School 11 Plus (11+) Exam Guide

About Tonbridge Grammar School

Tonbridge Grammar School is a state grammar school for girls in Tonbridge, West Kent. Entry to Year 7 is selective, through the Kent Test, the shared 11 Plus (11+) exam used by grammar schools across the county.

The school has 180 places for girls in each Year 7 intake and is heavily oversubscribed, usually full in every year group. Passing the Kent Test makes a girl eligible for a place, but because demand is so high, the school’s own oversubscription criteria (rather than a higher score of its own) end up deciding most offers.

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

• School type: State grammar school (girls)
• Consortium: Kent Test (Kent County Council, countywide)
• Registration deadline: 1 July 2026
• Exam date: September 2026
• CAF deadline: end of October 2026
• National school offer day: March 2027
• Contact details: Tonbridge Grammar School, www.tgs.kent.sch.uk; Kent County Council Kent Test team, www.kent.gov.uk/kenttest

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

Registration for Year 7 entry to Tonbridge Grammar School is made through Kent County Council’s Kent Test registration, which closes at midnight on 1 July 2026. Girls at Kent primary schools sit the test in their own school in September 2026; girls at schools outside Kent sit it at an allocated test centre on the following weekend.

You will also need to submit your Secondary Application Form (SAF/CAF) to your home local authority by the end of October 2026, naming Tonbridge Grammar School if you wish to be considered; the order schools are listed in reflects your order of preference.

Results are emailed after 4pm in October 2026, and national school offer day falls in March 2027. The published admission number (PAN) is 180, all for girls. Tonbridge Grammar does not set a higher qualifying score of its own: once a girl clears the countywide Kent Test threshold, places are allocated using the school’s published oversubscription criteria, because the school is so heavily oversubscribed.

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

To register your daughter for the entrance exam, you as her parent or legal guardian must complete Kent County Council’s online Kent Test registration before the 1 July 2026 deadline. Registering with the county is the only step needed to sit the test itself; naming Tonbridge Grammar School as a preference happens separately, on the Secondary Application Form in the autumn.

Make sure your daughter’s date of birth and home address are correctly entered when you register, as these are used to allocate her test centre and confirm her year group.

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

Tonbridge Grammar School does not set its own entrance exam. Like every Kent grammar school, it selects through the Kent Test, written by GL Assessment and run by Kent County Council. Your daughter sits the test once, and the same result is used by any Kent grammar school you name on the application form.

The Kent Test is sat in one sitting and covers two multiple-choice papers plus a short writing exercise. Paper 1 covers English and maths, each starting with a practice section before the timed test; the English section includes a comprehension exercise and the maths section covers the Year 5 curriculum at pace. Paper 2 covers verbal reasoning and non-verbal reasoning in roughly equal halves, subjects most children have not met at primary school. The 40-minute writing exercise is not scored, but may be read if a borderline result goes to a headteacher assessment panel. Your daughter receives three standardised scores, for English, maths and reasoning.

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

Because the Kent Test decides eligibility for every grammar school in the county, the most useful preparation is full, timed practice under exam conditions, alongside regular work on verbal and non-verbal reasoning, since these subjects are the least familiar from school.

Practise transferring answers to a separate answer sheet against the clock, as this is a skill in its own right and one where marks are easily lost. 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 Tonbridge Grammar School (Kent Test) 11+ preparation, we recommend the following packs: