Beths Grammar School 11+ guide

Thinking about applying to Beths Grammar School? Find out everything you need to know about admissions in 2025–2026 and how to prepare your child for success in the Bexley Selection Test.

Key information for Beths Grammar School

• Address: Beths Grammar School, Hartford Road, Bexley, Kent, DA5 1NE
• Number of pupils: 1,700+
• Admissions contact: [email protected]
• Number of places in Year 7: 192
• 11+ exam: Bexley Selection Test
• Catchment area: no

Dates for your diary

• Thursday 1st May 2025: registration opens for the Bexley Selection Test
• Saturday 31st May 2025: registration closes for the Bexley Selection Test at midnight
• Tuesday 9th September 2025: Bexley Test date for children who attend a Bexley primary school
• Monday 8th – Thursday 11th September 2025: Bexley Test dates for children who do not attend a Bexley primary school
• Mid-October 2025: parents receive results from the Bexley Selection Test
• Friday 31st October 2025: national deadline to apply for secondary school places
• Monday 2nd March 2026: national school offers day

About Beths Grammar School

Beths Grammar School is a selective boys’ school with a mixed Sixth Form, located in Bexley, South East London. Established in 1945, it has a strong reputation for academic excellence and a supportive learning environment. The school specialises in mathematics, science, and technology, helping students develop strong analytical and problem-solving skills.

Beths offers a broad curriculum, including humanities, arts, and languages, alongside its specialist subjects. It encourages independent thinking, leadership, and personal growth through extracurricular activities such as sports, music, and debating. The school has a modern campus with well-equipped classrooms, science labs, and sports facilities.

Beths Grammar consistently achieves excellent GCSE and A-level results, with many students progressing to top universities. The school values hard work, ambition, and respect, creating a positive and inclusive community. As part of the Bexley selective system, admission is based on performance in the 11 Plus exam.

How to apply to Beths Grammar School

Beths Grammar School is a selective school. This means that your child will need to take the 11 plus exam to be eligible for a place. All grammar schools in Bexley use the same 11 plus exam, known as the Bexley Selection Test.

Registration for the Bexley Selection Test is open from Thursday 1st May 2025 and closes at midnight on Saturday 31st May 2025. Your child will then be invited to take the exam in September. If your child goes to a Bexley primary school, they will take the test on Tuesday 9th September 2025, either at their own school or at one of the four grammar schools. If your child does not to go a Bexley primary school, they will take the test at one of the four grammar schools on an assigned date between Monday 8th and Thursday 11th September 2025.

You'll find out if your child has met the eligible score in the Bexley Selection Test in mid-October 2025. You can then use these results to decide whether to apply for a place at Beths Grammar School. To apply, you’ll need to name the school as one of your preferred schools on the secondary school common application form. This will be available on your home council website from early September and must be submitted by 31st October 2025.

Remember – passing the Bexley Selection Test doesn’t guarantee that your child will be allocated a place at your preferred school. Bexley grammar schools are often oversubscribed with qualified children. Schools and their admissions authorities work through admissions criteria to prioritise children for places. We’ve included the admissions criteria for Beths Grammar School below.

What subjects are on the entrance exam?

Children applying to Beths Grammar School take the Bexley Selection Test. This consists of two one-hour papers which assess English comprehension, maths, verbal reasoning and non-verbal reasoning. All of the questions are multiple-choice.

How does place allocation work at Beths Grammar School?

There is no specified pass mark for the Bexley Selection Test. Each of the four grammar schools has 180 places available in Year 7. The 180 children with the highest scores applying to each grammar school will be eligible for a place at that school.

The Bexley Selection Test is competitive. Around 30% of children who take the test achieve a mark high enough to be considered for a grammar school place in the borough.

If the number of children who have met the qualifying standard for entry to the school exceeds the number of places available, the Beths Grammar School applies oversubscription criteria. Children are prioritised for places in the following order:

1. Looked after or previously looked after children
2. Children who have achieved one of the highest 180 scores in the selection tests
3. Children who have a sibling currently attending Beths Grammar School
4. Children with a parent or registered carer permanently employed by Beths Grammar School
5. Up to 12 places for boys who are eligible for Pupil Premium and/or Free School Meals, in rank order of their distance from the school
6. On the basis of proximity by the school, measured by a direct line distance from home to school
7. If the distance is identical to 0.001 of a mile, the Bexley Selection Test scores are used as a tie-breaker
8. If none of the above apply and the child has not been deemed selective in the Bexley Selection Test, but they have in the Kent Test, and can supply the school with confirmation of this

There is no catchment area at Beths Grammar School. However, places are prioritised for children who live closer to the school.

How can I help my child prepare for the Bexley Selection Test?

The Bexley Selection Test is designed to be challenging. Here are our top tips to help your child prepare for the exam in September 2025.

Bitesize learning

It’s important to build a good knowledge base before the 11 plus. Using a ‘little and often’ approach when learning is key – our brains encode new information more effectively when dealing with smaller ‘chunks’ of information. For children aged 10–11, child psychologists recommend regular study sessions of 20–30 minutes.

Atom Home makes learning a more enjoyable process for your child. They'll explore exciting worlds full of interactive questions, earning coins to spend in the Atom shop. Atom adapts to your child, showing them questions at just the right level of difficulty to keep them motivated.

Read widely

11 plus exams test your child’s ability to analyse and interpret written information. Regular reading is a great way to help your child build these skills.

Encourage them to read books from different genres and by a diverse range of authors. Increasing the variety of your child’s reading will help them understand different styles, tones and purposes. Meanwhile, reading a little every day will help widen their vocabulary, sharpen their analytical thinking, and enhance their imagination.

Refine exam technique

When your child feels confident with the topics they’ve learnt in Year 5, they’ll be ready to put their knowledge to the test.

Practice tests can help your child develop problem-solving skills and build confidence working under test conditions. They’re also a great way to consolidate learning and highlight knowledge gaps for further improvement.

With Atom Home, you'll unlock online mock tests and printable practice papers. Enjoy automatic marking and progress tracking with the online tests, and help your child get familiar with the real exam experience with printable practice papers.

Celebrate progress

Setting regular, achievable goals and celebrating your child’s progress – no matter how big or small – will help keep their motivation high.

Make sure to encourage a growth mindset. This means celebrating effort, as well as achievement! When your child makes mistakes or struggles to understand a particular topic, help them understand that they’ll improve through practice. Regular praise will help your child improve their resilience when tackling new and challenging topics.