The Medway Test (11+) guide

Thinking about a grammar school in Medway for your child? This guide walks you through how the system works, key dates for entry, and how to support your child through the 11+.

In this guide, you'll find:

• How the Medway grammar school system works
• Key 11+ dates and deadlines for 2027 entry
• Which schools use the Medway Test
• What your child will be tested on
• How the exam is scored and how places are allocated
• Practical ways to support your child's 11+ preparation

Medway grammar schools

There are six grammar schools in Medway. They all use the same 11+ test, known as the Medway Test.

• Chatham Grammar School (mixed)
• Fort Pitt Grammar School (mixed)
• Holcombe Grammar School (mixed)
• Rainham Mark Grammar School (mixed)
• Rochester Grammar School (girls)
• Sir Joseph Williamson's Mathematical School (boys)

Key dates for 2027 entry

• Monday 18th May 2026: test registration opens
• Friday 12th June 2026: test registration closes
• Tuesday 15th – Wednesday 16th September 2026: test day for children attending Medway maintained primary or junior schools
• Saturday 19th – Sunday 20th September 2026: test day for children not attending a Medway primary or junior school
• Wednesday 14th October 2026: parents receive test results
• Saturday 31st October 2026: secondary school common application deadline
• Monday 1st March 2027: national school offers day

Dates can vary slightly and may be subject to change. Always check with your target school.

What is the Medway Test?

The Medway Test is the 11+ exam used by all six grammar schools in the Medway area. All six schools use the same test, meaning your child only needs to take it once, regardless of how many Medway grammar schools you're applying to.

The test takes place in September of Year 6. Children who attend a Medway maintained primary or junior school will sit the test at their own school on a school day. All other children will be allocated a Medway Test centre and will sit the exam at the weekend.

The test is designed to assess a child's academic ability across English, maths and reasoning. Grammar schools offer places to children performing towards the top end of the national ability range for their age group.

Note that if your child is also applying for a grammar school in Kent, Bexley or Bromley, they will need to take a separate exam for those schools. Find out more:

• The Kent Test
• Bexley Selection Test
• Bromley 11+ exams

What's in the Medway Test?

The Medway Test consists of three papers, with at least a 20-minute break between each. The papers are written specifically for Medway Council and supplied by GL Assessment.

Paper 1: English

The English paper lasts 30 minutes (plus 5 minutes of unscored practice questions).

It assesses:

• Reading comprehension — understanding and interpreting a passage of text
• Punctuation
• Grammar

The whole paper must be completed within the 30-minute window.

Paper 2: Mathematics

The maths paper lasts 50 minutes (plus 2 minutes of unscored practice questions).

It tests Key Stage 2 maths content, including:

• Times tables and the four operations
• Fractions, decimals and percentages
• Ratio
• Geometry, including area, perimeter and measurements

The whole paper must be completed within the 50-minute window.

Paper 3: Reasoning

The reasoning paper has a total timed duration of 45 minutes and is split into two sections.

Verbal reasoning (25 minutes)

Verbal reasoning focuses on logical thinking with written information. Your child may need to:

• identify patterns between words, letters or symbols
• solve problems using logic and language
• spot word relationships and sequences

Non-verbal reasoning and spatial reasoning (20 minutes, split into four individually timed sections)

This section uses shapes, diagrams and patterns. Your child may need to:

• recognise and complete visual sequences
• identify similarities and differences between shapes
• use spatial awareness to solve visual problems

Neither verbal nor non-verbal reasoning is taught as part of the Key Stage 2 curriculum. They're included in the test to measure your child's potential, not just what they've already learned in school.

How is the Medway Test scored?

After the test, answer sheets are marked to give a raw score for each paper. These raw scores are then age-standardised, which means younger children aren't disadvantaged by their age at the time of sitting the test.

Finally, the three standardised scores are combined into a single weighted total score using the following formula:

Standardised English score × 2, plus standardised maths score × 2, plus standardised reasoning score × 1

What's the pass mark for the Medway Test?

There is no fixed pass mark. Instead, all weighted scores are ranked and a qualifying threshold is set once the results are known. The threshold varies each year depending on the size and performance of the cohort.

In recent years, the lowest total weighted scores for which children were eligible for Medway grammar school places were:

• 2025: 482
• 2024: 492
• 2023: 488
• 2022: 487
• 2021: 483
• 2020: 490

Meeting the qualifying standard doesn't guarantee a place at your preferred school. Grammar schools in Medway are popular and often oversubscribed. Each school applies its own admissions criteria when allocating places you can find full details in the individual school guides linked above.

How to apply to Medway grammar schools

1. Register for the Medway Test

Registration opens on the Medway Council website on Monday 18th May 2026 and closes on Friday 12th June 2026. You must register by the closing date — late registrations cannot be accepted.

You'll receive a test invitation by the end of August confirming where and when your child will sit the test.

If you're also considering grammar schools outside Medway, remember to register for those tests separately.

2. Apply for school places

Results are sent to parents on Wednesday 14th October 2026. If your child meets the qualifying standard, you can list Medway grammar schools as preferences on your secondary school common application form.

The form must be submitted to your home local authority by Saturday 31st October 2026. Check the admissions policy for each school before listing it, to make sure your child meets all criteria.

3. National Offer Day

On Monday 1st March 2027, you'll find out which school your child has been allocated a place at. They'll be offered a place at the highest-ranked preferred school for which they meet the entry criteria and where places are available.

If none of your preferred schools can be offered, your child will receive a place at another local school and you'll be given information about how to appeal.

How can I help my child prepare for the Medway Test?

The Medway Test can feel like a big milestone, but preparation doesn't have to be stressful. Here are some practical ways to support your child in a calm, structured way.

Stay on track with a clear Medway Test revision plan

One of the hardest parts of 11+ preparation isn't motivation — it's knowing what to work on, when, and how to stay consistent without it taking over family life.

A clear plan helps your child build skills in the right order and avoid last-minute cramming.

With Atom's Exam Plan, you enter your child's exam date and target schools, and Atom builds a personalised weekly plan based on the key skills they'll be tested on. It adapts as they improve and shows them exactly what to focus on each week.

That means less guesswork for you, less stress for them, and a clearer path to exam day.

Build 11+ exam technique with realistic practice papers

Once your child feels secure with the main topics, paper practice helps them feel more confident with the real exam format.

Atom's 11+ practice papers are designed to reflect real test conditions. Parents simply photograph their child's answer sheets and upload them to Atom for instant marking.

You'll get:

• a Standardised Age Score (SAS)
• clear insight into strengths and areas for improvement
• a comparison with other children applying to the same schools

The papers are unlimited — your child can practise again and again with new questions each time.

Encourage regular reading for 11+ English success

Strong reading skills underpin almost every part of the 11+.

Encourage your child to read for 10–15 minutes a day, focusing on variety — fiction, non-fiction, different genres and authors.

This helps build:

• vocabulary
• comprehension and inference
• confidence with unfamiliar texts

If you're looking for ideas, Atom's recommended reading lists for Years 3–6 include a wide range of age-appropriate books.

Celebrate progress, not just scores

When you're supporting your child through 11+ preparation, what really matters is knowing they're moving in the right direction.

Atom's progress tracking gives you a clear, simple view of how your child is doing across topics and how their performance is developing over time.

That makes it easier to give meaningful encouragement, keep motivation steady and focus on consistent improvement — not just one-off test results.