Wilmington Grammar School for Girls is a small selective academy in Dartford. Founded in 1958, the school has been helping girls to secure excellent academic results and providing a well-rounded experience for over half a century.
Wilmington Grammar is rated Good by Ofsted. Ofsted notes that strong, positive, professional relationships between pupils and staff lie at the centre of the school’s ethos. Pupils model the school’s ‘REACH’ values of respect and resilience, equality, achievement, community, honesty and integrity, throughout the school day.
Before registering, speak to your child’s teacher to see if the 11 plus and grammar school is right for them.
Registration for the Kent Test will open on Thursday 1st June 2023 and close on Monday 3rd July 2023 at midnight. You will be able to complete your child's registration on the Kent County Council website.
Wilmington Grammar School for Girls shares an entrance test and admissions procedure with all other grammar schools in Kent (aside from those in Medway) – a total of 32 schools! Your child only has to take one exam to apply to these schools.
If you are also considering grammar schools in Medway or the London Borough of Bexley, you will need to register separately because these schools do not use the Kent Test.
If your child is eligible for free school meals, or is currently or previously a Looked After Child, you should also complete a supplementary information form (SIF). This form is available in the school's admissions policy on its website.
If you registered online, your child’s exam results will be emailed to you after 4pm on Wednesday 18th October 2023. If you did not register online, it will be sent by first class post. Your child’s primary school will also be notified of the result on this day, so you can check with them if you do not receive the letter.
The results will tell you if your child has been assessed as 'suitable for grammar school'. If this is the case, you can include grammar schools in your school preferences on your local authority application form.
Before listing Wilmington Grammar School for Girls as a preference on your form, check its admissions policy and make sure your child is eligible. As well as your child's exam score, how close you live to a school can be a factor in whether your child is likely to be offered a place.
The application form must be submitted to your home local council by 31st October 2023.
The Wilmington Grammar School for Girls 11 plus test takes place on Thursday 7th September 2023. If your child attends a primary school outside of Kent, they will take the test on the weekend of the 9th September 2023.
The school uses the Kent Test, which is provided by GL Assessment. It consists of two papers, each lasting about 60 minutes. The papers are multiple-choice format. Children record their answers in a separate answer booklet which is marked electronically.
Both papers are divided into smaller, individually-timed sections that assess:
There are a few minutes at the beginning of each section for practice questions, which are not marked.
English (30 minutes): the English section involves a comprehension exercise to assess your child's reading ability. There are also some questions designed to assess literacy skills like grammar, punctuation and vocabulary. Question types vary, but may include choosing the best words to complete a sentence, finding synonyms and antonyms, and spotting mistakes in sentences.
Maths (30 minutes): the maths test covers a variety of national curriculum topics up to the start of Year 6. It's important that your child knows their times tables and has a working knowledge of the four operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication and division), as well as fractions, decimals, percentage, ratio, area, perimeter, and measurements. They should also be familiar with worded maths problems.
While both sections are about the same length, the non-verbal reasoning section is split into smaller parts which are administered and timed individually.
Verbal reasoning: your child is tested on their ability to analyse and solve problems with written information.
Non-verbal reasoning: this type of reasoning involves analysing visual information and solving problems using shapes, diagrams and pictures.
Unlike English and maths, verbal and non-verbal reasoning are not taught at primary school and are intended to be a measure of a child's academic potential, rather than the knowledge they have gained.
There is a useful familiarisation booklet on the Kent council website, which gives examples of the types of questions in each exam. It also shows what the answer sheet looks like.
In addition to Paper 1 and Paper 2, children taking the Kent Test also complete a creative writing exercise. This isn’t formally marked and doesn’t form part of the total scores, but it may be used by a local headteacher panel in borderline cases or in an appeal. 40 minutes will be allowed for the writing task, including 10 minutes of planning time.
Learn about each subject in detail and get free preparation resources:
Children generally need a total score of 332 or more to be considered for a Kent grammar school. Children also need to score above 109 in each section (English, maths and reasoning) to be considered for a place. The highest possible total score on the Kent Test is 423.
The cut-off score can only be decided once that year's papers have been marked and ranked, admissions criteria applied, and places offered to 180 children.
After your child takes the exam, their scores are age-standardised. Your child is given three standardised scores: one for English, one for maths and one for reasoning, as well as a total score. The total scores are ranked in order and the admissions criteria applied.
Achieving a particular score doesn't guarantee a place at the school, as it's likely to be oversubscribed with qualified candidates. We always recommend researching the admission policies and oversubscription criteria for your target schools.
The school has a planned admission number (PAN) of 180. Girls with an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) naming the school are offered places first.
The remaining places are offered to girls who pass the Kent Test. Children are ranked in order by their exam score, and are prioritised for places in this order:
1. Looked After and previously Looked After Children.
2. Girls with a sibling at the school or at Wilmington Grammar School for Boys.
3. Children of school staff who have been employed for two or more years.
4. Governor places: awarded to girls who have done exceptionally well in the maths paper of the Kent Test and live within 5 miles of the school. These places are given to the highest-scoring 18 girls. In the case of tied scores, distance will be used.
5. Girls who live within 1.5 miles of the schools and girls living in the priority parishes and wards (below). Priority within this area is given to children eligible for Pupil Premium.
6. Other children who receive Pupil Premium and live within 3 miles of the school.
7. All other eligible girls, ranked according to the distance from their home to the school, measured in a straight line.
As part of its admissions policy, Wilmington Grammar School for Girls prioritises girls who live within 1.5 miles of the school and girls who live in these parishes and wards:
Ash Cum Ridley, Badgers Mount, Bean, Crockenhill, Darenth, Dartford, Dunton Green, Eynsford, Farningham, Fawkham, Halstead, Hartley, Hextable, Horton Kirby & South Darenth, Istead Rise (ward), Kemsing, Longfield & New Barn, Meopham, Otford, Shoreham, Southfleet, Stanstead, Stone, Sutton at Hone & Hawley, Swanley, Swanscome & Greenhithe, West Kingsdown, Wilmington, and Wrotham.
A map is available in the school's admissions policy.
| Type of School | Grammar |
|---|---|
| Website | https://www.gsgw.org.uk/ |
| Address | Parsons Land Wilmington DA2 7BB |
| Phone | 01322222607 | enquire@wgsg.co.uk | Location | Region | Kent |
| Admission Year | Sept 2024 |
|---|---|
| Gender in YEAR 7 | Girls |
| Virtual Open Day | 31/8/2022 - 31/8/2023 More details |
|---|---|
| Academic Exam | 7/9/2023 - 9/9/2023 The Kent Test will take place on: Thursday 7 September 2023 for children who go to school in Kent the weekend of Saturday 9 September 2023 for children who go to school outside Kent. |
| Registration | 1/6/2023 - 3/7/2023 |
| Allocation Day | 1/3/2024 |
| CAF form | 31/10/2023 |
| Test Results Day | 18/10/2023 |
| Number of Places | 180 |
|---|---|
| Standardised | Yes |
| Age Standardised | No |
| Total Number of Exams | 3 |
| Number of Rounds | 1 |
| Admission Policy | View |
| Name | Document or Link | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| Kent Familiarisation Paper | View | Mixed Subjects |
