Admissions
Admissions Officer: Mrs K Bradfield - k.bradfield@highworth.kent.sch.uk
It would appear that there are fewer Kent Test passes in East Kent this year, partly due to the increased required mark of 119. If your daughter narrowly missed achieving a pass and wants a Highworth place, you are encouraged to appeal as there is a reasonable chance of success owing to our PAN (Published Admission Number) having been raised to 180 from September 2012. On 1st March 143 places were offered to grammar-assessed girls.
You have until Friday 30th March 2012 to submit an appeal that will be heard in the first round of PESE appeals. If you intend to appeal but have not yet submitted your paperwork, or have supplementary information to add to an appeal already sent in, please inform the school by emailing k.bradfield@highworth.kent.sch.uk We have time-tabled our appeals to be heard between 8th and 18th May. Please click this link for advice on presenting your PESE appeal.
To view Highworth Grammar School Admission Appeals Timetable please click here
New Legislation
From September 2010 all applications for a school place, both during the coordinated round (Year 6 into Year 7) and through a casual admissions process must be made to the home local authority (KCC). School places can only be offered by the Local Authority, not the school. The exception to this is when a place is awarded on appeal, by an Independent Appeals Panel. This is a new legal requirement set in legislation. For additional information please visit the KCC website.
What type of school is Highworth Grammar?
Highworth Grammar School is a Selective School which means that entry is via a pass in the Kent Test (for Year 7) or a pass in our Casual Admissions Entrance Exam (taken by Year 7 after 31st December of year of entry and by Years 8 to 11).
What is the capacity of the school?
Our Published Admission Number (PAN) for current Years 10 and 11 is 165. From 2009 (current Years 7, 8 and 9) it was increased to 174 and, from September 2012 our PAN will be 180. This means that from September 2012 up to 180 students can be offered places in the first round of PESE Admissions.
Our current On-Roll figures are:
Year 7 - 190
Year 8 - 188
Year 9 - 189
Year 10 - 182
Year 11 - 172
Sixth Form - 366
Last updated 07.03.12
How to apply for a place
Applications to Year 7 starting in September are processed by our home Local Authority, Kent Admissions, via PESE – the Procedure for Entrance to Secondary Education. Further information is available on the KCC website or from your child’s primary school.
For ‘In Year’ (casual) applications, an IYCAF (In Year Common Application Form) must be completed and sent to the Local Authority. This form is available from Kent Admissions by telephoning 01622 696565, it can be downloaded from their website www.kent.gov.uk along with guidance notes and we also have a few forms available at the school. Please note; Highworth Grammar School does NOT require a Supplementary Information Form (SIF). Kent Admissions advise parents to visit schools so that they can make use of the four choices they are allowed to name on their IYCAF. By using the Kent Admissions Schools Database parents can find the schools nearest to them and contact information in case they wish to visit them. It is recommended that you do this first as you can fill out an application at the school and in some cases this can save time. This is especially important if you have moved into the area and your child is out of school. If the school has five or more places vacant, they can fast-track the application, but by doing this you will be accepting the place at that school and cannot fill out an IYCAF naming other schools. You should only fill out ONE IYCAF, putting up to four preferences. On receipt of your completed IYCAF, Kent Admissions will contact the schools named thereon to ask if a place can be offered. If testing is required, as it is in our case, Kent Admissions will ask us to arrange this directly with you.
What happens next?
Once you have applied you should hear from Kent Admissions within 3 or 4 weeks - however there could be some delays. If you wish to check on your application you should contact them on 01622 696655.
The test we use is a Cognitive Abilities Test (CAT). Further information on this test can be found by visiting www.glassessment.co.uk and clicking on the education tab, then ‘read more…’ on the graphic for CAT 3. Although practice papers are not available for the CAT itself, the test is very similar in format to the 11+ Exam and the multiple choice practice papers for this test are the nearest thing you can buy for your child to practise on at home. There is a link on the GL Assessment website to buy 11+ papers on-line, or you can purchase them from most large bookshops.
If your daughter takes and passes the test, will she be offered a place at Highworth?
The offer of a place following a successful result in the test will depend upon a place being available in the appropriate year group. Currently, Highworth Grammar School is over-subscribed in all years. This means the school cannot offer places in Years 7 to 11 and you will have to appeal on your daughter’s behalf to an Independent Appeals Panel. All students who have sat the entrance exam and have been refused a place in writing have the right of appeal. See below for how to appeal for HGS.
Our Published Admission Number (PAN) for Year 7 from September 2012 is 180.
Our Published Admission Number (PAN) for current Year 7 to Year 9 is 174.
Our Published Admission Number (PAN) for Year 10 and Year 11 is 165.
Important Notes
If you live outside of Kent you will need to apply to your own Local Authority for an In Year Admission.
Please note that Medway, Bexley and Bromley Councils do not come under the authority of Kent County Council.
Applying for a place in Year 7 for September 2012
Highworth Grammar is a selective school and entry is through the Kent assessment procedure (Kent Test). From September 2012 we have 180 places to offer in Year 7 to Grammar Assessed girls.
Applications for Highworth Grammar School are no longer ranked according to ‘schemes of education’ which means that girls living to the south west of Ashford have the same chance of a place as girls from other areas. Apart from circumstances outlined in Highworth Grammar School’s admissions criteria, all applications are now ranked by distance from school. Please refer to your ‘Admission to Secondary School in Kent’ booklet for full details.
Applications are via Kent Admissions Procedure for Entry to Secondary Education (PESE). The best way to apply is on-line at www.kent.gov.uk/ola
The deadline to submit your application was Monday 31st October 2011. If you need help you should speak to staff at your daughter’s primary school or call Kent Admissions on 01622 696565.
If your daughter is ‘H’ Assessed, you can still name Highworth Grammar School on your Secondary Common Application Form; your application will be turned down by Kent Admissions but you will automatically have the right to appeal against the decision not to offer a place. Likewise if your daughter is ‘G’ Assessed, this does not guarantee that she will be offered a grammar school place. If we receive more applications than we have places to offer the school will apply its oversubscription criteria to determine which children it can take.
If you are not happy with the school place you are offered on 1st March 2012 and want to appeal for Highworth, you should return your appeal form by Friday 30th March 2012 to the school, addressed to The Clerk to the Governors. An appeal form with guidelines on preparing an appeal can be found and downloaded by following the links for secondary school places at
Click on Secondary Schools Appeals in the blue box on the left, and open the PDF document. If you cannot print it yourself, KCC will post a paper copy.
It is in your interest to have your appeal heard with everyone else’s to give your daughter the best chance of being selected. Late appeals received after the deadline may have to be delayed and you might find that, following the initial round of appeals, the school has become too full to admit further students. Once an appeal has been unsuccessful, you cannot appeal again for that academic year.
Each appeal takes approximately half-an-hour. All paperwork is photocopied and distributed to everyone involved in the process, so please ensure all documents are A4 and printed on one side only. Do not highlight areas you wish to stand out; underline them instead, as photocopying and faxing renders highlighted sections illegible. Please do not use staples. There is no need to present your appeal in a folder or file as all papers are held together for each appeal with one treasury tag to the top left corner. Although you are invited to include all evidence you believe is pertinent to your case, please bear in mind the time constraints and restrict yourself to information which is relevant. The appeal panel cannot make judgements on individual projects of work, although one or two examples of exceptional work could be included if you believe this highlights a point you are making. When deliberating on an appeal, the panel takes into consideration whether they believe your daughter is of the ability to cope with the level of work required at Highworth Grammar School and whether the decision NOT to award a place would prejudice her chance of an appropriate education. They also consider whether the inclusion of another student into that year group would prejudice the learning of the girls already awarded places. The decision of the appeal panel is final and can only be overturned by a higher authority.
If you have applied for a place at the school and your daughter has been tested, you have the right to appeal if your application is turned down, regardless of whether your daughter has been assessed as selective or not.
For In Year applications, your appeal should be made on the appeal form sent out by the school with your refusal letter. Prompt return of the completed paperwork will result in an earlier appeal date. If your appeal is unsuccessful, you cannot appeal again for that academic year.
Each appeal takes approximately half-an-hour. All paperwork is photocopied and distributed to everyone involved in the process, so please ensure all documents are A4 and printed on one side only. Do not highlight areas you wish to stand out; underline them instead, as photocopying and faxing renders highlighted sections illegible. Although you are invited to include all evidence you believe is pertinent to your case, please bear in mind the time constraints and restrict yourself to information which is relevant. When deliberating on an appeal, the panel takes into consideration whether they believe your daughter is of the ability to cope with the level of work required at Highworth Grammar School and whether the decision NOT to award a place would prejudice her chance of an appropriate education. They also consider whether the inclusion of another student into that year group would prejudice the learning of the girls already on-roll. The decision of the appeal panel is final.
Your Appeal has failed – what can you do now?
If your appeal is unsuccessful your daughter cannot test or appeal again for the same academic year. The Local Authority will offer you a place at an alternative school or, if your daughter is already placed in a secondary school, will advise you that she will remain there. You can appeal for any school you have named on your Common Application Form. The Independent Appeals Panel’s decision can only be overturned by a higher authority.
If you feel that the Appeals Panel has not followed the Appeals Code procedure, you should initially contact the school. If you are not satisfied with the answers you receive, you should refer to the following document:
If you still feel that you have a case against the Panel or the school, you should contact the Young People’s Learning Agency (YPLA) – by post: YPLA Academies Central Unit (Appeal Complaints), Cheylesmore House, Quinton Road, Coventry CV1 2WT – or by email: academyquestions@ypla.gov.uk