Highworth Grammar School has its own admissions pattern, and the right preparation follows it. Because Highworth is a Kent grammar, entry is decided by the Kent Test, so the practice that matters is the practice that mirrors that test exactly — the right subjects, the right multiple-choice format, and the right timing. This guide walks through how Highworth selects, what your daughter needs to practise, and a realistic build-up that keeps preparation calm rather than frantic.
About Highworth Grammar School
Ashford's girls' grammar, Highworth offers a broad sixth form curriculum on a single Ashford campus. It is an established, fully-selective school that draws families from across the Ashford area and beyond, and selection for the Year 7 intake is by the Kent Test. Here are the essentials at a glance:
- Location: Ashford, Kent
- Intake: Girls (Mixed Sixth Form)
- Founded: 1908
- Type: Academy grammar school
- Admissions test: Kent Test (GL Assessment)
For this year's exact admissions policy, catchment rules, registration deadlines and open evenings, always treat the school's own site as the authority: the official Highworth Grammar School website. You can also read our full school profile and browse neighbouring options in the Quest Arena grammar school directory.
How selection works at Highworth Grammar School
Highworth admits on the basis of the Kent Test, the shared assessment used by the Kent selective system — England's largest fully-selective network of 32 state grammar schools. The Kent Test is produced by GL Assessment and sat in the first half of September in Year 6, before secondary-school applications are submitted. A pupil registers once with the local authority and that single result is considered by every Kent grammar named on the application, including Highworth.
The Kent Test is made up of multiple-choice papers covering three areas:
- English — comprehension and literacy skills, including vocabulary and spelling/grammar in the GL style.
- Maths — Key Stage 2 arithmetic and problem-solving, no calculator.
- Reasoning — a combined paper testing verbal reasoning (VR) and non-verbal reasoning (NVR).
The papers are tightly timed, answered on a separate multiple-choice sheet, and scores are age-standardised — adjusted for a child's exact age in months so that a summer-born pupil is not disadvantaged against an older classmate. Selection is decided on an aggregate of the standardised scores across the papers, with a minimum expected in each area rather than one strong subject carrying a weak one. There is also a head-teacher assessment route for children who narrowly miss but whose school evidences grammar-suitable ability. Pass marks and thresholds are set by the authority each year and can move, so we never publish an invented cut-off — confirm the current figures on the school and Kent County Council sites.
| Paper | What it covers | Answer type |
|---|---|---|
| English | Comprehension, vocabulary, literacy | Multiple choice |
| Maths | KS2 arithmetic and problem-solving | Multiple choice |
| Reasoning | Verbal and non-verbal reasoning combined | Multiple choice |
What to practise for this test
Because Highworth uses GL Assessment, the syllabus is the most learnable of any board: GL publishes a stable set of question types, so systematic type-by-type drilling pays off directly. Focus practice on the four skill strands the Kent Test rewards.
- Verbal reasoning: work through the roughly 21 named GL question types — letter and number codes, letter sequences, hidden words, analogies, odd-one-out, closest-meaning and opposites, compound words, move-a-letter and logic puzzles — until each is automatic. Vocabulary is the single best predictor of VR and comprehension scores, so build a word-a-day habit alongside the drills.
- Non-verbal reasoning: practise series, matrices, analogies, odd-one-out, reflections, rotations and cube nets/folding until the visual patterns are quick to spot.
- Maths: secure times tables to 12×12 and KS2 topics — fractions, percentages, ratio, measures and multi-step word problems.
- English: read widely and answer inference and vocabulary questions on unfamiliar passages under time.
Turn each of those into practice for free. Start with our GL Assessment practice papers, use the worksheet library to shore up whichever subject a first timed paper exposes as weakest, then sit full timed mock papers to build stamina. As the test nears, switch to Kent-format centre-specific mocks so the paper on the day feels familiar — no account is needed to practise.
A realistic preparation timeline
Good Kent Test preparation is a steady build, not a last-minute sprint. Spread it across two-and-a-bit years and it stays enjoyable.
- Year 4 → summer: daily reading for pleasure and tables to 12×12. No formal papers yet — the goal is broad vocabulary and confident mental arithmetic.
- Year 5 autumn: begin 15–20 minutes of daily topic practice with our free worksheets, introducing one verbal-reasoning type at a time.
- Year 5 spring (register!): registration for the Kent Test typically opens in the spring/early summer of Year 5 and closes before the September sitting — check the exact window on our key dates page and the school's own site, and don't miss it.
- Year 5 summer into Year 6: one full timed mock paper a week; review the errors far more carefully than the score.
- Test in early September of Year 6: in the final six weeks switch to Kent-format centre mocks and taper — short, sharp sessions, plenty of rest.
Every date above is a general pattern; treat the school and local-authority sites as the source of truth for the actual deadlines each year.
On the day and after
By September a well-prepared child should have sat ten or more timed mocks at the kitchen table, so the real hall is simply the eleventh. Keep the run-in calm and practical:
- Pack the night before — pencils, a rubber, water — and confirm the venue and start time.
- A normal breakfast and an early night matter more than one last worksheet.
- Remind her of the mechanics she has rehearsed: read each instruction, work at a steady pace, and never leave a multiple-choice question blank — a sensible guess beats an empty box.
- If one section feels hard, move on and come back; sections are separately timed, so a wobble in one does not sink the rest.
Afterwards, results usually arrive in October, before the secondary application deadline. Whatever the outcome, keep it low-key with your daughter: the Kent system offers a review/appeal and head-teacher assessment route, and a single test is never the whole measure of a child.
Frequently asked questions
Is Highworth Grammar School GL or CEM?
Highworth selects through the Kent Test, which is set by GL Assessment. CEM's separate paper 11+ was discontinued around 2022–2023, so current Kent preparation should be GL-focused: published, learnable question types practised to fluency.
What score does my daughter need to pass the Kent Test?
Kent uses age-standardised scores combined into an aggregate, with a minimum expected in each area, and the thresholds are set by the authority each year. We don't publish an invented figure — check the current requirement on the school and Kent County Council websites.
When is the Kent Test for Highworth?
The Kent Test is sat in early September of Year 6, with registration opening months earlier in Year 5. Confirm the exact registration and test dates on our key dates page and the official school site.