If The Simon Langton Girls' Grammar School is on your daughter's list, the smartest preparation is shaped around how this particular school selects — not generic 11+ advice. Simon Langton Girls' admits through the Kent Test, run by GL Assessment, so every hour of practice should point at the exact subjects and question types that test measures. This guide sets out what the school is, how the Kent Test works, what to practise, and a calm, realistic build-up using Quest Arena's free worksheets and mocks.
About The Simon Langton Girls' Grammar School
The girls' Simon Langton is one of Canterbury's two grammar schools, with a strong record across the arts and humanities. It is a long-established academy grammar with a mixed sixth form, and selection at Year 7 entry is by the Kent Test. Canterbury sits within Kent's wholly selective system — 32 state grammar schools, England's largest — so families across the district use the same September test to qualify for several schools at once.
- Location: Canterbury, Kent
- Intake: Girls (Mixed Sixth Form)
- Founded: 1881
- Type: Academy Grammar
- Admissions test: Kent Test (GL Assessment)
You can read the full school profile on Quest Arena, and always confirm this year's exact dates, catchment and admissions policy on the official school website, which is the authority for registration and open events. Our wider grammar school directory shows how Simon Langton Girls' fits alongside other Kent options.
How selection works at The Simon Langton Girls' Grammar School
Admission is decided by the Kent Test, which is administered by GL Assessment and sat in early September of Year 6. It is not the school's own paper — it is the county-wide test that all Kent grammars use, so a single sitting can qualify your daughter for Simon Langton Girls' and other schools you name on the Common Application Form.
The Kent Test covers three areas: English, Maths and Reasoning (combining verbal and non-verbal reasoning). Papers are multiple-choice in GL's standard style — tightly timed at roughly a minute a question, with answers marked on a separate sheet and no calculator. Scores are age-standardised, so a summer-born child is not disadvantaged against an autumn-born peer with the same raw mark.
Kent uses an aggregate threshold across the three areas, with a rule that no single area falls too far below the average, plus a head-teacher assessment route for children who narrowly miss. Exact qualifying scores are set by the county each year and vary, so we will not quote a fixed pass mark here — check the current figures via the school and your local authority. The key point for preparation is simple: all three areas count, so a weakness in any one can pull the aggregate down.
Here is the shape of the test at a glance:
| Area | What it tests | Format |
|---|---|---|
| English | Comprehension, spelling, grammar, vocabulary | Multiple-choice, separately timed |
| Maths | KS2 arithmetic and problem-solving to Year 5 level | Multiple-choice, no calculator |
| Reasoning | Verbal reasoning (word logic) and non-verbal reasoning (shapes, patterns) | Multiple-choice, tightly timed sub-sections |
What to practise for this test
Because the Kent Test is a GL test, its question types are published and stable — which makes systematic, type-by-type practice unusually effective. Focus your daughter's time on these strands:
- Verbal reasoning: drill the named GL question types — codes, letter sequences, hidden words, analogies, odd-one-out, closest-meaning and opposites, compound words, move-a-letter and number series — one type at a time until each feels automatic. Our GL practice papers are matched to this exact format.
- Non-verbal reasoning: practise series, matrices, analogies, odd-one-out, reflections, rotations and cube nets. These sit outside the national curriculum, so exposure and repetition matter most.
- English: build vocabulary daily — it is the single best predictor of both comprehension and verbal-reasoning scores — and practise timed comprehension.
- Maths: secure times tables to 12×12 and multi-step word problems using the free worksheet library.
Once individual types are solid, move on to full timed mock papers to build stamina and pace across a whole sitting. Everything named here is free on Quest Arena — no account is needed to start practising.
A realistic preparation timeline
Preparation works best spread over two years, gently, rather than crammed. Adjust to your daughter's starting point, and keep sessions short and consistent.
- Year 4: daily reading for pleasure, tables to 12×12, and word games — no formal papers yet. This is where vocabulary quietly compounds.
- Year 5 autumn: begin 15–20 minutes of daily topic practice with our free worksheets, introducing one reasoning type at a time.
- Year 5 spring and summer: keep building; confirm the registration window and open events on the school's website, as Kent registration typically closes before the summer.
- Year 6 summer holiday: one full timed mock paper a week, reviewing errors far more carefully than the score itself.
- Final weeks before September: switch to centre-specific mocks in the Kent Test format so the real hall feels familiar.
On the day and after
By test day the work is done — the job now is a calm, well-rested child. A good night's sleep, a proper breakfast and an unhurried journey do more for a score than any last-minute cramming. Remind her of the practical mechanics she has already rehearsed: read each question fully, mark answers cleanly on the separate sheet, and if a question is hard, move on and come back rather than losing time. A child who has sat ten timed mocks at the kitchen table treats the real hall as the eleventh.
After the test, results usually arrive in mid-October, before the secondary application deadline at the end of that month. Qualifying is not the same as securing a place — offers also depend on catchment and how the school ranks applicants — so make sure Simon Langton Girls' and any back-up schools are all listed on your application. Whatever the outcome, praise the effort, not just the result.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Simon Langton Girls' entrance test GL or CEM?
It is the Kent Test, run by GL Assessment. CEM's separate paper 11+ was discontinued around 2023, and Kent uses GL, so all your practice should be in GL's multiple-choice format.
When is the Kent Test sat?
In early September of Year 6, with registration closing earlier — usually before the summer. Confirm the exact dates each year on the official school website and with your local authority.
What score does my daughter need to pass?
Kent uses an age-standardised aggregate across English, Maths and Reasoning, with a minimum in each area. The exact threshold is set annually and varies, so we do not quote a fixed figure — check the current year's numbers directly with Kent and the school.