1. Medway/Kent 2019
Presentation for parents

2. The aim of this presentation is to help you understand the processes and to answer any questions you may have.
Details of all 17 Medway secondary schools/academies can be found in the online admissions information guide.
This also provides you with details of their published admission number, oversubscription criteria and other useful information including the dates and times for their planned open sessions.

3. The Medway Test & other testing arrangements
The Medway Test is for Medway grammar schools only.
The Kent Test is for Kent grammar schools only, etc.*
*Please note that Holcombe Grammar School and Chatham Grammar School for Girls also
consider children who have passed the Kent Test.
===============================================================
Which schools does the Medway Test apply to?
In Medway, there have 6 selective (grammar) secondary schools. These are:
Chatham Grammar School for Girls
Fort Pitt Grammar School
Holcombe Grammar School
Rainham Mark Grammar School
Sir Joseph Williamson’s Mathematical School
The Rochester Grammar School

4. Can my child sit selective tests in more than one area?
You can register your child for as many tests as you wish if you are considering schools in more than one local authority It is advised that you contact the local authorities concerned to register for their tests The Medway Test date cannot be changed if it clashes with another area testing.

5. When and where is the Medway Test being held?
Saturday 21 September 2019
For children from schools from outside of Medway (in larger test centres). The test day usually runs between 8.30am and 2.00pm.  After you have registered, they will send you an invitation nearer the time of the test confirming when and where your child is due to be tested and giving you information about the test day.
The larger test centres will be Medway secondary schools that have agreed to be host venues for the test day.
Student Services normally try to allocate all children from the same primary school to the same test centre.

6. How do I register my child to sit the Medway Test?
Registration is open from 3rd June until 4pm on 1st July. You can register your child online at: or
Paper registration forms can be obtained from Medway Council’s offices at Gun Wharf, Dock Road, Chatham, ME4 4TR.
Completed paper forms must be returned to the Student Services Team by the closing date. We do not acknowledge receipt of paper forms.
I live outside of Medway, how do I register?
If you live in another authority but wish your child to sit the Medway Test, then you can register your child in either of the ways mentioned above.

7. What does the Medway Test consist of?
The Medway Test consists of three separate papers:
An extended writing exercise
A mathematics paper
A verbal reasoning (VR) paper
These tests are specifically written for Medway and are designed to select 23 per cent of children in the year group to be assessed suitable for grammar school education.
Up to a further 2 per cent can be selected through the review process. How is the Medway test marked?
Each paper is marked based on the number of questions correct (for Maths and VR) and against specific criteria (for extended writing). These marks provide the raw scores.
The raw scores are then standardised. This means that the scores are weighted to reflect the child’s age at the time of taking the test.

8. Each year, a minimum score is set to determine those assessed as
selective. This score is set to select 23 per cent of the children in the year
group and differs from year to year dependent on the size of the year
group.
Medway Council will not know what this score will be for 2020 admissions
until after all test papers have been marked and standardised.
CEM was the test provider this year –for the second time.
For 2019 admissions, the minimum score required was 493
For 2018 admissions the minimum score required was 495
For 2017 admissions, the minimum score required was 513
For 2016 admissions, the minimum score required was 521
For 2015 admissions, the minimum score required was 525
To calculate the total weighted score, the following calculation is used: Extended writing exercise = standardised score x 2
Maths = standardised score x 2
VR = standardised score x 1

9. When will I get the results from the Medway test?
If you registered online you will be sent an after 4pm on Monday 7th October. If you registered on paper you will be sent a letter by first class post on this date.
We can’t give out test scores over the phone.
The results will give you:
your child’s total score
a breakdown of the scores for each paper
a decision on whether your child is assessed as grammar or non-grammar
details of what you need to do next.
If I’m not satisfied with my child’s result, what can I
do?
If your child has not been assessed as grammar following the Medway Test, and you feel that your child is of grammar ability, you can request a review of your child’s academic work to be undertaken by a panel.  
This is a parental decision, but we strongly advise that you discuss it with your child’s Headteacher or class teacher.
Even if you do not request a review, you will still be able to appeal for a Medway grammar school, as long as you have named the school on your application.

10. What is the Review?
If you submit a review request, your child’s school will be asked to provide work in three areas (English, Maths and Science).
The review is of academic work only.
Any comments made by parents or schools can only be considered for context. Additional paperwork/letters, etc will not be included for the panel
A panel will review the academic work submitted to decide if it proves your child to be of grammar ability. 
Each year a number of children are found to be grammar as a result of the review process. This is up to a further 2 per cent of children in the year group.
Grammar schools are asked to give special consideration to pupils in receipt of free school meals
NB: A grammar review decision does not change your child’s score. It only changes their assessment decision.

11. KENT TEST
Registration for the Kent Test 2019 is open between 1st June and 1st July.
Registration is on line: at kent.gov.uk
Or via postal admissions – a leaflet has be sent out to all pupils.

12. The tests are multiple-choice with a separate answer sheet
The tests are multiple-choice with a separate answer sheet. They are marked by an automated marking machine.
The first test will be an English and Maths paper and will take 1 hour.
Each section will involve a 5 minute practice exercise followed by a 25 minute test. The English section will involve a comprehension exercise as well as some additional questions drawn from a set designed to test literacy skills.
The second test will be a reasoning paper. It will take about 1 hour, including the practice sections and questions. It will contain a verbal reasoning section and a non-verbal reasoning section of roughly the same length. The non-verbal reasoning will be split into short sections, administered and timed individually.
There will also be a writing exercise which will not be marked but may be used by a local Headteacher panel as part of the Headteacher assessment stage of the process. 40 minutes will be allowed for the writing task, including 10 minutes planning time.

13. KENT PESE 2018 - HEADTEACHER ASSESSMENT
The selection procedure is based on objective testing. It is Kent LA’s policy to use the standardised results of the three tests as the major indicator which will automatically select approximately 20% of the county - wide cohort, leaving a percentage for assessment by Head Teacher Panels so as to achieve a genuine 25% selection as the final outcome across the whole LA.
The Headteacher assessment stage is designed to enable us to identify the small proportion of children who are of grammar school ability but have not qualified through testing for a grammar school place. Head teachers may request a panel assessment where they have evidence that a child’s test scores have not done him/her justice. There may be a range of reasons, for example :

14. Illness at time of test(s)
Trail of illness during the last year, that has depressed learning
Emotional problems, that have interfered with test performance
Circumstances that have previously depressed learning
Recently moving schools
Transfer from a different system of education
Additional Educational Needs, that may include Special Education Need
English as an Additional Language
Recent rapid progress
Disturbance to the pattern of teaching
Unidentified cause of clearly uncharacteristic low test scores

15. The Medway and Kent test are very different tests-written by 2 different providers.
GL assessment for Kent
CEM for Medway.
Kent
verbal reasoning
Non –verbal reasoning
Maths
English – reading comprehension, punctuation exercise, spelling exercise
Writing assessment
Medway
Verbal reasoning

16. The school is NOT allowed to teach to the tests.
We teach the National Curriculum not a programme devised by CEM or GL assessments.
There are lots of areas that we will not cover until the end of year 6 in maths: algebra, ration and proportion, circumference, radius & diameter.
We do NOT teach verbal or non verbal reasoning.
If you do choose to have a tutor ensure that you are tutoring for the correct test. Types of verbal reasoning questions are different in both tests according to the provider used.
What you can do to help?
Vocabulary
Reading to your child and discussing text
Buy tests papers form provider for test you will be sitting.

17. How many schools can I apply for?
Medway residents can name up to 6 preferences.
You do not have to name 6, but it is important to understand that the more schools you name the more chance you’ve got of receiving the offer of a school place for one of your preferences.
Naming only one school does not give you a greater chance of gaining a place.
Is my preference order important?
Medway operates an equal preference scheme.
The order of your preferences is between the council and you. Schools will not be told which preference you name them at the time of application or offer. They may need a copy of the application for any subsequent appeal.
Medway will look to offer your child a place at the highest named school that can offer a place and for which you child is eligible.

18. How do LA work out which school is to be offered to my child?
How do LA work out what priority my child has for a place at the schools I have named?
All school places are allocated in accordance with the individual school’s published oversubscription criteria.
School Services work in partnership with each school to ensure that all applicants are prioritised (ranked) correctly against the published oversubscription criteria.
How do LA work out which school is to be offered to my child?
Both Kent and Medway operates an equal preference scheme, which means that school places are not offered based on which preference you name the school.
Your application will be considered and prioritised against the named school’s oversubscription criteria.
When school places are being offered, LA will look to offer your child a place at the highest named school where a place can be offered and for which they are eligible.
You will only receive the offer of one school during March 2020.

19. If I am not happy with the school place offered, what can I do?
Full details of the next steps you can take following the school offer made will be available at that time.
There are various options available. These are:
To go on the waiting list for any of the schools named on your original application.*
To request to be considered for a Medway school for the first time (via the waiting list process)
To lodge an appeal of any of the schools named on your application but not offered. This includes Medway grammar schools, even if your child has not been assessed as grammar. Appeals are considered by an Independent Appeal Panel (not the school itself).
*Please note that you can only request to go on the waiting list for a Medway grammar school if your child has been assessed as grammar under the Medway Test procedures.

20. www.medway.gov.uk/admissions And Kent website:
All of this information and much more can be found in the Secondary Admissions digital information guide on Medway website:
And Kent website:

21. Thank you for listening.
Any Questions?