Kent Test Dates 2027: Registration, Exam Day, and Results Schedule
· 7 min read
When does the Kent Test happen in 2027? Registration windows, likely exam dates, results day, and the appeal timeline — based on Kent's published patterns.
The short answer
If your child is sitting the Kent Test in autumn 2026 for September 2027 entry, the dates you need to plan around are roughly: registration opens in early June 2026, registration closes in the first week of July 2026, the test itself is sat in the second or third week of September 2026, and results are released to parents in mid-October 2026. The secondary school application deadline (CAF) follows on 31 October 2026, and national offer day is 1 March 2027. None of these specific dates for 2027 entry have been confirmed by Kent County Council at the time of writing — the schedule below is based on Kent's published patterns over the previous five years. Always confirm against the live admissions page before relying on any specific date. For the wider context on the test format, scoring, and what 'satisfied the test' actually means, see our Kent 11+ region guide.
Registration window: early June to early July 2026
Kent County Council typically opens Kent Test registration in the first week of June, with a deadline in the first week of July. Registration is free and is completed online through the Kent County Council admissions portal. You will need your child's date of birth, your home address (Kent residency is checked), and, if your child attends an out-of-county primary school or you live outside Kent, additional supporting information. Missing the registration deadline is the single most common avoidable mistake parents make. Late registrations are accepted at the council's discretion but are not guaranteed, and you may be required to provide a written explanation. Set a calendar reminder for early June, do not wait for the school to remind you, and submit the registration the same week the window opens — this avoids the common scenario where the deadline falls during a family holiday. If your child attends a Kent state primary, the school will normally test on-site. If you live in Kent but your child attends a non-Kent or independent school, you will be assigned a test centre at registration — this is usually the nearest grammar school. Out-of-county registrations follow the same timetable but require an additional residency form.
Exam day: mid-September 2026
Kent has consistently scheduled the Kent Test in the second or third week of September. For 2027 entry, the test will be sat in September 2026, in the first fortnight of Year 6. Children sit three multiple-choice papers — English (with a short writing exercise), Mathematics, and a combined Reasoning paper covering verbal and non-verbal reasoning — typically across a single morning, with breaks between papers. On the day, children take the test at their primary school (if it is a Kent state primary) or at a designated test centre (for out-of-county or independent-school pupils). Parents do not attend. Children should bring a couple of sharpened pencils, an eraser, and a bottle of water; calculators and revision notes are not permitted. The test is age-standardised, which means a child born in August is not disadvantaged compared with a child born the previous September — the marking accounts for the age gap automatically. The writing exercise is not separately marked for grammar-school pass or fail, but it is reviewed by the Kent Headteacher Assessment Panel for borderline cases. If your child's combined reasoning, English, and Maths score sits between the upper and lower thresholds, the writing sample becomes part of the panel's discussion. For a structured run-up to test day, see our month-by-month Kent Test preparation guide.
Results day: mid-October 2026
Kent results are typically released to parents in mid-October — historically the second or third Friday of the month. Results arrive by email and through the Kent admissions portal; you do not need to phone the council. The result is given as a Standardised Age Score across the three papers, plus a clear statement of whether your child has been 'assessed as suitable for grammar school education' (above the upper threshold), is borderline (between the two thresholds, referred to the Headteacher Assessment Panel), or has not been assessed as suitable. The specific 2027 thresholds will not be known until the cohort sits the test. Kent uses moving thresholds calibrated to the year's overall performance, so do not rely on previous-year cut-off scores when judging whether your child is on track during practice. Historical thresholds have hovered in a fairly narrow range, but the figure that matters is the one Kent publishes alongside results in October 2026. Results day is also the day when many families make decisions about secondary preferences. You have approximately two weeks between results day and the national CAF deadline of 31 October — short enough to make the decision feel rushed, but long enough to attend a few open evenings (which most Kent grammar schools run between September and mid-October specifically for this reason). If your child has not satisfied the test, you can still rank grammar schools on the CAF, but a place will only be offered if the school is undersubscribed or via the appeals process.
Appeals timeline: November 2026 to summer 2027
If your child does not pass the test or does not receive a place at your preferred grammar school on national offer day (1 March 2027), you have the right to appeal. There are two distinct appeal routes and the timing differs: - Headteacher Assessment Panel review (for borderline scorers): triggered automatically by Kent in November 2026 if your child sat between the two thresholds. You do not need to apply — Kent contacts you. The panel reviews the test result alongside school work samples (including the writing exercise), and the outcome is communicated before the CAF deadline so you can finalise preferences. - Independent admission appeal (for children who did not satisfy the test or who were refused their preferred school after offer day): you must submit a formal appeal to the school in question, normally within 20 school days of receiving the offer or refusal. Hearings are held between April and July 2027. You will need to demonstrate either that the test result did not reflect your child's true ability (with corroborating evidence — recent SATs, teacher reports, work samples) or that there is a compelling reason your child should attend that specific school. Appeals against grammar-school refusals are notoriously hard to win — the panel must be satisfied your child is of grammar-school ability, not just that you would prefer the school.
What parents need to do at each stage
April-May 2026: confirm Kent residency, identify target schools, and start or continue preparation. May 2026: open evenings begin at most Kent grammar schools — visit your shortlist. Early June 2026: register the moment the window opens. July 2026: confirm registration receipt; if you have not received an acknowledgement by mid-July, contact the council. August 2026: keep practice light; protect your child's confidence. Early September 2026: confirm test centre, time, and what to bring. Mid-September 2026: test day. October 2026: results. October-November 2026: rank schools on the CAF by 31 October. March 2027: offer day. April-July 2027: appeal hearings, if applicable. Alongside the calendar, two things matter every month: daily reading (the single biggest lever on the English paper) and 15-25 minutes a day of GL-format practice across the four subject areas. To start with a free diagnostic that benchmarks your child against Kent's typical thresholds and builds a personalised plan, try GrammarPrep.
A note on uncertainty
Every date in this article is an estimate based on Kent's pattern over the last five admissions cycles. Kent County Council confirms the live 2027-entry schedule typically in spring 2026, then republishes it ahead of registration opening. Three things have shifted in recent cycles: the registration window has opened slightly earlier in some years; the test date has occasionally moved by a week to accommodate school calendars; and the results-release date can vary depending on processing volumes. None of this should change your preparation strategy materially — the broad shape of the year (registration in early summer, test in mid-September, results in mid-October, CAF on 31 October) has been stable for over a decade. But before taking a holiday in early June or early July 2026, double-check the live Kent admissions page rather than relying on this article alone.