Updated 10 August 2026 · Schools & admissions

Bexley & Dartford grammar schools, 2027 entry: schools, exam formats, Quest vs GL and key dates

For children sitting the 11+ in September 2026 and starting Year 7 in September 2027. South-East London and North-West Kent have an unusual number of grammar schools in a small area — but Bexley and Dartford are reached by two separate examinations, and for this cycle they use two different test providers.

The headline difference for this cycle: Bexley uses Quest Assessments, and the Kent Test is provided by GL Assessment. A child who wants to keep both routes open normally registers for and sits both tests. Passing one does not count as passing the other — Bexley states its result is valid for its four grammar schools and that a Kent Test result cannot substitute for it.

The grammar schools in Bexley

Bexley has four, and a single Selection Test covers all of them — around 800 Year 7 places planned across the four for September 2027.

So a boy could consider Beths, Bexley Grammar and Chis & Sid; a girl could consider Townley, Bexley Grammar and Chis & Sid. You do not sit a separate exam for each.

The grammar schools in Dartford and Wilmington

These sit inside the much larger Kent grammar system. Bexley schools go through the Bexley Selection Test; Dartford and Wilmington go through the Kent Test — separate registrations, exams, scores and admissions processes.

Two providers: Quest for Bexley, GL for Kent

Worth emphasising, because older preparation material may reflect previous Bexley arrangements. It does not mean learning two curricula — there is heavy overlap — but the paper structure, timing, presentation and scoring differ.

The Bexley format

Two multiple-choice booklets in one session, each around 50 minutes, with sections inside them timed separately and the invigilator calling the moves. With registration, instructions and a break, the session runs roughly 2½–3 hours.

It assesses three abilities:

• Verbal ability — vocabulary, comprehension, verbal reasoning.
• Numerical reasoning — Bexley states the Maths content will not exceed what children are expected to have learned by the end of Year 5.
• Non-verbal reasoning — patterns, relationships between shapes, sequences, logic.

The Bexley weighting is the thing to know

The average total weighted standardised score is 200, and Bexley says roughly two-thirds of candidates score between 170 and 230. Verbal performance is half the result — so a child who is exceptional at Maths and NVR but weaker in English and VR cannot rely on the strong subjects to carry them. We covered how the arithmetic works in how raw scores become standardised scores.

The Kent format

Two scored papers plus a writing exercise.

Paper 1 — English and Maths, about an hour

• 5-minute Maths practice, then a 25-minute Maths test
• 5-minute English practice, then a 25-minute English test

The English component covers comprehension plus other literacy questions.

Paper 2 — Reasoning, about an hour including practice

Verbal and Non-Verbal Reasoning, roughly equal in length. The important characteristic is that Kent NVR is split into short, individually timed sections. A child who can comfortably finish 30 NVR questions inside one 20-minute limit can still come unstuck when the same questions arrive in several small blocks with their own clocks.

The writing exercise — 40 minutes

About 10 minutes planning and 30 writing. It is not normally marked as part of the Kent Test score, but Kent states it may be considered by a local Headteacher Panel during headteacher assessment — so it should not be ignored entirely.

Quest vs GL: what is the same

Good news: you do not need two separate preparation programmes.

Quest vs GL: what is different

The difference parents miss most: Kent's minimum subject score

Kent does not look only at the total. For the 2025 Kent Test the grammar standard was 332 or above overall, with no individual score below 108. The three reported scores — English, Maths and Reasoning — each run from about 69 to 141, so the maximum aggregate is 423. The threshold for the September 2026 test is published with the results in October.

Bexley's equivalent trap: the Top 180

Bexley ranks candidates by total age-standardised score, and the 180 highest go into one of the highest admissions-priority groups. That is not the same as passing. Bexley expects around 800 Year 7 places across its four grammar schools for September 2027, while only 180 candidates get the Top-180 priority.

Passing does not guarantee a place

This is the single most important admissions point. Passing means your child is eligible to be considered. Bexley warns specifically that reaching the selective standard does not guarantee a place, aside from the priority attached to the highest-scoring group; other applicants are ranked on each school's own oversubscription criteria, with distance often significant. The same principle applies in Kent, where academies and foundation schools are their own admission authorities and publish their own criteria.

So there are two separate questions:

• Can my child pass the test?
• If they pass, how likely are we to actually get a place at this school?

Key dates — Bexley, September 2027 entry

For children born between 1 September 2015 and 31 August 2016.

Registration for this cohort has closed. Bexley states that late registrations are not accepted and there is no appeal for missing the deadline. As at August 2026 the full 2027/28 secondary admissions booklet was still marked "coming soon", so check the final timetable when it is published rather than working from a previous year's.

Key dates — Kent, September 2027 entry

If you live in London and want a Dartford school

You still sit the Kent Test. But you apply for the school through your home local authority, not through Kent — and the same in reverse for a Kent family applying to a Bexley grammar. The authorities exchange the application information between them.

Registering for the test is not applying to the school

This catches families out every year. There are two separate stages.

• Stage 1 — register for the test, Bexley and/or Kent, depending on the schools you want.
• Stage 2 — apply for the schools on the Secondary Common Application Form after results, listing them in preference order.

Bexley requires both reaching the selective standard and naming the school on the secondary application.

List schools in the order you actually want them

A persistent myth is that putting a grammar school second reduces your chances. It does not. Each preference is assessed separately against that school's criteria, and the authority then offers the highest-ranked preference your child qualifies for. Ranking a "safe" school first can lose you a grammar place your child had also qualified for.

Preparing for both without doubling the work

Most of the preparation is shared:

• English comprehension and literacy, and vocabulary
• Maths to a strong Year 5 / 11+ standard
• Verbal and Non-Verbal Reasoning
• Speed, accuracy, and multiple-choice answer-sheet technique

Perhaps 80–90% of the underlying skills overlap. Only the final stage should become provider-specific: Quest-style familiarisation and section timing for Bexley, GL-style material and the exact English / Maths / Reasoning structure for Kent — particularly those short individually timed NVR sections. Both councils link to their provider's official familiarisation material.

Build the skills first, then train the exam format.

Avoid a child becoming so used to one publisher's page layout that an unfamiliar presentation on the day costs them marks.

One exam-day skill worth drilling

Both tests use timed sections, and Bexley's invigilator controls when to move on. So: when the section ends, move on. Spending three minutes cracking one hard NVR question is a poor trade if it costs several easier marks later in the same section.

A final-month checklist

• Keep strengthening English, Maths, VR and NVR fundamentals.
• Use the official Quest (Bexley) and GL (Kent) familiarisation material.
• Practise Bexley's short timed-section discipline.
• Practise Kent's 25-minute English and Maths sections, and its individually timed NVR blocks.
• Do some writing practice — Kent has a 40-minute exercise.
• Practise transferring answers accurately onto a multiple-choice sheet.
• Sit some full sessions, not only single-subject exercises.
• Work on reducing careless errors rather than only attempting harder questions.
• Check your Bexley test-centre invitation — these were issued from 3 August 2026.
• Keep the two test dates clear in your head; a child sitting both will sit them on different days.

Bexley vs Dartford/Kent at a glance

Final advice

If your child is considering both areas, do not think of it as two entirely different 11+ exams. Think of it as one strong foundation and two exam techniques — Quest technique for Bexley, GL technique for Kent.

And remember that the test result is only the first half of admission. The rest is school-specific criteria, home-to-school distance, Pupil Premium priorities where they apply, preference ordering, residence rules and the application deadline. A grammar "pass" is eligibility to compete for a place, not an offer.

Based on information published by the London Borough of Bexley and Kent County Council as at August 2026. Arrangements, thresholds and dates can change, and some 2027/28 documents were unpublished at the time of writing. Always verify dates and individual school admissions policies with Bexley Council, Kent County Council and the school directly.