Kent Test 2026 Results Day: What Parents Need to Do Next

For parents who have entered their child into the Kent Test, results will be emailed after 4pm today (Thursday 15 October 2026). The date has been eagerly awaited by thousands of Year 6 children, especially those in Kent but also those from other counties, for the past five weeks.

The result will determine whether your child has been deemed suitable for a Kent grammar school. The deadline for secondary school applications in the county is just over two weeks away and it is important to know what to do next.

How results will be released

Kent County Council will email results to the email address provided during the registration process. If an email address was not provided or the email returns undelivered, the test results will be posted via first class post. Don’t forget to check your spam folder if your email result does not arrive.

Your child’s test results will include three standardised scores for each subject: English, maths and reasoning. There will also be a total score out of 423. The scores will be adjusted for your child’s age in years and months so that summer born children are not disadvantaged. The lowest score your child can receive in one subject is 69 and the highest is 141.

Your child’s primary school will be able to give you their scores from tomorrow (Friday 16 October).

The 2026 pass mark

The threshold mark is set each year after all papers are marked, and confirmed in October of each year when the results are confirmed. Pass mark for individual papers as well as the total mark has been increased this year to 111 and 345 respectively. Last year, a total mark of 332 or more with no less than 108 in any paper was required.

This is a huge test. Last October, 16,876 children sat the test, 11,248 of whom lived in Kent. Of the Kent children, 5,035 were deemed suitable for grammar school.

It is not just a case of looking at the numbers though. When you receive the decision by email, you may find that there has been a headteacher assessment for some children that narrowly missed out. So, do read what your overall outcome is.

Your child is assessed eligible

Congratulations, but this is eligibility, not an offer. It means your child can be considered for any Kent grammar school you name on the Secondary Common Application Form (SCAF).

Most grammar schools are oversubscribed, so places among eligible children are usually decided by oversubscription criteria such as distance from home. A few super-selective schools rank applicants by score, where a result well above the threshold is typically needed.

Before you submit, check each school's admissions policy, whether it needs a supplementary form, and how far its last offers reached. Rank schools in your true order of preference: the order does not reduce your chances at any one school.

If the result isn't what you hoped

You can still name a grammar school on your application. The council will refuse it in March, but naming it keeps the door open to an appeal, where an independent panel weighs evidence such as school work, teacher reports, or illness on test day.

Appeals are a real route but not an easy one. Make sure the rest of your list holds schools you would be genuinely happy with, so a grammar refusal does not leave you with a school you never chose.

Kent has strong non-selective schools, and many open evenings are still running this month. Take a few days, talk it through with your child's class teacher, and then visit.

Key dates

If you have any questions, send them to Kent admissions team on 03000 412121 or kent.admissions@kent.gov.uk.

One result, not the whole story

Tonight will bring celebration in some homes and disappointment in others. Whatever the email says, your child is still the same ten-year-old who walked into that exam hall in September. A single morning's test is one route into secondary school, not a verdict on their potential.