Kent and Medway Test registration opens despite calls to push th

Parents can now register their child to sit the Kent Test or Medway Test - with families having just weeks to do so.

Applications to sit one or both examinations have now opened despite calls for the assessments, which determine a child's suitability for a grammar school place, to be pushed back or scrapped altogether because of the coronavirus outbreak and the varied impact school closures are having on children's learning.

Pupils due to start secondary school next September, who wish to be considered for a grammar school place, will be expected sit the Kent Test or Medway Test when they return for their final year of primary school this September.

Families wishing for their child to take either test must register them with the relevant local authority - either Kent County Council or Medway Council.

Registration for the Medway Test is open until June 29 whilst families wanting their child to sit the Kent Test have until Wednesday, July 1 to submit their form online.

Children who go to school in Kent will then sit the Kent Test on September 10, or September 12 if they attend a school outside the authority.

Whilst in Medway, the Medway Test will be sat on September 15 and 16 at Medway schools with a number of Medway Test centres opening on Saturday, September 19 to allow those who go to school outside of the towns to take the examination.

Both Kent County Council and Medway Council say the process for administering this year's tests is being discussed with the Department for Education but at present there are no proposed changes to the way this year's assessment for grammar schools will be carried out, despite the current pandemic, and teams continue to work to existing timetables set out before the coronavirus outbreak.

But with children currently learning from home and schools only open for key workers, reception, year 1 and 6, there is growing pressure on education chiefs to look at the selection tests and whether they can be carried out so soon after the school holidays and during such profound change to children's learning.

Canterbury MP Rosie Duffield is one of those to have called for the Kent Test to be suspended amid fears for children's mental health.

She said: "It is not right that at a time of heightened anxiety for all children, another pressure is placed on them."

For more details about registering for the Kent Test please click here. For Medway Test registration click here.

For more family-related news and events visit www.mykentfamily.co.uk