National Offer Day

This is the largest cohort Kent has ever seen. These offers were possible due to the combined efforts of all schools, working in conjunction with KCC Fair Access staff and remains a useful reminder of the exemplary work that is regularly completed across the County.

79.6% of Kent families were offered a place at their first preference school, an increase from 69.7% last year. While last year’s results were affected by the increased number of preferences parents were offered due to COVID, results still exceed the 77.7% achieved for 2020’s intake. Overall 95.4% of families were offered a school of preference, maintaining the same level as last year in spite of the increase in applications.

This does of course leave a small proportion of families without a school of their preference, however, all pupils have been offer an alternative school. Parents will continue to be provided opportunities to secure alternatives before the start of the new school year. Parents are advised to read their offer letter, which explains how these ongoing processes work.

I am also pleased to announce that this year, Kent saw an increase in the number of disadvantaged children securing a Grammar assessment through the Kent Test. On National Offer Day, while the whole cohort figures for securing a grammar school places saw a small reduction (42.6% compared to 42.8% for 2021 intake), 25.8% of tested FSM pupils secured a grammar school compared to 23.9% last year. Similarly, 26.4% of tested Pupil Premium children were offered a Grammar school compared to 25.1% last year.

I would like to thank you all for your efforts in reaching this point and for the work you will continue to do in supporting the Primary Admissions process next month.

Craig Chapman
Head of Fair Access