Maidstone, Kent · Kent
Maidstone Grammar School
No school-specific bar above Kent's standard threshold — an internal 360+ priority band only governs how roughly half its intake is ordered, not who gets in at all.
Maidstone Grammar School dates to 1549 and teaches boys 11-16, with a co-educational sixth form admitting girls at 16+. It uses the standard Kent Test with no additional school-set entry bar — any boy clearing the county-wide qualifying score is eligible. It does apply an internal 360-point threshold, but only to prioritise ordering among in-catchment applicants (roughly half the 205-place intake, per independent commentary), not as a minimum for entry itself.
Key facts
- Gender
- boys
- Age range
- 11-18
- Region
- South East
- Local authority
- Kent
- Established
- 1549
- DfE URN
- 118835
- Website
- https://mgs.kent.sch.uk
Admissions
- Admissions authority
- The school sets its own test and criteria
- Entrance test board
- The Kent Test, commissioned county-wide by Kent County Council. GL Assessment is widely reported as the provider (Kent County Council's own site links directly to GL's practice-materials portal), though no primary document names it verbatim.partly verified
GL Assessment as provider is unanimous across independent sources and implied by Kent County Council's own links, but no directly-fetched council page names it verbatim.
- Test format
- The standard Kent Test: a combined English & Maths paper (1 hour, two 25-minute sections) and a Reasoning paper (about 1 hour, verbal and non-verbal reasoning), plus an unmarked 40-minute writing exercise that may be referred to a headteacher panel in borderline cases.
- Qualifying / pass mark
- The standard Kent-wide grammar-qualifying classification: a total standardised score of 332 or more, with no individual component below 108 (maximum possible total 423). The school sets no higher school-wide minimum for basic eligibility. It does apply a second, internal threshold of 360+ to prioritise ordering among in-catchment applicants — per independent commentary this band accounts for roughly half of the 205-place intake, meaning the other half is admitted at scores between 332 and 359.
- Superselective?
- Nopartly verified
An evidence-based judgement rather than a citation of an authoritative classification, since 'superselective' has no official DfE definition.
Requires only the standard Kent-wide qualifying score for basic eligibility — no school-specific test or higher entry bar. Its internal 360+ band only governs ordering among in-catchment applicants (roughly half the intake), not who is eligible at all; the rest of the intake is admitted at scores as low as 332. Independent Kent 11+ commentary that names specific superselective schools (Judd, Skinners', Tonbridge Grammar) doesn't include Maidstone Grammar School.
Catchment & priority criteria
Maidstone town plus 63 named surrounding parishes across mid-Kent (including Aylesford, Bearsted, Boxley, Coxheath, Headcorn, Hollingbourne, Marden, Staplehurst, Sutton Valence, and West Malling, among others).
- Looked-after and previously looked-after children who met the Kent-wide standard
- In-catchment applicants scoring 360+, ordered by: Free School Meals, then siblings at the school, then staff children, then distance
- In-catchment applicants scoring 332-359, ordered by the same sub-criteria
- Out-of-catchment applicants meeting the Kent-wide standard, ordered by the same sub-criteria
Results
| Year | Attainment 8 | GCSE 5+ Eng & Maths | Progress 8 | A*–A | A*–B |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 66.6 | 88.4% | +0.50 ('well above average') — this cohort predates the COVID-era Progress 8 gap | 21% | 60% |
| A-level (572 entries): average grade B-. | |||||
| 2025 | 68.4 | 92.0% | Not calculated by DfE — no KS2 baseline data for this cohort nationally | 31% | 68% |
| A-level (584 entries): average grade B-. | |||||
Ofsted
- Rating
- Good
- Date
- 8-9 October 2024
- Report
- Read the full report
Sources
- 1. DfE Get Information About Schools — URN, status, gender, LA — https://get-information-schools.service.gov.uk/Establishments/Establishment/Details/118835
- 2. Determined admissions arrangements for September 2026 entry — https://mgs.kent.sch.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Admissions-Arrangements-for-Sept-2026.pdf
- 3. Kent County Council — Kent Test qualifying score (332, minimum component 108) — https://www.kent.gov.uk/education-and-children/schools/school-places/kent-test/kent-test-results
- 4. Kent County Council — Kent Test format and preparation — https://www.kent.gov.uk/education-and-children/schools/school-places/kent-test/prepare-for-the-kent-test
- 5. Ofsted report, inspected 8-9 October 2024 — https://files.ofsted.gov.uk/v1/file/50261453
- 6. DfE Compare School Performance — 2025 GCSE results, Progress 8 non-calculation statement — https://www.compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk/school/118835/maidstone-grammar-school/secondary
- 7. School's own 2025 GCSE results page — https://mgs.kent.sch.uk/about-us/our-performance/gcse-results-2025/
- 8. School's own history page — founded 1549 — https://mgs.kent.sch.uk/about-us/our-history/
- 9. Good Schools Guide review — confirms the 360+ band covers roughly half the intake — https://www.goodschoolsguide.co.uk/uk-schools/review/maidstone-grammar-school
Last updated 2026-08-30. Spotted something wrong? Tell us.