Apply to The Harvey Grammar School, in plain English.
The Harvey is a selective boys' grammar in Folkestone. You can become eligible two ways: pass the Kent 11+, or pass the school's own Harvey Test. After Looked-After Children, the criteria favour boys living in the Folkestone & Hythe district — a Pupil Premium tier and a district tier come before everyone else.
The three things to know first.
If you read nothing else on this page, read these. They're the bits that catch parents out.
Two ways in: Kent 11+ or the Harvey Test.
Your son can be assessed via Kent's standard PESE (the 11+), or via Harvey's own Verbal/Non-Verbal Reasoning + English + Maths tests. Either passing makes him eligible. Test arrangements are advertised on the school's website.
Living in Folkestone & Hythe gives you priority tiers.
After Looked-After Children, criteria 2 and 3 are only for boys living in Folkestone & Hythe district (formerly Shepway). PP-eligible Folkestone boys come first, then all Folkestone boys (by distance), then everyone else.
Pupil Premium only counts if you also live in Folkestone & Hythe.
Unlike most Kent grammars, Harvey's PP tier is district-restricted. If your son is PP-eligible and you live in Folkestone & Hythe, you get tier 2. PP-eligible boys outside the district drop to tier 4 with everyone else. Return the SIF to Ms S Taylor by 31 October 2026.
Six steps, spread over a year.
From registering for whichever test you choose to your son starting Year 7. Steps 4 and 5 both close on 31 October 2026.
4 tiers, with the Folkestone & Hythe district doing the heavy lifting.
EHCPs naming the school are admitted first. Every other eligible boy is sorted into the highest tier that applies. Two of the four tiers are restricted to boys living in the Folkestone & Hythe district.
In plain English: Boys currently in council care, or who left care via adoption, child arrangements or special guardianship orders — including those adopted from state care outside England.
What the document says: A 'looked after child' is a child who is (a) in the care of a local authority, or (b) being provided with accommodation by a local authority in the exercise of their social services functions (see the definition in Section 22(1) of the Children Act 1989) at the time of making an application to a school. A previously looked after child means such children who were adopted (or subject to child arrangements orders or special guardianship orders) immediately following having been looked after and those children who appear to the admission authority to have been in state care outside of England and ceased to be in state care as a result of being adopted.
In plain English: Boys who are PP-eligible (FSM at any point in the last 6 years) and who live in the Folkestone & Hythe district. Both conditions must apply. Return the SIF (Appendix 2 of the policy) to the school by 31 October.
What the document says: Boys in receipt of Pupil Premium who reside in the District of Folkestone and Hythe (formerly known as Shepway). A child is eligible for Pupil Premium where they have been registered for free school meals (FSM) at any point in the last 6 years. Parents wishing to apply under this criterion must ensure they complete the Supplementary Form for Pupil Premium Information (Appendix 2) and return it to the school by 31st October in the year of application.
In plain English: All boys who passed either test and live in Folkestone & Hythe district, ranked by straight-line distance — closest first.
What the document says: Boys who reside in the District of Folkestone and Hythe (formerly known as Shepway) — in the event of the number of successful pupils in the district of Folkestone and Hythe exceeding the number of places available, the nearness of a child's home to school will apply. Distance is measured in a straight line using the National Land and Property Gazetteer (NLPG) address point.
In plain English: Any other eligible boy — including PP-eligible boys outside Folkestone & Hythe — ranked by straight-line distance to the school. Distance also serves as the tiebreaker for the last place.
What the document says: Other boys who satisfy the selection requirements, with those living nearest to the school being given the higher priority — this will also serve as a tie-breaker in the event of a tie for the last place. In the unlikely event that two or more children in all other ways have equal eligibility for the last available place at the school, the names will be issued a number and drawn randomly to decide which child should be given the place. This process will be supervised by someone independent of the school.
Straight line, not driving time.
Inside tiers 3 and 4 — which together fill most places — Harvey uses the straight-line distance between your home and the school. Routes, bus times and travel difficulty are not considered. The Folkestone & Hythe district boundary acts as a hard split between tier 3 and tier 4.
Distance uses the National Land and Property GazetteerNLPGThe official UK address database. Distance is measured as a straight line between two address points: your home and a fixed point at the school. address point. For new-build homes not yet in that database, KCC uses planning coordinates.
See the approximate catchment on the GrammarBound mapThe district boundary beats raw distance.
Both boys passed either the Kent Test or the Harvey Test; neither claims PP. Boy A lives in the Folkestone & Hythe district and competes in tier 3 (district, by distance). Boy B lives just outside the district — he's in tier 4 with everyone else. Even if his straight-line distance is slightly shorter, the district boundary keeps Boy A in front.
Open to external applicants — boys only.
Total Year 12 cohort is 150. The external admission number is 25, but the school says this figure may be exceeded if internal Year 11 transfers don't fill the year group. Same admission criteria for internal and external applicants.
Grade 5 in English and Maths, plus subject criteria.
Minimum: GCSE grade 5 in English (Language or Literature) and grade 5 in Maths. Each A Level subject's own entry criteria must be met. An academic programme is 3 A Levels; a vocational route can be 1 A Level plus a double-award BTEC, subject to course criteria.
LAC → GCSE rank → Distance.
Following the admission of internal pupils transferring from Year 11, external places are ranked: (1) LAC/previously LAC, (2) rank order of merit in GCSE qualifications, (3) distance from home to school as for Year 7.
Appeals to an independent panel — write to appeals@harveygs.kent.sch.uk.
You have two routes, and you can use both.
Waiting list
Eligible boys are assigned to a waiting list, re-ranked using the same 4 criteria each time a boy is added. The school will only offer places from the waiting list once the number in the relevant year group falls below the PAN. Any boy still on the list by the following academic year will be required to sit a school admission assessment in English and Maths.
Appeal
Right of appeal to an independent panel. Address appeals to the Clerk to the Independent Appeals Panel, c/o The Harvey Grammar School, Cheriton Road, Folkestone CT19 5JY, by the closing date stated on the appeal application form.
Subject to availability, boys may be admitted to the school if they achieve a selective standard in the school's own admission assessments in English and Mathematics. Contact the Admissions Officer to arrange a mutually convenient test date.