Apply to Highworth Grammar School, in plain English.
Highworth is a selective girls' grammar in Ashford with a mixed sixth form. Entry to Year 7 requires the Kent 11+ (PESE). When there are more applicants than places, five tiers decide who gets in — and inside each tier, straight-line distance to the school decides.
The three things to know first.
If you read nothing else on this page, read these. They're the bits that catch parents out.
Your daughter needs the Kent 11+ (PESE).
Only girls who take the Kent Test and reach the required standard are considered for Year 7 at Highworth. Register with KCC in June 2026, separately from the school application.
You apply through your council, by 31 October 2026.
List Highworth on your council's SCAFSecondary Common Application FormThe single form you submit to your home council listing up to six schools in order of preference. by 31 October 2026, even if you don't live in Kent. The school does not take direct applications.
Pupil Premium ranks 2nd — but the SIF must arrive by 31 October.
Girls eligible for Pupil PremiumPupil PremiumChildren eligible for free school meals at any time in the last 6 years, or children in/previously in council care. sit in tier 2 — ahead of siblings and distance. To claim it, send the school's Supplementary Information Form to the Admissions Officer by 31 October 2026.
Five steps, spread over a year.
From registering for the test to your daughter starting Year 7. Steps 3 and 4 both close on 31 October 2026.
If too many girls pass the 11+, these 5 tiers decide.
EHCPs naming the school are admitted first (reducing the 210 PAN). Every other eligible girl is sorted into the highest tier that applies to her, then distance to school decides inside each tier. Tap any tier to see the document's exact wording.
In plain English: Girls currently in council care, or who left care via adoption, child arrangements or special guardianship orders. Also covers girls adopted from state care outside England.
What the document says: A "looked after child" or a child who was previously looked after but immediately after being looked after became subject to an adoption, child arrangements, or special guardianship order including those who appear to have been in state care outside of England and ceased to be in state care as a result of being adopted. 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 definition in Section 22(1) of the Children Act 1989).
In plain English: Girls eligible for Pupil Premium — registered for FSM at any point in the last 6 years (Universal Infant FSM doesn't count). At Highworth this beats the sibling rule. You must complete and return the school's Supplementary Information Form by 31 October.
What the document says: 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/Carers wishing to apply under this criterion must ensure they complete the attached Supplementary Form for Pupil Premium Information (Appendix 1) and return it to the school by 31 October in the year of application. Parents/Carers must also complete an application (via online or paper Secondary Common Application Form) naming the school, otherwise their child cannot be considered for a place.
In plain English: If your daughter will have a sister, step-sister or foster-sister already at Highworth in September 2027 (any year group, including a brother in the sixth form), she gets sibling priority.
What the document says: A sibling attending the school when the child starts. In this context sibling means a child who lives as a sibling in the same house, including natural siblings, adopted siblings, stepsiblings and foster siblings. If siblings from multiple births (twins, triplets, etc.) apply and the school would reach its PAN after admitting one or more but before admitting all, the school will offer a place to each, even if this takes the school above its PAN.
In plain English: If your daughter — or a parent/carer — has a medical, mental-health or social-care need that means this school in particular is the right one, you can ask for priority here. Submit written evidence from a doctor or qualified practitioner showing the connection to Highworth specifically.
What the document says: Medical, health, social and special access reasons will be applied in accordance with the school's legal obligations, in particular those under the Equality Act 2010. Priority will be given to those children whose mental or physical impairment means they have a demonstrable and significant need to attend the school. This priority will also apply to children whose parents'/carers' physical or mental health or social needs mean that they have a demonstrable and significant need to attend the school. Such claims will need to be supported by written evidence from a suitably qualified medical or other practitioner who can demonstrate a special connection between these needs and the school.
In plain English: Distance from your home to a fixed point on the school site, measured as a single straight line. Routes, bus times and travel difficulty are not considered. If two girls tie exactly, an independent random draw decides.
What the document says: We use the distance between the child's permanent home address (defined in KCC's annual admissions prospectus) and the school, measured in a straight line using the National Land and Property Gazetteer (NLPG) address point. Where applications are made from properties or abodes that are not registered to the NLPG, including new build properties, KCC may be required to use planning sites or other relevant co-ordinates. Where two children have an otherwise equal priority under the oversubscription criteria, random selection overseen by someone independent of the school will be used to establish which is ranked ahead of the other.
Straight line, not driving time.
Inside each tier — and again to fill the last few places — Highworth uses the straight-line distance between your home and a fixed point on the school site. Routes, bus times and travel difficulty are not considered. The closer the home, the higher the rank.
Addresses come from 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.. For new-build homes not yet in that database, planning coordinates are used instead.
See the approximate catchment on the GrammarBound mapInside tier 5, distance decides.
Both girls passed the 11+, neither claims PP, neither has a sibling at the school, neither has medical priority. They both sit in tier 5. House A's straight-line distance is shorter, so it ranks higher. If two homes tie exactly, an independent random draw decides.
Mixed sixth form — boys join here.
Highworth admits boys into the sixth form alongside its own Year 11 girls. The total Year 12 cohort is up to 235; the minimum published external admission number is 26. Existing Year 11 Highworth students who meet the entry criteria are admitted first.
Six GCSEs at grade 6, plus Maths and English at 5.
You need 6 GCSE subjects at grade 6 or above (BTECs at Merit count as the equivalent), grade 5 in English, grade 5 in Maths, plus the specific entry requirements for each A Level subject. Students enrol on a two-year, full-time programme of 3 A Levels.
LAC → PP → Highest predicted grades → Distance.
If more external candidates apply than there are places, places are allocated: (1) LAC/previously LAC, (2) PP-eligible (SIF due 5 February 2027), (3) Highest average predicted performance points in best 8 qualifications, (4) Distance as a final tie-break. Internal students transferring from Highworth's own Year 11 are admitted first if they meet the criteria.
If you fail to achieve the conditional offer grades, the Governor Review Committee will hear mitigating circumstances; you also have a statutory right of appeal.
You have two routes, and you can use both.
Waiting list
Ask Kent County Council to add your daughter after National Offer DayNational Offer DayThe single day around 1 March on which every English council releases secondary-school offers. You hear by email or letter.. Highworth maintains the waiting list for all year groups until January of the year following, re-ranked using the same 5 criteria each time a child is added.
Appeal
Write to the Clerk to the Governors at Highworth. An independent appeal panel hears each case — neither the school nor KCC decides. Running an appeal does not jeopardise your waiting-list position.
Year 7 transfers from another Kent grammar are admitted without re-testing — the existing 'G' Kent Test assessment is valid until 31 December. After that date, applicants take Highworth's own CAT4 test (plus a piece of writing) by arrangement. Year 8–11 in-year applicants always take Highworth's own test. Applications via Kent's In Year Application Form (IYAF).