Apply to Mayfield Grammar School, in plain English.
Mayfield is one of the few grammars that gives girls two routes to qualify — the standard Kent 11+, or the school's own optional Mayfield test. This guide covers both, along with the postcode-based priority areas, PP priority, and the school's joint sixth form for boys and girls.
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 routes to qualify — Kent 11+ or the Mayfield test.
Your daughter can qualify through the standard Kent PESE11+ / PESEKent's selective assessment in Year 6 — Maths, English and Reasoning., or through Mayfield's own optional test on 12 September 2026. If she sits the Kent test and doesn't pass, the Mayfield test is a second chance. Register for both separately.
Postcode decides which priority band you're in.
Mayfield uses postcode areas, not parishes, to prioritise local families. There are two bands: a core area (DA postcode + Medway/TN15 parts) and a secondary zone (DA1, ME2, Sevenoaks TN13/14/15). Within each band, score decides who gets in.
PP/FSM SIF deadline is 2 November — two days after the SCAF.
If your daughter currently receives Free School Meals, you must return a Supplementary Information FormSIFMayfield needs this to verify current FSM eligibility for priority within the area criteria. Return to the Main Office by 2 November 2026. to the school's Main Office by 2 November 2026. The SCAF deadline is 31 October; the SIF is two days later.
Four steps — with an optional extra test in September.
If more girls qualify than there are places, these 5 criteria decide.
Every eligible girl is sorted into the highest criterion that applies to her. Within criteria c and d, Pupil Premium girls rank first, then score decides, then distance. Tap any criterion to see the document's exact wording.
In plain English: Children currently or previously in council care get top priority, regardless of address or score.
What the document says: An eligible '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 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: If your daughter will have a brother or sister attending Mayfield when she starts in September 2027, she gets priority here. Sibling covers natural, half, adopted, step- and foster siblings living at the same address.
What the document says: An eligible brother or sister attending the school at the time of entry to the school. Priority will be given to children who live as brother or sister in the same house, including natural brothers and sisters, adopted siblings, stepbrothers or sisters and foster brothers and sisters.
In plain English: Girls living in the core area (broadly Gravesend, Northfleet, Swanscombe, Ebbsfleet, Dartford rural and Strood/Medway fringes). Within this group, Free School Meals pupils rank first, then girls are sorted by their 11+ score, then by distance.
What the document says: Eligible girls who permanently reside in the postal code areas beginning with: DA2.6**, DA2.8**, DA3, DA4, DA9, DA10, DA11, DA12, DA13, ME3, TN15.7**, TN15 6AR, TN15 6AT and TN15 6AS. Priority within this criterion will first be given to girls who are currently in receipt of Free School Meals (SIF required by 2 November 2026). Places then allocated: (a) highest aggregated score, (b) proximity.
In plain English: Girls in a wider zone — broadly Dartford town (DA1), parts of Dartford Borough (DA2 7**), Medway/Rochester (ME2), and Sevenoaks (TN13, TN14, TN15 excluding the villages already in criterion c). PP girls rank first within this group, then score, then distance.
What the document says: Eligible girls who permanently reside in the postal code areas beginning with: DA1, DA2 7**, ME2, TN13, TN14, TN15 except TN15 7**, TN15 6AR, TN15 6AT and TN15 6AS. Priority within this criterion will first be given to girls who are currently in receipt of Free School Meals (SIF required by 2 November 2026). Places then allocated: (a) highest aggregated score, (b) proximity.
In plain English: Any other girl who has qualified (Kent or Mayfield route), living anywhere in England. Sorted first by 11+ score — highest score wins — then by distance if scores are equal.
What the document says: Eligible girls who do not permanently reside in the areas as detailed in the third or fourth criteria. Places will be allocated in the order (a) Highest aggregated score in the Kent PESE tests (b) Proximity of the child's home to school.
Score first, then straight line.
Within each postcode band, places go to the highest-scoring girls first. Distance is only used to break ties between girls with identical scores. Distance is a straight line between home and school using the National Land and Property Gazetteer address point.
For PP-eligible girls within criterion c or d, distance is used as the primary tiebreaker within the PP sub-group before score applies to the non-PP cohort. Addresses come from the National Land and Property GazetteerNLPGThe official UK address database. Straight-line distance from home address point to a fixed point at the school..
See the catchment on the GrammarBound mapTwo criterion-c girls ranked by score.
Both girls live in criterion c postcodes. Girl A has a higher 11+ score (342) and ranks above Girl B (315) even though Girl B lives closer to school. Distance only matters when scores are equal.
You have two routes, and you can use both.
Waiting list
The waiting list is held for at least the first term of the academic year and is reranked in oversubscription criteria order each time a child is added or before an offer is made.
Request via your home local authority.
Appeal
Write to the Clerk to the Governors at the school. Your refusal letter will include the deadline and grounds. Appeals are heard independently.
Appealing does not affect your waiting-list position.
50 external places at 16 — open to boys and girls.
Mayfield's Sixth Form admits up to 50 external students into Year 12. Unlike the main school, the Sixth Form is open to both boys and girls.
The grade floor.
A minimum of six GCSEs at grades 9–5, including English Language and Mathematics on the Higher papers, plus a minimum of grade 6 in each subject you want to study at A Level. Subject-specific requirements may be higher than grade 6 for some courses — check the Sixth Form Options Booklet.
Apply via UCAS Progress or the school form.
Applications are made directly to the school via the online system at ucas.com/progress or the school's own application form. A Sixth Form Open Evening is held in December 2026. Where external applications exceed places, the oversubscription order is: LAC → siblings at Mayfield → highest aggregate GCSE score (best 6 inc E&M) → distance.
Late applications are considered if eligible and places remain on requested courses.