Apply to The Norton Knatchbull School, in plain English.
The Norton Knatchbull School is a selective boys' 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 from home to 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 son needs the Kent 11+ (PESE).
Only boys who take the Kent Test and are assessed as suitable for grammar school can be considered for Year 7 at Norton Knatchbull. Register with KCC in June 2026, separately from the school application.
You apply through your council, by 31 October 2026.
List Norton Knatchbull 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.
Boys 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, Health, and distance. To claim it, you must send the school's Supplementary Information Form (Appendix 1) to the Admissions Officer by 31 October 2026.
Five steps, spread over a year.
From registering for the test to your son starting Year 7. Steps 3 and 4 both have a 31 October 2026 deadline.
If too many boys pass the 11+, these 5 tiers decide.
EHCPs naming the school are admitted first (reducing the 210 PAN). Every other eligible boy is sorted into the highest tier that applies to him, then distance to school decides inside each tier. Tap any tier to see the document's exact wording.
In plain English: Boys currently in council care, or who left care via adoption, child arrangements or special guardianship orders. Also covers boys 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). 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 eligible for Pupil Premium — registered for FSM at any point in the last 6 years (Universal Infant FSM doesn't count). At Norton Knatchbull 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. This does not include children who have only been eligible to receive Universal Infant Free School Meals. Parents 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 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 son will have a brother or step-/foster-brother already at Norton Knatchbull in September 2027 (Year 7 to Year 13), he gets sibling priority.
What the document says: A brother or sister is attending the school when the child starts. In this context, brother or sister means children who live as brother or sister in the same house, including natural brothers or sisters, adopted siblings, stepbrothers or sisters and foster brothers and sisters. 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 LA will offer a place to each, even if doing so takes the school above its PAN.
In plain English: If your son — 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. Send your reasons and supporting evidence to the Admissions Officer at Norton Knatchbull before 30 October. A Governors' sub-committee reviews each case.
What the document says: Medical/Health 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 a particular school. Equally this priority will apply to children whose parents/carers'/guardians' physical or mental health or social need means there is a demonstrable and significant need for their child to attend a particular 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 particular school. All applications will be considered by a sub-committee of the Governors and no decision will be taken by one person.
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 boys live in the same block and tie in all other ways for the last place, a verified 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. The same address point on the school site is used for everybody. Where applications are made from properties or abodes not registered to the NLPG, including new build properties, KCC may be required to use planning sites or other relevant co-ordinates. In the unlikely event that two or more children live in the same block and in all other ways have equal eligibility for the last available place, the names will be issued a number and drawn randomly to decide which child should be given the place. This process will be independently verified.
Straight line, not driving time.
Inside each tier — and again to fill the last few places — Norton Knatchbull 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 boys 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, a verified random draw decides.
A mixed sixth form, open to girls too.
Norton Knatchbull admits girls into the sixth form, alongside boys progressing from Year 11. The Year 12 PAN is 165. Internal Year 11 students who meet the entry criteria are offered a place first; external applicants — boys or girls — fill any remaining places.
Six GCSEs at grade 6 (or an average of 6).
You need either six separately identifiable GCSE subjects at grade 6 or above, or an average of grade 6 in your best six GCSEs. Plus at least grade 5 in English and Maths. Subject-specific requirements apply on top of these — check the school's course guide.
Ranked by average score in best 8 GCSEs.
If more external applicants apply than there are places, students will be admitted in rank order of merit, with the average performance points score of the best 8 GCSEs being the determining factor. Choose 3 or 4 A Levels (or 3 A Levels plus the Extended Project Qualification) — all courses are linear with exams at the end of Year 13.
External applicants apply via UCAS Progress. Refused applicants — internal or external — can appeal to an independent panel.
You have two routes, and you can use both.
Waiting list
Ask to be added to the Norton Knatchbull waiting list 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.. The list is held for at least the first term and re-ranked using the same 5 oversubscription criteria each time a child is added or before an offer is made.
Appeal
If your son is refused a place, you have a statutory right of appeal to an independent panel. Appeal details are normally sent out by the LA with the offer letters. Download the online form from the school website and meet the deadline on the appeal application form.
Subject to places being available, boys can be admitted between 11 and 15 if they reach a satisfactory standard in the school-administered Cognitive Abilities Test (CAT). Testing usually takes place once a month; boys can only sit it once per academic year. Contact the Admissions Officer to arrange.