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Kent's parents will now know their child's 11+ assessment
before deciding which secondary school to apply for after the
Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families Ed Balls
agreed to move the Kent Test to September.
Parents now need to register their child for the test between 2
June and 11 July 2008. Kent Test registration forms will be sent to
every primary school in the county and neighbouring authorities and
schools will be provided with information to issue to their
parents. The forms can also be downloaded from
KCC's admissions website.
Testing will take place on 18 and 19 September 2008 for children
resident in Kent and for out of county pupils on 20 September
2008.
Parents will be notified of the assessment decision on 21
October 2008 and they will then have until 7 November 2008 to
either complete their Secondary Common Application Form online or
return a hardcopy to their child's primary school.
Reasons for change
KCC Cabinet Member for Education Operations, Resources and
Skills Mark Dance said: "I welcome the decision by the Secretary of
State. We put forward the change of date from January to September
so that parents can use their choices wisely and not have to gamble
on a grammar or comprehensive place.
"I appreciate the concerns of some families about testing
earlier in the new school year and I would like to reassure those
that the tests are standardised against a national sample and
results will take account of the child's age at the time of
testing.
"Parents would be wise to make every effort to visit a variety
of schools to ensure they are able to make an informed choice for
their preferred schools before 7 November 2008."
Families across the county were asked for their views on moving
the date and the majority voted in favour of earlier testing. KCC
recognised that there were some reservations from a minority of
admissions authorities in Kent, which is why the proposal was
referred to the Secretary of State for the final decision.
Last year, the government published its School Admissions Code.
It stated that it is good practice for grammar schools and other
schools which select by aptitude or ability to make sure that
parents have the results of entry tests before they make their
preference about which schools to name on their Secondary Common
Application Form.
Key dates for parents in the 2009
scheme
Monday 2 June 2008
Registration for testing opens - Forms to be
collected from local primary schools or via KCC
Admissions
Friday 11 July 2008
Closing date for test registration - Forms to
be returned to local primary schools or KCC Admissions
Friday 5 September 2008
2009 Secondary Admissions booklets and
Secondary Common Application Forms available - to be collected from
local primary schools or via KCC Admissions
Thursday 18 and Friday 19 September
2008
Testing for Kent pupils
Saturday 20 September 2008
Testing for 'out of county' pupils (*Note
practice test will take place on Sat 13 September 2008)
Monday 20 October 2008
Assessment results posted to
parents
Friday 7 November 2008
Closing date for Secondary Common Application
Form
Monday 2 March 2009
School offers posted to parents
Thursday 26 March 2009
Closing date for
accepting or refusing school places and lodging appeals
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