Know exactly where your child stands for Highworth Grammar School
Thousands of practice questions and up to 6 mock papers, all in the exact Highworth Grammar School 11+ format, on one simple plan. It starts with a free diagnostic.
Thousands of practice questions and up to 6 mock papers, all in the exact Highworth Grammar School 11+ format, on one simple plan. It starts with a free diagnostic.
Highworth Grammar School
Highworth Grammar School is a girls' grammar school in Ashford, Kent, that uses the GL exam board for its 11+ (Year 7 entry) admissions. There is no interview stage. Places are allocated based on Kent Test results, with nearness of home to the school considered for oversubscription criteria, as there is no defined catchment area.
If you have a daughter who is happiest when she's busy and trusted to get on, Highworth is the Ashford grammar where she'll find plenty of both. It's a large girls' school of more than 1,500, with a sixth form open to boys and girls, and its story runs back to 1904, when it opened as Ashford County School for Girls. It settled on its present site in 1928 and has held a name for academic strength ever since, without letting that crowd out the way children are looked after.
What parents tend to notice is the feel of the place. The school sets out to grow confident, reflective girls who can think for themselves, and the way it is organised follows from that. Pastoral care runs through its houses, which the school calls communities, with vertical tutor groups so a girl gets to know people well beyond her own year. The Good Schools Guide picks out this arrangement as one of the things that gives Highworth its settled, friendly feel. There's a wide spread of activity beyond lessons, and older pupils take on real leadership, so they're visibly part of running the place rather than kept apart from it.
The tone is studious but kind, with ambition sitting alongside genuine care for wellbeing. The school has been led since September 2021 by headteacher Duncan Beer. Highworth suits a capable, motivated girl who'll enjoy a full timetable and the responsibilities on offer, and who will value belonging to a school that knows her.
Key facts
Admissions
Admissions contact
office@highworth.kent.sch.uk
Admissions phone
01233 624910
Registration form
https://www.kent.gov.uk/education-and-children/schools/school-places/kent-test
Sibling policy
What this school tests
Kent Test
English
- Punctuation
- Reading Comprehension - Comparison
- Reading Comprehension - Evaluation
- Reading Comprehension - Grammar and punctuation
- Reading Comprehension - Inference and Deduction
- Reading Comprehension - Information Retrieval
- Reading Comprehension - Language Techniques and Imagery
- Reading Comprehension - Sentence-level Comprehension
- Reading Comprehension - Sequencing
- Reading Comprehension - Structure, Form, Voice and Tone
- Reading Comprehension - Summarising
- Reading Comprehension - Text Classification and Purpose
- Reading Comprehension - Types of Words and Phrases
- Reading Comprehension - Word Meaning / Choice
- Sentence Completion
- Spelling
Maths
- Algebra
- Angles and Degrees
- BIDMAS
- Coordinate Grids
- Estimation and Rounding
- Factors and Multiples
- Fractions, Decimals and Percentages
- Magic squares
- Measurement
- Money
- Number and Place Value
- Number Walls
- Operations
- Perimeter, Area and Volume
- Position and Direction
- Properties of Shapes
- Ratio and Proportion
- Reflection, Rotation and Symmetry
- Sequences
- Special Numbers
- Speed, Distance and Time
- Statistics
- Time
Non-verbal Reasoning
- Extended Figure Series
- Figure Analogies
- Figure Matrices
- Figure Operations
- Figure Series
- Grid Matrices
- Horizontal Codes
- Most Like Three Figures
- Most Like Two Figures
- Odd Figure Out
- Star Matrices
- Triangle Matrices
- Triangle Series
- Vertical Codes
Verbal Reasoning
- Anagrams
- Compound Words
- Embedded Words
- Form a Word
- Insert a Letter
- Letter Analogies
- Letter Calculations
- Letter Codes
- Letter Grids
- Letter Sequences
- Move 1 / 2 Letters
- Number Analogies
- Number Calculations
- Number Sequences
- Related Words
- Rhyming Synonyms
- Shuffled Sentences
- Synonyms
- Word / Logic Puzzles
- Word Analogies
- Word Completion
- Word Match
- Word Opposites
- Word Pairs
- Word Relationships
- Words and Codes
Spatial Reasoning
- 2D Rotations
- Block Counting
- Combining Shapes
- Fold and Punch
- Folding Cubes
- Hidden Shapes
- Missing Face of Cube
- Shape Completion
Catchment area
Does Highworth Grammar School have a catchment area?
There is no defined catchment area and no areas get priority. Among girls who pass the Kent Test, places are allocated by oversubscription criteria, with the nearness of home to the school used as the distance measure.
Selection review and safety net
Previous exam results
GCSE results
In 2025 students achieved an average Attainment 8 score of 70.8 across their GCSEs. 95.3% gained a grade 5 or better in both English and Maths. 74.3% achieved the English Baccalaureate at grade 5 or above.
Reference: https://www.compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk/
A-level results
In 2025 students achieved a B average grade per A-Level entry. 18.1% gained AAB or better including two facilitating subjects.
Reference: https://www.compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk/
Frequently asked questions
What exam board does Highworth Grammar School use for the 11+?
Highworth Grammar School uses the GL exam board for its 11+ entrance exam.
Does Highworth Grammar School interview as part of the 11+ process?
No, there is no interview stage as part of the 11+ admissions process for Highworth Grammar School.
Is Highworth Grammar School a single-sex or co-educational school for 11+ entry?
Highworth Grammar School admits girls for Year 7 (11+) entry. Its Sixth Form is open to both boys and girls.
What is Highworth Grammar School's official website?
The official website for Highworth Grammar School is https://www.highworth.kent.sch.uk/.
Does Highworth Grammar School have a catchment area for 11+ admissions?
Highworth Grammar School does not have a defined catchment area. Places are allocated based on Kent Test results, with nearness of home to the school used for oversubscription.
How do you get a place at Highworth Grammar School?
To be considered, a child first needs to reach the required standard in the Kent Test. If more girls qualify than there are places, they are ranked in this order: looked-after and previously looked-after children first, then children eligible for Pupil Premium, then those with a sibling at the school, then children with a medical or special access need supported by evidence, and finally by straight-line distance from home to school. There is no catchment area, and any remaining tie is settled by random selection.
What happens if my child is ill on 11+ test day at Highworth Grammar School?
The Kent Test is run by Kent County Council, not the school. If your child is too ill to sit it, tell the test centre and your child's primary school straight away. A later sitting can only be arranged where the illness is confirmed by a doctor's letter, so keep any medical evidence. If your child has a disability or additional needs, ask their primary school's SENCO to apply for access arrangements before you register, as requests are not accepted after early Jul.
Location
https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m18!1m12!1m3!1d2502.4903490460497!2d0.8627954999999999!3d51.15474879999999!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!3m3!1m2!1s0x47deda6a18bc0be1%3A0xdd4dc1c2d0aacaf3!2sHighworth%20Grammar%20School!5e0!3m2!1sen!2suk!4v1780592526359!5m2!1sen!2suk
