Gravesend, Kent · Kent

Mayfield Grammar School, Gravesend

Ranks applicants by geography first and test score only as a tiebreaker within each zone — the opposite of how a superselective school allocates places.

Mayfield was literally called 'Gravesend Grammar School for Girls' until a 2011 rename — the two schools share a town and a history but are now fully independent, with no shared governance. Mayfield offers an optional second-chance route, 'The Mayfield Procedure', set by CEM at Durham University, distinct from the Kent Test's usual provider. Its own admissions policy confirms it isn't superselective in the usual sense: applicants are ranked by geographic priority zone first, with the Kent Test score used only as a tiebreaker within each zone — the reverse of how a genuinely superselective school would allocate places by score first.

Key facts

Gender: girls
Age range: 11-18
Region: South East
Local authority: Kent
Established: 1914
DfE URN: 137834
Website: https://mgsg.co.uk

Admissions

Admissions authority: The school sets its own test and criteria
Entrance test board: Primary route: the Kent Test, commissioned by Kent County Council (GL Assessment reported as paper-setter, not confirmed by KCC directly). Optional secondary route: 'The Mayfield Procedure', the school's own supplementary assessment with a computer-based component set by CEM (Centre for Evaluation and Monitoring, Durham University) — directly confirmed in the school's own admissions documents.partly verified
GL Assessment for the Kent Test is widely reported but wasn't found named on any KCC page checked during this research.
Test format: Kent Test: an English & Maths paper, a Reasoning paper (verbal and non-verbal), and an unmarked 40-minute writing task for borderline decisions. Mayfield Procedure (optional, for girls seeking a second opportunity): a locally-standardised computer test weighted 50% verbal / 25% Maths / 25% non-verbal reasoning, plus a separately marked English writing paper.
Qualifying / pass mark: Confirmed directly from Kent County Council's own page (2025 cycle, governing September 2026 entry): an aggregate of 332 or more, with no single component below 108. Mayfield's current admissions policy governs September 2027 entry, whose threshold Kent County Council won't publish until October 2026 — not yet knowable at the time of writing, not a research gap. The school sets no additional threshold of its own.
Superselective?: No

Catchment & priority criteria

A two-tier geographic priority system: Priority Area 1 covers postcode prefixes across Dartford, Gravesham and parts of Sevenoaks and Swanley districts; Priority Area 2 covers a further ring. Girls outside both areas remain eligible but rank last, by score then proximity.

Children with a Statement of SEN or EHCP naming the school
Looked-after and previously looked-after children
A sibling attending at the time of entry
Girls resident in Priority Area 1 — Free School Meal recipients first, then by Kent Test score, then proximity
Girls resident in Priority Area 2 — same sub-ordering
All other eligible girls — ranked by Kent Test score, then proximity
Random draw for the final place if applicants remain exactly equal

Results

Year	Attainment 8	GCSE 5+ Eng & Maths	Progress 8	A*–A	A*–B
2024	65.3	91.3%	+0.38 ('Above average', confidence interval +0.17 to +0.59) — this cohort predates the COVID-era gap	—	—
A markedly stronger GCSE year than 2025 on these DfE measures. A 2024 A-level breakdown couldn't be retrieved during this research.
2025	64.3 (DfE-confirmed; the school's own site separately states 64.9 for the same cohort)	85.1% (DfE-confirmed; the school's own site states 84.1%)	Not calculated — no KS2 baseline data for this cohort nationally	~20% (school-reported)	~50% (school-reported)
EBacc entry 53.7% (Kent 46.9%, England 40.5%). A-level (191 students, DfE-confirmed): average grade C (31.09 points), AAB+ with 2 facilitating subjects 3.6% (Kent 17.3%, England 17.5%). The A-level progress score was -0.28, banded 'below average' with a confidence interval (-0.38 to -0.19) entirely below zero — a real, statistically significant contrast against the school's own marketing description of 'almost 1 in 2 grades A*-B' for the same cohort.

Ofsted

Rating: Outstanding overall, under the pre-September-2024 framework. Sub-judgements: quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and leadership and management all Outstanding; sixth-form provision Good. The previous inspection (2013) also rated the school Outstanding.
Date: 30 April 2024
Report: Read the full report

Sources

1. DfE Get Information About Schools — URN, status, gender, LA — https://get-information-schools.service.gov.uk/Establishments/Establishment/Details/137834
2. School's own Determined Admissions Policy 2027-2028 — https://mgsg.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Determined-Admissions-Policy-2027-2028-1.pdf
3. School's own 'The Mayfield Procedure' additional information — https://mgsg.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/The-Mayfield-Procedure-Additional-information-2027-entry.pdf
4. Kent County Council — Kent Test qualifying threshold — https://www.kent.gov.uk/education-and-children/schools/school-places/kent-test/kent-test-results
5. Ofsted report, inspected 30 April 2024 — https://reports.ofsted.gov.uk/provider/23/137834
6. School's own Examination Results page — https://mgsg.co.uk/about-mayfield/examination-results/
7. School's own 'About Mayfield' page — founded 1914 — https://mgsg.co.uk/about-mayfield/
8. DfE Compare School Performance — Progress 8, 2023 and 2024 — https://www.compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk/school/137834/mayfield-grammar-school%2c-gravesend/secondary/progress-measures-for-2023-and-2024

Last updated 2026-08-31. Spotted something wrong? Tell us.