Year 7 Admissions
We believe in our inclusive, inspiring and aspirational school culture and are committed to supporting all our young people to achieve their potential. If you are interested in your child becoming part of our thriving community, please see the information below on our Admissions arrangement.
Is my child eligible and what is the process?
Admissions into Year 7 at Beths Grammar School are open to those who pass the Bexley Selection Tests which are held in September each year. Results from the Selection Tests are confirmed with parents and students during the middle of October, and by 31st October you should have completed a Common Application Form (CAF), which should be returned to your own Local Authority. The CAF requires you to list all the schools, in order of preference, that you wish for your child to attend. Letters will be sent, from your Local Authority, at the beginning of March confirming which school your son is being offered a place at.
Admissions at Beths
At Beths Grammar School, we offer 192 places for students in Year 7. To be eligible for a place at Beths, in addition to passing the Bexley Selection Test, places are then offered according to our oversubscription criteria:
- Applicants who are or have been Children in Local Authority Care.
- Students identified by the Local Authority as achieving one of the highest 180 scores in the selection tests.
- For applicants with a sibling currently attending Beths Grammar School at the time of enrolment. A sibling includes full, half, adopted, step-brother or step-sister living at the same address.
- Applicants with a parent or registered carer employed by Beths Grammar School on a permanent contract at the time of application.
- Up to 12 places for students who are eligible for Pupil Premium and/or Free School Meals and deemed selective at the time of application in rank order of distance from the school. A supplementary form will be downloadable from the school website and will need to be returned to the school by 31st October 2024 for those wishing to be considered under this criteria.
- On the basis of proximity to the school measured by reference to the shortest radial distance (direct line distance between the applicant’s home address to Beths Grammar School’s east entrance on Hartford Road). In cases where parents live at different addresses, the home address is that at which the child resides for the greater part of the week.
- Where the distance is identical to 0.001 of a mile, the scores in the selection tests will be used as a tie-breaker with priority given to the higher score.
- Where none of the above apply (not deemed selective in the Bexley 11+ test), but a child has been deemed selective in the Kent (Dartford 11+) test and can supply the School with confirmation of this.
Admissions Dates and Appeals Timetable 2025
For boys born between 1st September 2013 and 31st August 2014 inclusive.
Boys who will be starting secondary school in September 2025 will be able to sit the Bexley Selection Tests in September 2024 when they are in Year 6 of primary school. Those deemed selective can be considered for a place at Beths Grammar School.
Admissions Dates: | |
|---|---|
15th March 2025: | Deadline for accepting or declining the offer of a place made on 01 March 2025. |
15 April 2025: | Deadline for lodging Appeals against a decision not to offer a place at Beths Grammar School – see timetable below. |
Appeals Timetable: | |
|---|---|
15th April 2025: | Deadline for lodging Appeals against a decision not to offer a place at Beths Grammar School. |
April – June 2025: | Appeals will be heard up to 40 school days after the deadline. Appellants will receive at least 10 days’ notice of their appeal hearing. Decision letters will be sent within 5 school days of the hearing wherever possible. |
Late applicants: | Appeals will be heard within 40 school days of the deadline for lodging appeals – where possible, or within 30 school days of the appeal being lodged. |
In-Year Appeals: | Will be heard within 30 school days of the appeal being lodged. |
Post 16 Appeals: | i) where the offer of a place would have been conditional on exam results, appeals will be heard within 30 school days of confirmation of those results; ii) where the offer of a place would not have been conditional on exam results, appeals will be heard within 40 school days of the deadline for lodging appeals. |
If you have not been offered a place for your child to attend Beths Grammar School and would like to appeal against this decision, please contact the school either by emailing headspa@beths.bexley.sch.uk or by downloading the appeals form which can be found below.
Frequently Asked Questions for September 2025 Intake
Does my son need to sit an entrance test?
Yes, students eligible for a place at the School are required to sit the Bexley 11+ Secondary Selection Test and have been deemed selective in this.
When are the Bexley tests sat and what do they consist of?
They will be sat during the week commencing 9th September 2024 for entry in September 2025. Bexley Local Authority notify parents about the dates and, if you are an out of borough resident, which test centre your child will sit the test at.
There are two test papers with a mixture of questions in each, covering verbal ability and comprehension, numerical ability and non-verbal reasoning. Children sit both test papers on the same morning or afternoon with a short break in between.
I think I’ve missed the deadline to apply for the tests?
Bexley Local Authority can help with any queries that you have. Please visit their website at www.bexley.gov.uk and go to the Education and Learning section. Here you will find details regarding the tests and what to do if you are applying after the deadline. Alternatively, you can contact the Admissions, Grants and Awards team by phone on 020 8303 7777.
My son has passed the Kent test but not the Bexley test, does this still make him eligible to apply for Beths Grammar School?
Yes. Our Admission Criteria for 2025 entry (oversubscription criteria 8) now offers those who have passed the Kent 11+ test but not the Bexley test the chance to attend Beths Grammar School. We will exhaust all those applying to Beths under Criteria 1-7 first (i.e. those that are selective in the Bexley 11+ test) then move onto those selective in the Kent 11+ test if spaces are available.
My son passed the Kent 11+ test but not the Bexley 11+ test. What are my chances of securing a place at Beths?
If your son was deemed selective in the Kent 11+ test, you can apply under Criteria 8 of our Admissions Policy. It is vital that you complete a Supplementary Form and attach evidence of being selective in this test, to the school before the 31st October, as we pass this information over to Bexley Admissions team, so they know to include these students if all the Bexley 11+ students have been exhausted.
The Criteria 8 will be ranked similarly to our Admissions policy in that we will look at those with a Sibling or parent at the school first then the rest by distance.
When are the results of the tests available?
The Bexley 11+ results will be sent out via Bexley Local Authority on Tuesday 17th October 2023.
My son has passed the tests, how do I apply for a place at Beths Grammar School?
All parents receive a Common Application Form in September, or they register online via the Local Authority. On this form, parents should write down the four/six schools that they would like their child to attend, starting with their first preference school. If you wish for your son to attend Beths Grammar, you must place the school on your Common Application Form so that he can be considered for a place at the school.
I think we live too far away/outside of Bexley Borough from Beths to be given a place for my son.
Beths Grammar School offers places to 192 boys and measures the distance a child lives from the school ‘as the crow flies’. All boys who are placed within the top 180 and put Beths onto their Common Application Form are guaranteed a place at the school irrespective of how far they live from it. Likewise, any boy with a sibling currently at the school is also highly likely to be offered a place. The majority of boys are offered on the distance criteria – which is detailed above.
My son passed but scored under the top 180 mark (252), will he get into the school?
We will offer 192 places on the 1st March 2025. Those students that scored above 252 have a choice of grammar school places and can pick which school they wish to attend. This is criteria 2 on our Admissions Policy. All other places will be allocated according to the Admissions Policy. Distance is measured ‘as the crow flies’ which is a straight line from the school’s postcode to the home address.
Do you have a catchment area?
We don’t have a catchment area. Each year we do not know the number of boys who wish to attend Beths and where they live, until March 2025 when the offers are made. Each year varies in terms of places offered via distance. The previous distance offered in March of each year were:
Entry Year | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Distance on 1st March | 7.70 miles | 5.8 miles | 6.07 miles | 10.9 miles | 7.8 miles |
My son has not been deemed selective in the Bexley test. Is it still worth applying to the school for a place?
Because your son was not deemed selective, he will not be eligible for a place at Beths Grammar School or be able to be placed on our waiting list. If your son was deemed selective in the Kent 11+ test, you can apply under Criteria 8 of our Admissions Policy. A supplementary form will need to be completed by 31st October along with evidence of the Kent 11+ result. You are able to appeal for a place at a school if you have applied to that school for a place and have been refused. Please do note, however, that appeals for places at Beths Grammar School are very rarely upheld.
Can my son sit an In Year Test?
If your son was not deemed selective in the Bexley 11+ test, he can apply to sit an In Year test at the school during the summer of 2026. The four Bexley Grammar Schools take it in turns to host the In Year testing 4 times a year. Your son can only sit the test once per calendar year. An In Year application form will need to be completed (found on Bexley Local Authority website here: Applying for school in-year | London Borough of Bexley) where you can list Beths and the other two Bexley Grammar Schools on your form. The test results will be shared with them.
What happens with the Waiting List?
Those who are deemed selective and applied to Beths Grammar School but were not offered a place in March 2025, can apply to go on the waiting list between 1st and 15th March 2025. Parents should apply to go on the Waiting List via their Local Authority.
If your son was deemed selective in the Kent 11+ test but not the Bexley 11+ test, please add a note on your waiting list application stating Criteria 8 (if you submitted a Supplementary form in October 2024 to the school, we will have a list ready to add to the waiting list when it is returned to the school).
Bexley LA then create and hold the waiting list. Should any places be available after National Offers Day, they will be made via the waiting list towards the end of April 2025 (what is known as Reallocation Day). The waiting list will then be handed back to the school to maintain. The school will not know where your son is on the waiting list until the waiting list is handed to the school at the end of April.
We keep our waiting lists until the end of Year 9.
Do I need to complete a supplementary form?
You only need to complete a supplementary form and return it to the school by Tuesday 31st October 2024, if your son has:
- Ever been in receipt of Free School Meals during their junior school years (i.e. excluding KS1)
- A sibling at the school
- Been deemed selective in a grammar school test in Kent, or another authority which borders Bexley LA, and can supply the School with confirmation of this.
When can I visit the School?
We have a selection of Open Events for entry in September 2025 on our website. These events will be on a ticketed booking system and restricted to 40 families per session. Please see the booking page for further details.
When does my Common Application Form need to be returned?
The final closing date for common application forms is 31st October 2024 for entry in September 2025. Please note that if you are living outside of Bexley, the date on which your form needs to be returned may be different.
When will we hear which school we have been offered?
Letters will be sent by first class post/communicated by email on 1st March 2025 advising the outcome of applications for September 2025. Parents who applied online should normally be able to view the outcome from 5pm on 1st March 2025.
