Admissions to RMGS 2027

Admission to Year 7 for September 2027

**RMGS Admission Policy for 2027-2028 can be found here**

Admission to RMGS is by tests administered by Medway Council. The Medway tests comprise a Mathematics test, a Verbal Reasoning test and an Extended Writing exercise, and are normally taken by pupils in September preceding admission in the following September. 

KEY DATES FOR SECONDARY SCHOOL ADMISSIONS 2027

Date	Event
9am on Monday 18 May 2026	Registration for the Medway Test (11+) opens.
5pm on Friday 12 June 2026	Registration for the Medway Test closes.
Monday 22 June 2026	Closing date for special arrangements requests from schools.
Tuesday 1 September 2026	Secondary school applications open.
Tuesday 15 and Wednesday 16 September 2026	Medway Test dates for children who attend Medway primary and junior schools.
Saturday 19 or Sunday 20 September 2026	Medway Test date for children from non-Medway schools. One day will be allocated to each child who attends a non-Medway primary or junior school.
Wednesday 14 October 2026	Results of the Medway Test.
Saturday 31 October 2026	Secondary school applications close.
Monday 1 March 2027	Offers sent to parents and carers.
Friday 12 March 2027	Deadline for accepting/refusing offers and waiting requests.
Tuesday 13 April 2027	Deadline for on-time appeal requests
Monday 19 April 2027	Re-allocation of school places and processing of late applications.
Tuesday 31 August 2027	End of admissions process and waiting lists close.

 

 

Please see attached link to Medway Council for further information on applying for a secondary school place.  https://www.medway.gov.uk/info/200137/schools_and_learning/1061/applying_for_a_secondary_school_place

As a result of the tests children will be deemed either selective or non-selective.

Oversubscription: If the number of RMGS preferences received, via the Medway Coordinated Scheme, from parents of children achieving selective standard exceeds the number of places available, places will be allocated in the following priority order.

(i) Children in Public Care, as defined in the Medway Coordinated Admissions Scheme to include children who are adopted and were previously looked after.

(ii) Children in receipt of Pupil Premium – 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. Pupil Premium is also afforded to Children in Local Authority Care or Previously in Local Authority Care; however, these children will be prioritised in the relevant criteria above. Parents/carers wishing to apply under this criterion must ensure they complete the attached Supplementary Information Form and return it to the school by 31 October in the year of application. Parents/carers 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

(iii) Current Family Association (siblings) - a brother or sister already attending the school at the time of entry. 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.

(iv) Health and Special Access Reasons - 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 children whose mental or physical impairment means they have a demonstrable and significant need to attend a particular school

(v) Children who at the time of application have a parent who is a member of staff at the school (where the member of staff has been employed for three years or more at the time at which the application is made and/or where the member of staff is recruited to fill a vacant post for which there is a demonstrable skill shortage).

(vii) Nearest of children’s homes.

For more details see the Rainham Mark Grammar School Admissions Policy for the year of admission.

The system may seem confusing; RMGS is ready and willing to advise. Please telephone 01634 364151 to arrange to speak to a member of the RMGS Admissions Team. The Admissions team at Medway Council are also happy to help on 01634 331110.

Supplementary Form

The school's SIF can be downloaded at the bottom of this page. Please note, this form only needs to be completed for students who have free school meals. Once completed, the form should be emailed to Admissions@rmgs.org.uk.

Year 6 Open Evening for entry into Year 7 in September 2027

Thursday 15^th October 2026

Information on appealing for a place in Year 7 for September 2027 entry

Appeal Dates & Information

PLEASE READ THIS CAREFULLY.

Appeal Dates & Information Academic year 2027

If you have not been offered a place at Rainham Mark Grammar, the law entitles you to appeal against that decision to an Independent Appeal Panel. This panel is completely independent of the school and the Local Authority. All appeals will be heard online which has the advantage that your appeal can be heard from your home or place of work.

If you wish to appeal, please use this link to complete your appeal online.  You will need to open an appeal account which will allow you to review your documents at any time. Please do NOT use ANY other appeal form or send your form to your local authority. It is suggested that you download the explanatory booklet about appeals which you should read before you complete the appeal form – Booklet link

You will need to upload any evidence or supporting material with your appeal form and you can upload more evidence up to 12 noon of the 5^th working day before your stage 1 hearing.  After then you will not be allowed to submit further documentation.  This will be strictly enforced. We do not accept any additional evidence by post or email. For secondary/primary transfer appeals, the hearing will take place at least TWO months after the refusal letter.  This gives you plenty of time to get your evidence together if you act early and take account of school holidays.  The panel will not take additional evidence on the day of the appeal hearing.

Examples of schoolwork your child may have undertaken will not be accepted.  The appeals code is clear that the panel cannot assess a child.  The Panel would not be able to make a proper judgement about its quality. They would have nothing to measure it against and would not know the depth of the work submitted. Also, they would not know whether the work had been carried out unaided.  The panel will give due weighting to academic letters from professionals such as, headteachers, teachers and tutors, plus CAT or NFER test reports. Photographs of your child will not be accepted.

You MUST give the grounds for your appeal at the time you lodge your appeal form. Your appeal form will not be accepted unless you state the grounds for your appeal. You may appeal for more than one school, but on different forms using the same appeal account.

If you are appealing for two different children you will have to open two accounts.

Please note that the online form will ask you to download two utility bills dated in the last THREE months.  If you do not have access to a scanner, please take two photographs with a mobile phone and upload the photographic files.

All letters and information will be sent to you by email.  Make sure you use an email address you use on a regular basis.  Full details about the hearing will be added to the document file in your account at the same time we send the email about your hearing.

If you wish to contact the clerk – email:  clerk@educationappeals.com

The timetable for appeals is as follows:

Last day for lodging appeal forms for a place in year 7 to start in September 2027	4pm on Wednesday 7 April 2027 to guarantee that your appeal will be heard in the first tranche of appeals.  Appeals lodged later may not be heard until the second tranche which could be in September 2027. You MUST state the reasons for your appeal and supply any documentary evidence at this stage.  Please note that Easter is just before the closing date.
The stage 1 part of the hearing (with other parents present) will take place on	Thursday 29 April 2027 at 5pm
Part 2, the individual private hearings will take place on	Tuesday 4 May – Friday 7 May 2027 (depending on the number of appeals)
Invitation letter giving details about your hearing will be sent, via email, by the Clerk to the Independent Appeal Panel	At least 10 school days before the stage 1 hearing.
Any additional supporting evidence	The closing date is 12 noon on the 5th working day before your stage 1 hearing.  These must be uploaded to the appeal account you opened when you submitted your appeal form.  Closing date is 12 noon on the 5th working day before the stage 1 hearing.   We do not accept additional information by post or by email.
Letter from the Clerk informing you of the decision of the independent appeal panel	Within two working days AFTER the last hearing has been heard for your school, the Clerk will send an email with the decision of the panel.  Due to the high number of appeals held at this time, an extensive letter explaining how the panel made their decision will be emailed up to 20 school days later.

Timetable for appeals for mid-term applications is as follows:

Last day for lodging appeal forms following a refusal for a place ‘in year’ or ‘mid-term’ excluding 6th form.

You must lodge the appeal form within 20 school days upon receipt of your letter of refusal.  You MUST state the reasons for your appeal and supply documentary evidence at this stage. Appeals are held within 30 school days of receipt of the appeal form.

Timetable for appeals for the 6^th form is as follows

Last day for Lodging appeals

4pm on Friday 27 August 2027 to guarantee that your appeal will be heard within the first weeks of September. You MUST state the reasons for your appeal on the online form and supply any documentary evidence at this stage e.g. a copy of your result sheet.   Please note the timetable is very short to enable those appellants who win appeals to start as early into the school year as possible.    Closing Date for appeals to be submitted Friday 17 September   Click here for the 6th form appeal form.

Appeal date

This will be during the month of September 2027

Admission to Sixth Form (Year 12) 

Please see our Admissions Policy for 2026. Appeals information post- application is here https://www.rainhammark.com/page/?title=Sixth+Form+Admission+%28Appeal+information%29&pid=311