Kent council leader promises 'fair' 11-plus amid lockdown concerns

The test was delayed for a month because of the impact of the pandemic on education

The 11-plus test will be as "fair as possible" this year, a council leader has promised, amid concerns over missed schooling during lockdown.

About 20,500 pupils are registered for the test in Kent this year, to assess their suitability for grammar school.

Kent Association of Headteachers chairman Alan Brooks said he feared poorer pupils would be penalised.

But county council leader Roger Gough promised: "We will be flexible in taking into account what has happened."

Kent County Council approved plans in July to delay its 11-plus test by a month due to the impact of Covid-19 on schools and pupils.

The test is due to take place for most pupils on 15 October.

Mr Gough said: "These are not normal circumstances. That was the reason why we delayed the test...to ensure that children were able to acclimatise into school."

But he insisted it had always been the council's "priority that the test would go ahead in a way that is as fair and safe as possible".

Private coaching

However, Mr Brooks expressed concern about "a lot of catch up work" at a "difficult" time.

He said: "The major concern is that they will penalise those children from the lower socio-economic backgrounds who will have missed a lot of schooling.

"Some children will have had private coaching and access to online resources which hasn't been the case for a large proportion of families."

He said the attainment gap "had always been very wide" but he feared this year it would be worse.

The council is expecting to release the results on 26 November.

Mr Gough told the BBC: "Head teacher panels will review the cases of children who might have been felt to be a good prospect but for whatever reason it didn't work out on the day.

"That may well play quite a significant role."