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Kent Test 2027: the switch to Quest Assessments, explained
Kent County Council has appointed a new provider for the Kent Test from September 2027 - Quest Assessments (Atom Learning Ltd), replacing GL Assessment. KCC's own assurance: the format, timing and admissions process stay the same. Here's what's confirmed, what's still to come, and why the core of good preparation doesn't change.
Reviewed 26 October 2026 against kent.gov.uk
where does your child stand?
Kent Test Prep assesses your child against the real scoring system - standardised scores, topic mastery and a week-by-week plan to their test date. The first assessment is free.
Try the free assessmentThe one-sentence version: KCC says the test's purpose, format, timing and role in admissions all stay the same, and that "you will see very little difference" - so there's nothing to act on today, and nothing your child is practising now is wasted.
What is confirmed
The provider is changing
Kent County Council announced on 16 October 2026 that the Kent Test contract moves to Quest Assessments (Atom Learning Ltd), replacing GL Assessment, who have set the test for many years. The contract runs initially for two years from November 2026.
It starts with the September 2027 test
The first Quest-set Kent Test will be sat in September 2027, for September 2028 entry - that's children currently in Year 5. Children who sat the test in September 2026 took GL papers, and nothing about their cycle changes.
The format and timing stay the same
In KCC's own words: the test's purpose, format, timing and role in grammar school admissions remain the same, and there are no changes to the admissions process, eligibility criteria, support arrangements or Headteacher Assessments. As it stands, that means multiple-choice papers with a separate answer sheet: an English and maths paper of about an hour, a reasoning paper (verbal and non-verbal) of about an hour, and the unmarked 40-minute writing exercise used at headteacher assessment stage.
The four subjects stay
The test continues to assess the same four areas: English, maths, verbal reasoning and non-verbal reasoning. The change is in who writes the questions - not in what a grammar-ready child needs to know.
What is still to come
With the format confirmed as unchanged, the remaining unknowns are small ones. Until Quest's own familiarisation materials arrive, these are the open items:
?The new familiarisation materials - KCC says they'll be published "when we have them"; until then the previous years' GL materials remain on kent.gov.uk as a stand-in
?The exact question styling within each section (Quest's house style leans slightly more towards logic puzzles and spatial tasks than GL's, but Kent's test is built to Kent's specification)
?Next October's threshold - pass marks are set fresh every year against that year's papers, so the 2026 figure (345 aggregate, no subject below 111) was never going to carry across regardless of provider
Anyone claiming to know Quest's exact question list already is guessing. We'll update this page the day the familiarisation materials land.
Put this into practice
The free assessment shows exactly where your child stands against the real scoring system - and builds a week-by-week plan from there.
What we can reasonably expect
Quest isn't an unknown quantity - it already sets several grammar-area tests, most visibly the Bexley Selection Test. Given KCC's "very little difference" promise, expect a flavour shift rather than a format shift:
Answer-sheet discipline still matters
The papers remain multiple-choice with a separate answer sheet, marked by computer - so transferring answers accurately under time pressure stays a core exam skill worth practising.
A slight lean towards puzzles
Quest's style borrows from the old CEM approach: logic puzzles, critical thinking and spatial tasks (nets, rotations, cubes) tend to feature more prominently than GL's very pattern-based reasoning types. Balanced reasoning practice already covers this.
Curriculum-capped maths
Quest's maths stays within what children have covered by the end of Year 5 - fluency and accuracy matter more than racing ahead into Year 6 content.
Bespoke, not off-the-shelf
Quest builds each authority's test to that authority's specification, so Bexley's paper (for example) tells us about style, not about Kent's exact content.
What this means if your child is in Year 3, 4 or 5
Honestly: keep going. The skills every grammar test checks - reading comprehension, vocabulary, arithmetic fluency, problem solving, verbal and non-verbal reasoning - are identical whoever sets the paper. Steady, balanced preparation now counts whichever format Kent announces. (If you're weighing up when to begin, our year-by-year preparation timeline and honest guide to practice papers both apply unchanged.)
The sensible sequence is: build the core skills now, then add provider-specific technique (question style, timing rhythm) once Quest's familiarisation materials arrive - which is exactly when we'll fold it into the programme.
What we're doing at Kent Test Prep
We're tracking the Quest transition directly with KCC's published materials. The moment the new familiarisation papers land, our assessments, weekly missions and mock papers will be updated to match - question styles and section rhythm included. If your child is already on the programme, this happens automatically: nothing to buy again, nothing to switch, no interruption to their weekly routine.
Common questions
Is the Kent Test definitely changing to Quest?+
Yes - KCC announced the appointment of Quest Assessments (Atom Learning Ltd) on 16 October 2026, taking effect from the September 2027 test (September 2028 entry). KCC has also confirmed the test's format, timing and role in admissions stay the same, so this is a provider change, not an exam overhaul.
My child sat the test in September 2026 - does this affect them?+
No. The 2026 test was set by GL Assessment and this year's results (the 345 threshold with no subject below 111) belong to that cycle. The change only affects children sitting the test from September 2027 onwards.
Should we switch preparation materials now?+
There's no need. The four assessed subjects and the paper format are unchanged, and the skills carry over completely. Provider-specific practice only becomes useful once Quest's familiarisation materials are published - and we'll update this page and the programme the day that happens.
Will the pass mark change under Quest?+
Probably, yes - thresholds are set fresh each year against the new papers, so the 2026 figure (345 aggregate, no subject below 111) won't carry across directly. What won't change is the principle: an age-standardised aggregate plus a per-subject floor, confirmed each October.
Is Quest Assessments the same as Atom Learning?+
Quest Assessments is Atom Learning's exam-providing arm, but the Kent Test is a paper-based, Kent-specific exam - it isn't the Atom Learning home-practice platform, and using or not using Atom makes no difference to how your child is tested.
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