You can name up to 6 preferences on your school application.
You should put the schools in the order you want them to be considered, such as 'Preference 1' for the school you'd like your child to go to most.
You should name as many schools as possible to give your child the best chance of getting a school place you'll be happy with.
You cannot make an appeal for a school you have not named on your application and naming only one school does not guarantee your child a place in that school.
You cannot make changes to your preferences after the deadline. If you would like to change your preferences after the closing date, email admissions@medway.gov.uk. The deadline is 7 December 2026 for secondary school applications and 11 February 2027 for primary school applications.
How school places are offered
All school places are offered based on the oversubscription criteria for each school and not by your order of preference.
We will not tell the schools which preference you have named them. Your order of preference is between you and Medway Council so we can try to offer your child a place at one of your highest preferred schools.
If you appeal for a school, the independent appeal panel might ask us why you were not offered a place at the school. If you were offered a higher preference, we would have to advise the panel about that.
Grammar schools
A Medway Test grammar assessment does not guarantee any child a grammar school place. Grammar schools receive more applications than they have spaces for.
If your child is assessed as grammar through the Medway Test and you want them to attend a grammar school in Medway, we recommend that you include all 5 of the available grammar schools on your application. This will give your child the best opportunity to get a grammar school place.
The schools use their oversubscription criteria to decide which children can be offered places. The grammar schools in Medway do not prioritise applicants based on their test scores. Usually the deciding factor will be how close you live to the school compared to other applicants.
If you do not apply for all 5 of the grammar schools available to you and we cannot offer the school or schools you do apply for, it is unlikely that we will be able to offer you a grammar school that you did not apply for. This could result in your child being allocated a non-grammar school instead.