Rapid housebuilding is being blamed for more than 80 pupils in one part of the county being unable to secure a grammar school place - despite passing the Kent Test.

Former Gravesend Grammar head Peter Read says the figures, which he sourced through a Freedom of Information request, have left children “badly let down by the system” and fears the numbers will only increase in the coming years.

His investigation revealed 82 pupils at state and private schools in Gravesham, Dartford and Sevenoaks secured a mark in last September’s Kent Test to make them eligible for a grammar spot.

But an increasing strain on selective places - and legislation which prevents the building of any new grammar schools - means many face missing out. They have all, instead, been offered a place at a local non-selective.

While some may appeal and succeed, it is likely to only account for a handful.

Kent County Council (KCC) is quick to point out that passing the Kent Test is no guarantee of a grammar school berth.

Mr Read, who compiles a regular education newsletter, explains: “This is unprecedented. Last year 61 children passing the Kent Test were not offered a selective - now it’s 82.

“Children in Kent, who passed the Kent Test, have a very reasonable expectation they will get a grammar school place.

“The children will work hard to ensure they deliver and one can only imagine how they feel when they discover they've been sent to, perhaps, a low-performing, non-selective school instead.”

He points to the rapidly rising population and surge in housebuilding as a key cause. Between the 2011 and 2021 censuses, Dartford’s population increased by 19.9%, Gravesham’s by 5.1% and Sevenoaks by 4.9%.

He adds: “When you're building 15,000 more houses - which is what they are doing at Ebbsfleet - you have to make allowance for grammar schools. That, clearly, is not the case.”

The north west Kent grammars have traditionally been some of the most in-demand in the county.

They experience additional pressures from nearby London boroughs and neighbouring counties where parents are keen to get their children a grammar place, despite living outside of Kent’s borders, as well as an increasing number of private school pupils looking to secure a selective berth.

That number is only expected to rise as a combination of the cost-of-living pressures and Labour’s vow to impose VAT on public school tuition fees - effectively increasing costs by 20% - should it win in the July 4 election.

Adds Mr Read: “The issue will really hit in Year 7 from September 2025 onwards. There is an easement for boys as Dartford Grammar has increased the number of places for local boys from 90 to 130, whilst pegging the total at 180, which would certainly have reduced the pressure on the 46 grammar-qualified boys denied a place, but not completely as boys require a high score in the Kent Test for entry. There is none for girls.

“In any case, the Ebbsfleet development, only a third of the way towards its 15,000 homes, will continue to feed in more grammar-qualified children.

“There is no room for further expansion in any of these schools, and the likelihood of annexes being approved, as in west Kent, would not only take many years, but is now also politically unlikely.”

Tony Blair’s Labour government banned the creation of any new grammar schools in 1998 - but stopped short of abolishing existing sites.

A long-running saga to create an ‘annexe’ of Tonbridge-based Weald of Kent Grammar School for Girls finally came to fruition when it opened on the site of the former Wilderness School in Sevenoaks in 2017 - some four years after it was granted planning permission and amid a fierce political debate.

Designed to ease the strain on places in west Kent, it was followed, in 2021, by the opening of an annexe of Tunbridge Wells Grammar School for Boys on the same site.

Since then, the only expansion in grammar provision has been an increase in some - but not all - selectives to meet rising populations.

A Kent County Council (KCC) spokesperson said: "When offering places for schools in Kent, we have to look at a range of criteria, including parental preferences.

"We can confirm 64 children resident in Dartford, Gravesham and Sevenoaks, eligible for a grammar school place, were offered a place at a non-selective school. Of these, 35 were offered a non-selective place at a school that they had expressed a preference for on their application.”

The discrepancy with the figures provided by Mr Read is believed to be due to pupils who live out of the county but who attend one of Kent’s private schools and are therefore not accommodated in the KCC numbers.

The spokesperson added: "This means 29 children were offered a place at a school that was not one of their preferences. Of those 29, 14 chose not to utilise all four of the preferences that are available to them on their application, which limits their choice if the preferred schools are already full.

"The law requires new schools to be non-selective, meaning KCC has been working with existing selective schools to make additional places available through expansion.

“We have added 15 forms of entry across selective schools in Dartford, Gravesham and Sevenoaks schools since 2016, equating to 450 places per year group.

"KCC's education officers are continuing to work closely with all grammar schools in the area to identify ways of introducing more provision for Kent resident pupils."

But Mr Read insists that will come as little comfort to those who passed the Kent Test but will enrol at a non-selective.

He adds: “They have been let down badly by the system. They will be scarred and the parents will believe their children's futures will be damaged.

“The continued pressure from Ebbsfleet and people moving into the district, and the expectation there will be a Labour government, will mean families will try and move into state schools from the private sector it will all combine to make the situation worse and worse year-on-year.”