This varies each year. Distance is measured as a straight line from home to BGS. Last year it was 2.10 miles as of March 2024 but it extends a little further when students on the waiting list take up vacated places (to near the 2.5 mile mark). 

Every year, parents are worried about how to prioritise their choices. The key message is simple - there is no game-playing or trickery - simply put the schools in order of your preferred choice. The system does the rest, allocating the school that is highest on your list for which you meet the admission requirement. So if BGS is your first choice, put it first on the form.

Your likely offer of a place at "Xxxxxx Grammar School" is unaffected by the position you place it on the application form. The system sorts out which of your choices you qualify for and then awards you a place at the one which is highest on your list. Put the schools in order of your preferred choice.

Yes. In order to appeal you have to apply and be rejected. The advice is the same as Q3 with the added point that you must name at least one non-selective school or else you run the risk of having no place in September.

This varies slightly from year to year. Last year 76% of places were given on the basis of distance to the school after sibling/top 180/staff children criteria were filled.

Parents who are Bexley residents and are not offered a place at their first preference school will automatically be included on the waiting list for higher preference schools than the one offered. Non-Bexley residents are advised to contact their home Local Authority to ask for their child to be placed on our waiting list.

Please note that a child's name cannot be included on our waiting list unless he or she has achieved a high enough score in the Bexley selection test to be deemed selective. 

Waiting lists are kept in the same order as the school's over-subscription criteria.

If a vacancy arises before the start of the term in September 2025, Bexley Grammar School will inform the Bexley Schools Admissions Team about whom the place can be offered to and the home Local Authority will send an offer letter to the child's parent / carer. If the parent / carer does not accept the offer, it will be offered to the next child on the waiting list. This procedure will be followed until the vacancy is accepted.

Bexley Grammar School operates and maintains a waiting list until at least 31 December of each school year of admission. Each added child will require the list to be ranked again in line with the school's published over-subscription criteria.

If a parent rejects or declines their child's first preference school on National Offers Day on 1st March, unfortunately they are not then automatically offered their second preference school. It would be possible for the parent to request for their child to be added to the second preference school's waiting list, but there would be no guarantee that their child would receive a place.

Children who are currently receiving Pupil Premium or are eligible for Free School Meals will need to complete a supplementary form.  If your child does not receive either of these, you do not need to complete a supplementary form.  Further information can be found here.

There is no right to a place at your preferred school; if it is not possible to offer your child a place at your preferred school, your child will be allocated a place at an alternative school with a vacancy.

Listing only one school does not increase your child’s chances of being offered a place. If your child does not qualify for that school, then they will be allocated a place at the nearest school to your home with a vacancy. It is important you name your schools in order of preference and in your child’s best interest to name as many schools as possible. Only naming one school will mean your child will not get considered for any other local schools until after all other children that have named their school have been considered.

Although the information listed in the link Applying for a secondary school | London Borough of Bexley under the heading Advice on the home to school distance can give you an idea of how likely it is that you will be offered a place at your preferred school, the ‘last distance’ will change every year. We cannot guarantee any child will be offered a place at any school.

Yes. If it is late, it is very unlikely that you will be offered one of your preferred schools.

You can apply for both Bexley schools and out of borough schools by listing them on the Bexley Borough application form.