DOVER Grammar School for Boys could be stopped from offering places to pupils who have passed its own 11-plus test after county education chiefs said it was confusing and unfair.

Kent County Council says it wants the school to scrap the test because it allows children who failed the 11-plus a second chance to get a grammar school place.

The education authority is also concerned the school is using the test to "top up" its numbers in a part of the county where fewer pupils traditionally pass the normal 11-plus exam.

KCC has signalled that it also wants Dover Grammar School for Girls to drop a similar test that it uses. The county council has made a formal objection to the boys’ school’s admissions arrangements and asked the independent Schools Adjudicator to rule on whether it should be scrapped.

However, the two schools say they are horrified at the prospect and warned that if it went, it could threaten their pupil numbers.

Boys grammar headteacher Judith Lees insisted the test was supported by other schools in the area and was essential because the traditional pass rate for Kent 11-plus was lower in Dover than in other parts of the county.

She said the academic standards of primary school children transferring to secondary were below par and the test was a way of assessing their potential.

She said: "The Dover test is not an easier test and it is not a second bite at the cherry. In Kent’s 11-plus, pupils must achieve a certain mark in each strand. The test we use is made up of aggregate scores.

"It is quite very clear that pupils coming through the primary schools are very far behind in regard to literacy skills when they reach the age of eleven."

Judith Carlisle, head of the girls’ school, said: "Potentially, it could mean two small grammar schools being not viable. We take 25 to 30 per cent of our intake through the Dover test."

KCC believes the test breaches its admissions arrangements and fears that if it is allowed to continue, others could follow suit and grammars could increase their pupil numbers at the expense of other schools.

"We believe the test is confusing for parents and potentially inequable. It is clear parents regard it as a second bite at the cherry. We believe it cannot be right that children in this area are treated differently than other parts of the county," said KCC’s admissions chief Jenny Young.

Anthony Stanton, the head of the Simon Langton Girls Grammar School in Canterbury, argued the Dover test should go.

"Grammar schools ought to be operating on a level playing field. The credibility of the selective system is undermined if by having additional incentives about," he said.

The issue came to a head at a meeting of KCC’s Schools Admissions Forum on Monday, a group made up of councillors, headteachers and parent representatives.

It voted to endorse the county council’s objection to the Schools Adjudicator. He is expected to rule in a matter of weeks.