THE 11-plus in Kent could be history within two years under plans for one of the most far-reaching shake-ups in the county's education system.

But its demise will not herald the end of selection in Kent and neither will it threaten the future of the county's remaining 33 grammar schools.

According to a policy paper seen by the Kent Messenger newspaper, county education chiefs are proposing that a system of continuous assessment for primary pupils replaces the traditional 11-plus exam.

It will mean the end of an historic and increasingly controversial system in which one single exam has, for years, determined to which school children go.

Instead, from next year, pupils will be banded according to their ability, based on an assessment of their progress and data accumulated over their six years at primary school.

A key section of the policy paper headed Continuous Assessment To Replace the age 11 assessment states: "It is possible to build a continuous assessment model around assessments already made by schools to determine a childÕs suitability for entry to a grammar school instead of using a one-off test."

Parents would use these assessments to help them make "suitable informed choices for their child's secondary education as well as allowing them to support their child more fully in school."

The paper goes on to suggest that next year, children may still sit the 11-plus as it could be necessary to pilot continuous assessment alongside the current, established PESE [11-plus] process.

While grammar schools would take pupils from the higher ability bands, non-selective secondary schools would take a range of pupils from each of them. According to KCC, that would ensure a broader representation of abilities across most secondary schools.

The paper states: "No community or community of schools is served well by having a mainstream secondary school that almost entirely provides education to pupils of below average ability."

KCC is expected to outline more details of its proposals at a conference next month.