Almost 16,000 children who sat the Kent 11-plus will find out today whether they have passed and will be offered a grammar school place.

Kent County Council will email families who registered online for the test after 4pm with their child’s assessment result.

The competition for places at one of the 33 grammars in the county has continued to grow this year, with the number of children from outside Kent who have passed the test increasing by 612 to 2,757. The number of Kent children passing the test was 4,650.

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That could lead to disappointment for some as the number of places available is 5,060 - although education chiefs say many of those from outside Kent usually end up accepting places elsewhere.

County education chiefs have emphasised that because of the number of emails being sent out, some internet service providers may delay the delivery of the emails to personal email accounts.

The warning comes after problems Medway council had earlier this week when there were delays with emails sent to some parents, in some cases hours after they were supposed to be available.

Families who registered with KCC online can log on after 5pm and view their child’s results and test scores if they have retained their log-in and password details.

Letters will be sent to all 15,937 families this afternoon, to arrive on doormats from tomorrow.

Roger Gough, KCC’s cabinet member for children, young people and education, said: "We anticipate the 4,650 Kent children who have been assessed as being suitable for grammar school will, in most cases, enjoy priority for the 5,060 places available in the county over pupils from other authorities.

"Although many of the 2,757 pupils from outside Kent will name our schools among their choices, experience has shown the majority of these children ultimately secure places in their own county.

"I appreciate this is a stressful time for families and we try to make the process as straightforward as possible.

"In Kent we are lucky to have a rich and diverse mix of schools, and parents should consider this when naming the schools they would like their child to attend, in priority order.

"It is also vital that parents carefully consider how their child will get to school, before applying for a school place.

"Last year we launched a new software system, which allowed parents to find out how their child had scored in the Kent Test online rather than having to travel to their child’s primary school, and this will be in operation again.

"From 5pm on Thursday, results day, parents will be able to view their child’s scores on KCC’s website."

Details of secondary schools in Kent and how to apply can be found on the council's website.

KCC’s policy on home-to-school transport allows parents to see whether there is any help available for their child. Details can be found here.