PUPILS taking the 11-plus in Kent will continue to have to apply for secondary school place before they know if they have passed.

The Government has announced rules on admissions to schools which set out how, in selective education authorities like Kent and Medway, parents should be told the outcome of the 11-plus before deciding which schools they wish to apply to.

The rule reverses the Government’s previous policy, which had been criticised by Kent County Council because it compelled parents to make what it called "tactical choices" and apply for places at schools they did not want.

But Kent County Council says it has no plans to change its present arrangements or the timing of the test, despite describing the government’s U-turn as a "victory for commonsense".

The Government’s new Schools Admissions Code does not compel selective education authorities to follow the rules, saying only that they should consider doing so.

In Kent’s case, education chiefs believe that because all secondary schools in the county have now been forced to adopt so-called "equal preference" admissions, in which all applications are treated equally regardless of where they are ranked, there is no need to switch to new arrangements in which test results are known before applications.

Cllr Susan Carey (Con), lead member for education at KCC, said: "Testing before selection [of schools] is no longer the pressing issue that it was because schools cannot tell what ranking parents give them in their applications."

A report by KCC last year revealed how testing before selection could present the education authority with almost insurmountable practical problems and might even lead to childen sitting the test in Year Five, rather than Year Six.