CHANGES to admissions arrangements at a school in the county could turn it into a "super selective" school.

Governors have set out proposals that will allow Maidstone Boys Grammar School to offer places on the basis of the highest scores achieved by would-be pupils who take the 11-plus.

The school says the change, now out for consultation, would enable it to draw pupils in from a wider catchment area and overcome a situation where many applications from pupils in surrounding villages are currently rejected.

But the proposals have sparked complaints from some that creaming off those who do better in their Kent test will be at the expense of those who live closest to the school.

The school’s plans have come after it was granted foundation status, giving it greater say over admissions.

There would be also be nothing in the admissions arrangements that gives priority to parents of children already at the school.

Head teacher Neil Turrell said the changes stemmed partly from governors’ concerns that the school was being forced to accept more pupils on appeal.

He said: "Increasingly, we are getting a large number of appeals and governors think the outcomes are perverse and prejudicial to the school.

"The way the appeals panel works is not always in the best interests of the school. I am not looking for a situation where we would be selecting only the top five per cent, as some of the super selective schools in places like Essex do."

The governors also wanted to give a better opportunity to pupils from a wider catchment area.

"What has happened is that our [traditional] catchment area is beginning to shrink and the 80-odd schools whose pupils could have aspirations to come here is shrinking," he added.

"We do not see why someone who lives in Marden should have any less right to have a place than someone who lives in Maidstone."

He understood "perfectly well" why some parents were uneasy that even if they lived close to the school and their child passed the 11-plus, they could lose out.

"I have some sympathy...but anybody who lived round the corner who found they had not been offered a place here would be pretty close to another grammar school."

In a letter to parents outlining the changes, the school says it will "offer places based on ability as shown by ranked totalled scores".

Where prospective pupils achieve the same score, priority would be given to "those students whose homes are nearest to MGS as the crow flies".

The plans are similar to arrangements used at The Judd School and Skinners School in Tonbridge.

Governors will consider whether to push ahead with the changes in November.