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Catch up with all your latest news from across the county with Nailah Mahomed.
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00:22Hello and welcome to Kent Tonight, live here on KMTV.
00:26I'm Nayla Mohamed with your top stories on Friday the 6th of November.
00:31Conflict of interest.
00:32Campaigners raise concerns over a new Kent Test provider.
00:36Then paying for it buys you a grammar school place.
00:41Partners in wine.
00:42Local winery teams up with tech start-up to reduce emissions.
00:47Something which almost nobody else in the whole world is doing, which is avoiding that
00:51emission to the atmosphere.
00:53And centenary celebrations.
00:56A resident in Queenborough marks his 100th birthday.
00:59Obviously because how many people get to be 100.
01:02It's just special seeing everyone here.
01:04Absolutely amazing.
01:14In a KMTV exclusive, parents and campaigners are warning about a possible conflict of interest
01:20in the new Kent Test provider.
01:22Quest assessments will take over from next year, but they are owned by a company that also sells
01:27tutoring for the 11-plus exam.
01:29Kent County Council has assured parents that no test content will be shared.
01:33But campaigners say parents will now feel even more pressure to pay for tutoring.
01:39Sophie Denny brings us this exclusive report.
01:42A source of unnecessary stress for children and parents.
01:46That's how some in the county describe the Kent Test, with the pressure even causing families
01:52to consider moving elsewhere.
01:54It's like, why?
01:55Why are we doing this to little children?
01:58If we hadn't just spent our entire life savings on an extension and had a really settled life,
02:02we might well have actually just left.
02:04The Kent Test is an 11-plus exam children sit at the start of year six if they want to
02:10get into
02:10one of the county's 32 grammar schools.
02:13It's just this bubble of anxiety amongst the children and the parents, and for what reason?
02:19If the Kent Test didn't exist, none of that anxiety would be there.
02:21Kent County Council has recently announced Quest Assessments as the new provider for the Kent Test.
02:27Now, they'll take over from 2027, but campaigners have raised concerns about this, because Quest Assessments
02:36is owned by a company called Atom Learning.
02:39Now, Atom Learning provides online tutoring for families in preparation for exams like the 11-plus,
02:46but this can cost around £670 per year.
02:51What are parents supposed to think?
02:53Won't they feel like they need to pay it?
02:54So, it just seems a very, very complex situation, and tuition makes the Kent Test unfair,
03:01because if tuition works, then paying for it buys you a grammar school place almost.
03:07Joanne warns this gives those who can afford tutoring an unfair advantage.
03:13According to figures from the Department for Education,
03:1611.9% of children attending grammar schools in Kent in 2026 were eligible for pupil premium,
03:23a government grant which supports disadvantaged students.
03:28Atom Learning does offer free accounts for children eligible for pupil premium,
03:32and we contacted them for comments but did not receive a response.
03:36Kent County Council said that they are reassuring families that the Kent Test is written and managed
03:41independently, and no content is shared between Quest Assessments and Atom Learning.
03:46They also said that no child is required to buy tutoring or preparation materials to sit the test.
03:52However, Becky says parents often feel forced into tutoring.
03:57It's become so normalised. You know, people are like, just saying,
04:02are you going to start tutoring in year five or year four? You know, there's not even any question.
04:06When, you know, everyone would look at me like I was absolutely shocked when I said,
04:11I just, I'm not tutoring, I don't think it's the right thing to do. But the pressure then was,
04:15if they don't pass, they're going to have that failure stamp on themselves.
04:18As campaigners continue to call for an overhaul in Kent's education system,
04:24the question of tutoring still looms large over families.
04:29Sophie Denny for KMTV, Across Kent.
04:32And Sophie Denny joins me in the studio now. So Sophie, you mentioned there in the piece that
04:37some people think that Kent Test creates an unfair system. Can you tell me a little bit more about this?
04:42Yeah, so they're saying that it creates disadvantage for pupils or parents who can't afford to pay for
04:48tutoring. So Freedom of Information Response from Kent County Council revealed that just 10.3% of
04:54children who qualified for a grammar school place in the 2026 Kent Test were eligible for free school
05:01meals. But those on free school meals make up about 30% of the county's total year six cohort,
05:08cohort, sorry, so quite a big disparity there. And there's also disparities within the county itself.
05:13So we can see some figures on screen now. And so that's Department of Education data,
05:20which was compiled by Kent education expert Peter Reid. And it shows that West Kent tends to take fewer
05:25disadvantaged pupils than the coastal towns. So Tumbridge and Moorling, for example, have an average of 4%,
05:31whereas in Dover you can see that's at about 21.7%. So you could almost map onto Kent the disparity
05:38and how it
05:39changes across the county. And this is something that I discussed with Councillor Mark Hood of the
05:44Green Party. He represents Tumbridge and Moorling on Kent County Council, so that's West Kent. And
05:50Conservative Councillor John Davis from Thanet Council, so that's obviously East Kent. And we discussed this
05:55on the Kent Politics Show. And I believe we should be able to hear from them in just a moment.
06:02If not,
06:03I can give you a quick summary of what we were talking about. We were discussing a range of aspects,
06:11but the main concern was that parents would feel forced to pay for tutoring. And Councillor John
06:16Davis was saying, you know, that grammar schools can sometimes get a poor reputation. He was saying he
06:22himself went to a grammar school and they can provide real opportunities for academic stretch. And I think
06:27we can now hear from them now. I am very concerned about the conflict that's been described here.
06:36But I don't think you can take away the right of the individual to want the best for their children.
06:43And the Kent Test is designed to stream people. It's not the be all and end all. We hear a
06:48lot of
06:49comments about people saying failure. There is no failure. The problem with the Kent Test is that it
06:54can be coached. It gives an unfair advantage to children whose families can afford to have this
07:01tuition. And that isn't right. And it does create a culture of winners and losers. And that's quite
07:10traumatic for some children. Well, the Kent Test is embedded in the system in Kent, but what other
07:15options are there? Yeah, so we discussed this on the Politics Show. They were suggesting maybe a kind of
07:20a more coursework type option. But Kent County Council have said that the Kent Test is the most
07:26efficient way to sort out the secondary school system. So it doesn't really look like at this
07:32moment in time the Kent Test will be going anywhere. Well, thanks so much for bringing us the updates on
07:38that and the exclusive report, Sophie. And if you want to watch the full interviews, you can watch the
07:44Kent Politics Show on kmtv.co.uk. A burglar who targeted high-value properties has been arrested
07:51after detectives discovered his DNA from a bottle of antibacterial spray that he used to clean a scene.
07:58So the time by my phone is 1640. I'm placing you under arrest.
08:04Diana Stoke, who stole designer bags and leather jewelry worth more than half a million pounds from nine
08:10properties across Kent, London, Buckinghamshire and Surrey. Patrol spotted Doku at a bus stop on
08:16Oxbridge Road and arrested him. The 45-year-old of no fixed address was later charged with nine
08:21counts of burglary and pled guilty to all offences at Sevenoaks Magistrates Court. He was sentenced to
08:28three years and ten months imprisonment. A woman has been arrested on suspicion of murder after the death of
08:36a man in Margate. Police were called to Mill Meade Road yesterday afternoon where they found the body
08:41of a man in his 50s and have arrested a 40-year-old woman who remains in custody. Finn McDermott
08:46is down
08:47in Margate at the Invicta House block of flats. So Finn, you're there right now. What is the atmosphere like?
08:56Well, Nayla, I think by all accounts, if you were simply walking around Margate today, not looking
09:01at the headlines and you lived here at Invicta House, you'd be plenty surprised to see a pair of police
09:08cars outside of the front door to your block of flats. Maybe they were walking home from the office
09:15or coming home bringing their children in from school. What's happened is that yesterday afternoon
09:21a body was found here at Invicta Flats, the police have told us, and earlier in the day the police
09:30were
09:30called to the Mill Meade area road of Margate to talk to a person of concern. Now, we don't know
09:38if
09:38that person of concern is related to the body that was found, but what we can tell you is that
09:42today
09:43that murder investigation was opened and a woman who is in her 40s was arrested on suspicion of murder.
09:52And Finn, what have the police been saying about the incident?
09:58The police told us earlier around 1pm that they specifically were here, that they were talking to
10:05people on the scene. We actually spotted them earlier out the front doors of Invicta House.
10:10They've also asked anyone with any witnesses, any knowledge of exactly what happened to get in
10:15contact with them. You can talk to them on the Kent Police website or call Crime Stoppers. Quoting the
10:21reference number you can find on Kent Online. You can speak, sorry, you can find that crime
10:25reference number on Kent Online and we and them will be covering this story as it continues.
10:29Well, thank you so much for the updates there, Finn. Three people have been cleared of murder after a
10:36man was fatally stabbed to death in Gravesend in August last year. After 42 hours of deliberations,
10:42a jury at Maystone Crown Court found Alton Shehu, Erika Korsaka and her boyfriend Shaheen Bolika
10:48not guilty of murdering 33-year-old Vladimir Perminovs. Following a trial at Maystone Crown Court
10:55day, Shehu was acquitted of murder but found guilty of manslaughter. Ms. Korsaka and Mr.
11:00Bolika were cleared of manslaughter. Shehu will be sentenced on January 13th in 2027.
11:07Investigations following a fatal moped crash in Sheerness have revealed that the teenagers
11:11involved were not being chased by police. The collision, which happened near Sheppey Leisure
11:16Complex on Saturday, resulted in the death of an 18-year-old male and a 16-year-old remains in
11:23hospital
11:23with life-threatening injuries. The Independent Office for Police Conduct found that the officers
11:28tried to approach a moped at around 7.50 in the evening but did not pursue it after the rider
11:33drove
11:33off. The crash occurred shortly after and officers rushed to the scene to give emergency first aids.
11:40That's all the time we have for in this part of the show but grab a cup of tea and
11:43we have plenty more
11:44after this break.
11:44Music
11:46Music
11:47Music
11:48Music
11:51Music
11:53Music
24:38Mike,
24:39It was the same, I think.
24:42It was good.
24:43I enjoyed it.
24:45I see you received your card from the king as well.
24:48What was that like, getting the cards come through?
24:50It was nice to get it.
24:56Charlie has lived in Queenborough his entire life,
24:59not including his time in service during the war.
25:03And for his daughters, the day's events
25:06raise some very fond memories with their father.
25:08When we lived in our house when we were very young,
25:11he used to have a pushbike.
25:13So when the alarm went off in the hallway,
25:16which was like a big bell then,
25:17he used to make such a loud noise,
25:19he used to get on his pushbike
25:20and he used to have to pedal up to the station.
25:22And halfway there, one of the firewoods would stop,
25:24put him in the car, leave his bike there,
25:27and obviously go back and pick it up after.
25:29At this arts and community centre behind me,
25:32celebrations are still ongoing for Charlie's 100th birthday,
25:35a massive milestone.
25:37But this isn't the only milestone that's being celebrated today.
25:40They're also commemorating his 22 years of service
25:43as a fireman here in Queenborough.
25:45To mark the occasion,
25:47his family wanted to bring together
25:48some of the people who've been part of Charlie's journey,
25:51including former colleagues from the fire service.
25:55The celebrations also brought a special surprise,
25:58with the current Sheppey Fire Brigade
26:00presenting Charlie with a certificate
26:02in recognition of his years of service.
26:05He spent 100 years building a lifetime of memories.
26:09And at this party,
26:10the very people who've been part of that journey
26:13have come together to make one more.
26:16Nayla Mahamid for KMTV in Queenborough.
26:20Well, happy birthday again to Charlie,
26:22and maybe he can give me some tips and tricks.
26:25But in the meantime,
26:26you've been watching Kent Tonight live here on KMTV.
26:28And there's more news made just for Kent
26:30throughout the entire evening.
26:32You can also keep up to date,
26:33like I said earlier,
26:34by logging on to our...
26:35I didn't say this earlier,
26:36but you can log on to our website,
26:37kmtv.co.uk.
26:39That's all the time we have for now,
26:41and we'll see you again tomorrow evening.
26:42Bye-bye for now.
26:58.
26:59.
26:59.
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