Home / 11+ guides
For parentsHow the 11+ works
There is no single 11+. It is a family of different tests, run by different people, on different dates, with different rules about who may sit them. Most of the confusion parents run into comes from reading advice written about somebody else's area.
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What is actually the same everywhere
Selective state schools admit on the basis of a test taken in the autumn term of Year 6, before the secondary school application deadline in the autumn. The test is not part of the national curriculum and schools do not have to prepare children for it, which is why so much of the preparation happens at home.
Beyond that, almost everything varies: who runs the test, what is in it, whether you register directly with the school or with the council, how the results are reported to you, and how a place is finally offered.
What varies, and matters most
- Who you register with, and by when. Registration closes months before the test, often before the summer holidays, and it is the single most common thing parents miss.
- What the test covers. Some areas test maths and English only; others add verbal and non-verbal reasoning.
- How scores are treated. Scores are standardised for age, and areas differ in how they combine and weight the papers.
- Whether living in the area matters, and how much, when places are allocated.
How these guides are written
Each guide is written from the published admissions arrangements for that area, which every admission authority is required to determine and publish each year. Where a guide states a date, a format or a deadline, it says which document it came from, so you can check it yourself. Nothing here is written from memory or copied from another site.
These guides are written for the adult making the decision. They are not advice about whether your child should sit the exam.
Guides by area
- Bexley 4 grammar schools Test in September Bexley's own selection test, the top-scorer places, and why distance decides most of the rest. Read the guide
- Birmingham 8 grammar schools Test in September The consortium arrangements, the separate school processes, and how the two fit together. Read the guide
- Buckinghamshire 2028 dates out 13 grammar schools Test in September How the county-wide transfer test works, who is entered automatically, and what happens if you move into the area late. Read the guide
- Essex 4 grammar schools Test in September Consortium and non-consortium schools, and why an Essex application can involve more than one test. Read the guide
- Gloucestershire 2028 dates out 7 grammar schools Test in September Seven grammar schools with one shared test, and a test that moves to the end of Year 5 for the next round. Read the guide
- Kent 32 grammar schools Test in September The county's grammar schools, the test that decides entry, and the registration deadline parents most often miss. Read the guide
- Lincolnshire 15 grammar schools Test in September Fifteen grammar schools, a reasoning-only test shared by most of them, and one school that runs its own. Read the guide
- Medway 6 grammar schools Test in September Medway's own test, separate from the Kent Test, and why distance matters so much once your child has passed. Read the guide
- Slough 2028 dates out 4 grammar schools Test in September Slough's grammar schools, the qualifying score, and the change of test provider for the next round. Read the guide
- Southend 4 grammar schools Test in September The CSSE exam shared with Essex, and how Southend's grammar schools give places. Read the guide
- Sutton 5 grammar schools Test in September One of the most competitive selective areas in the country, with schools that each run their own process. Read the guide
- Trafford 7 grammar schools Test in September A small borough with a large number of grammar places, heavily contested from outside the area. Read the guide
- Warwickshire 5 grammar schools Test in September The West Midlands test shared with Birmingham, and how Warwickshire's own grammar schools give places. Read the guide
- Wirral 2028 dates out 6 grammar schools Test in September Wirral's grammar schools, how their tests are run, and how places are given. Read the guide
School numbers count state grammar schools in each council area, from the government's January 2026 school census. Some areas also have schools that select part of their intake; the guides list them.
Your area isn't listed?
We only write a guide once we have read the area's own published arrangements, so some areas aren't here yet. Until then, this is how to find what you need yourself:
- Find your council's secondary admissions page. Find your local council on GOV.UK, then look for "secondary school admissions" or "grammar schools".
- Look up each grammar school's admissions arrangements. Every school must publish them each year. They say whether there is a test, who runs it, and how to register.
- Check the registration deadline first. In every area we cover, registration for the test closes in the summer of Year 5, months before the test itself.
- Remember that registering is not applying. You still name the schools on your home council's application form, by 31 October in Year 6 in the areas we cover.
Want a guide for your area? Email us and tell us where you are: it helps us choose which to write next.
When a new area guide goes up
An email when a new area guide is written or a new year of papers goes up. A few times a year, no more — and nothing else, ever.
We send a confirmation email first, and the address does nothing until you click the link in it. One click to leave, any time. What we do with it.