Area guide · entry in September 2027

The 11+ in Warwickshire

Warwickshire's six selective schools use the same West Midlands test as Birmingham's grammar schools, but Warwickshire County Council runs its own registration, its own results and its own proof-of-address check. Places are decided school by school, using a qualifying score set after the test and a priority area around Stratford-upon-Avon or Rugby.

On this page

Entry in September 2028: what is published so far
The calendar
The six selective schools
Who can sit it, and where you register
What is in the papers
How places are decided: qualifying scores and priority areas
Applying, and what catches families out

Warwickshire at a glance

Warwickshire 11+ Saturday 12 and Sunday 13 September 2026. Results on the Parent Portal on 16 October 2026.
Apply by 31 October 2026 Apply through your home council, naming each Warwickshire grammar school you want. Sitting the test is not applying.
How places are decided An automatic qualifying score is set for each school after the test. Children in the school's priority area who reach it are offered places before those outside. For 2026 entry these scores ran from 208 to 239.
Proof of address by 31 December 2026 Requested from the start of December. Missing it makes your grammar school application late.

What the test covers

The West Midlands Grammar Schools test: English, verbal reasoning, maths and non-verbal reasoning, multiple choice, in two papers made up of individually timed sections.

For children in Year 5 now · starting secondary school in September 2028

Entry in September 2028: what is published so far

Warwickshire's registration page says 11+ registration opens on 7 May each year for children in Year 5, with a deadline of 30 June, and testing in September. The council has not yet published a dated schedule for the 2028-entry round, and the schools' 2028 admission arrangements have not been determined.

Only what has been published. From: Warwickshire County Council — Register your child for the 11+ test.

The calendar

Every date for entry in September 2027, from the published arrangements. Dates that have passed are in grey.

Date	What happens
7 May 2026	11+ registration opened
30 June 2026	11+ registration deadline Also the deadline for access arrangements applications, including supporting evidence.
W/C Monday 13 July 2026	Access arrangements decision letters sent
W/C Monday 10 August 2026	Invitation letters for the 11+ test sent
Saturday 12 and Sunday 13 September 2026	11+ test Each child is allocated one session by the council.
Saturday 19 September 2026	Main supplementary test date For children who could not attend their main session through illness or a prior engagement, with evidence. Date from the Lawrence Sheriff and Rugby High School arrangements.
16 October 2026	11+ results available on the Parent Portal
31 October 2026	Secondary school application deadline Apply through your home authority, the council you pay council tax to.
Week commencing 1 December 2026	Proof of address requested One proof for the parent or carer and one for the child, sent to poa@warwickshire.gov.uk.
31 December 2026	Proof of address deadline
1 March 2027	National Offer Day

The six selective schools

The council lists six selective schools in Warwickshire. All six allocate places on the 11+ result, the schools are free to attend and there is no charge to sit the test.

King Edward VI School, Stratford-upon-Avon: Boys. 87 places in Year 7 for 2027.
Stratford Girls' Grammar School: Girls. 120 places.
Alcester Grammar School: Boys and girls. 150 places.
Lawrence Sheriff School, Rugby: Boys. 150 places.
Rugby High School: Girls. 150 places. A grammar school, not to be confused with Rugby School, which is fee-paying.
Ashlawn School, Rugby: Boys and girls. A bilateral school with one selective class: 31 selective places within a total intake of 256.

Who can sit it, and where you register

Eligibility rests only on date of birth: children born between 1 September 2015 and 31 August 2016 could sit the test for entry in September 2027. Your child does not have to live in Warwickshire.

Warwickshire residents register with Warwickshire County Council through its Parent Portal. Birmingham residents register with the Birmingham grammar schools, and families elsewhere register in the region where they would most like their child to go to school. Registration for this round has closed.

Your child sits the test once. When registering, you could tick a box to have the result shared between Warwickshire, Birmingham, Walsall, Wolverhampton and Shropshire, so one sitting serves grammar school applications in all five areas. A score from any other 11+ test cannot be transferred to a Warwickshire school.

What is in the papers

This is the West Midlands Grammar Schools test, the same test as in the Birmingham guide, provided by GL Assessment. There are two papers, each lasting about 50 to 60 minutes including instructions and practice questions, divided into individually timed sections.

The sections cover English comprehension, verbal reasoning, mathematics and non-verbal reasoning. Every question is multiple choice, and answers go on a separate answer sheet. Scores are standardised for age.

Warwickshire results come as three components: verbal reasoning, numeracy and non-verbal reasoning, plus a total. Lawrence Sheriff and Rugby High School publish the weighting as 50% English and verbal reasoning, 25% non-verbal reasoning and 25% mathematics. King Edward VI and Stratford Girls' say the weighting is set by the school, and the Stratford and Alcester arrangements note that Warwickshire and Birmingham may weight scores differently.

The part most families need

How places are decided: qualifying scores and priority areas

There is no pass mark published in advance. After the test, a Committee of Reference of headteachers sets two scores for each school for this year only: an automatic qualifying score, and a lower minimum standard for the waiting list. There is one committee for the Stratford and Alcester schools and one for the Rugby schools.

Places are then offered in priority order: looked-after children first, then a capped number of Pupil Premium children (both groups may score up to 20 marks below the qualifying score), then children in the school's priority area who reach the qualifying score, and only then children living outside it. Within each group, higher scores come first. Children between the waiting-list minimum and the qualifying score go on the waiting list.

King Edward VI School: An inner circle of 13 miles and an outer circle of 16.936 miles, both measured from the Fountain in Rother Street, Stratford-upon-Avon. Up to 70 places go to the inner circle.
Stratford Girls' and Alcester: One circle of 16.936 miles from the same Fountain in Rother Street.
Lawrence Sheriff and Rugby High School: The Eastern Area of Warwickshire (Rugby and a list of surrounding parishes), then a Priority Circle of 10.004 miles from the Rugby Water Tower.
Ashlawn (selective places): Up to 15 places for the Eastern Area and up to 16 for the Rugby Water Tower priority circle.

Qualifying scores for 2026 entry, the most recent the council has published (automatic qualifying score, then the minimum for the waiting list): King Edward VI 239 and 230; Stratford Girls' 227 and 224; Alcester 225 and 220; Lawrence Sheriff 213 and 210; Rugby High School 213 and 210; Ashlawn selective 208 and 204. The 2027 scores are set after this year's test and may be different.
In the first round of offers for 2026 entry, no offers at King Edward VI, Stratford Girls', Alcester, Lawrence Sheriff or Ashlawn went to children living outside the priority areas. Check your address against the council's priority area map before you rely on a grammar school place.
Your 16 October results include the previous year's qualifying and waiting-list scores for each school. The council is clear that these are for comparison only and guarantee nothing.

Applying, and what catches families out

Taking the 11+ is not an application. You must name each Warwickshire grammar school you want on your home authority's secondary application by 31 October 2026. Warwickshire residents can name up to six schools. Preferences are equal: putting a grammar school first does not reduce your chance at the other schools you list if your child does not qualify.

Offers come from your home authority on 1 March 2027. Families who registered with Warwickshire also receive a letter with their child's score and that year's qualifying and waiting-list scores for each school.

Proof of address is a separate step. If you name a Warwickshire grammar school, the council contacts you at the start of December, by post or email, so check your junk folder. If you have heard nothing by 9 December, email elevenplus@warwickshire.gov.uk. Proof must arrive by 31 December, and the schools' own arrangements give you fifteen working days from the request. Without it, the application is treated as late.
A late application waits. One received after 31 October is not processed until after the first round of offers in March, and then only onto the waiting list of schools whose minimum score your child reached.
Two results letters can show two totals. If your child's score was shared with Birmingham, you receive one letter from each, and because the weightings can differ, the totals may not match.
Moving house counts only by 31 December 2026. A new address after that date is only taken into account after National Offer Day, as a late application, and the schools may ask for proof that the old home is no longer used.
Ashlawn also offers up to 25 places through its own modern languages aptitude test, which is separate from the 11+. The details are on the school's website.