11 Plus Moving to UK From Europe: 2027 Entry Rules

11+ entry from Europe is the route into a UK selective school in which England’s 1 September to 31 August birth-date cohort, not a child’s class in Spain, France, Switzerland, Germany or Ireland, normally decides the entry year. Children born from 1 September 2015 to 31 August 2016 normally start Year 7 in September 2027. Spanish and French classes usually follow the calendar year of birth, so one class can hold two English cohorts.

Leading Tuition prepares children from European school systems for UK 11+ entry. Tuition can be one to one, and families outside the UK can take the whole programme online.

Which English year group is a child in Spain, France, Switzerland, Germany or Ireland?

England fixes the year group by date of birth. DfE’s “normal age group” is “the year group a child would have been in had they entered school in the September following their fourth birthday”. Barnet Council’s year-group table, read on Sunday 4 October 2026, gives “1 September 2015 to 31 August 2016” as Year 6, with “Year 7 (from September 2027)”, and “1 September 2016 to 31 August 2017” as Year 5. Buckinghamshire Council’s timeline for 2028 entry says children born in that second range will be “moving up to secondary school in September 2028”. These are the 2027-entry and 2028-entry cohorts. Other systems are in the year-group guide.

Five European systems fix a child’s class by a calendar year or a set cut-off. Four of the five cut England’s cohort at a different point; Ireland’s rule leaves it whole.

Spain. Real Decreto 157/2022, article 5, says primary education is studied “entre los seis y los doce años de edad” and that pupils join the first year “en el año natural en el que cumplan seis años”: between six and twelve, in the calendar year of the sixth birthday. Eurydice, which the European Education and Culture Executive Agency manages, says class groups are “usually made up taking into account the year of birth”.

France. Service-Public, the French government’s information service, says (page verified 10 January 2025): “Dès l’âge de 6 ans, votre enfant doit être inscrit à l’école élémentaire”, and that the obligation applies “dès la rentrée scolaire de l’année civile … où l’enfant atteint l’âge de 6 ans”: from the start of the school year of the calendar year of the sixth birthday. Eurydice’s French page gives elementary school as “for 6 to 11 year olds” and collège as “for 11 to 15 year olds”.

Switzerland. The Swiss Conference of Cantonal Ministers of Education (EDK) says primary level, “including two years of kindergarten or a first learning cycle”, comprises “eight years”, and that “Generally, compulsory education sets in for children at the age of four.” On primary level it adds that children who have reached the enrolment age “by the specified cut-off date (this is usually 31 July)” start in the autumn, and on lower secondary level that “Pupils generally begin lower secondary level at the age of twelve.”

Germany. Eurydice’s German page says “Compulsory schooling starts on 1 August for all children having reached their sixth birthday before a statutory qualifying date”, that the Länder “can set the qualifying date between 30 June and 30 September”, and that primary school pupils are “aged six to ten, in Berlin and Brandenburg six to twelve”.

Ireland. Eurydice’s Irish page says “almost all children begin school in the September following their fourth birthday”, that primary education is “an eight-year cycle: junior infants, senior infants, and first to sixth classes”, and that “Pupils normally transfer to post-primary education at the age of twelve.”

The table applies those rules to the two English cohorts for the school year 2026-27. It is our arithmetic from the quoted rules, for a child who started school on time.

Source: the rules quoted above; England’s cohorts from Barnet Council and Buckinghamshire Council. A child who has repeated or skipped a year sits in a different class from the one the birth date gives. For Germany the table counts a birthday on the qualifying date as inside the cut-off; each Land’s wording governs.

A CM2 or 5º class in 2026-27 holds children born in one calendar year, 2016, so it holds both 2027-entry children (born January to August) and 2028-entry children (born September to December). The oldest children in England’s 2027 cohort, born 1 September to 31 December 2015, are already in 6e in France and in the sixth year of primary school in Spain; on the dates alone they start Year 7 in September 2027, after a full year of collège if French. Whether an English school or council will place such a child in the year the birth date gives is its own decision: ask in writing.

Germany and Switzerland leave the date to the Land or the canton. Eurydice gives the German range as 30 June to 30 September, so a German family should use its Land’s qualifying date with the table’s two German rows. EDK calls 31 July only the usual Swiss cut-off, so a Swiss family should confirm the canton’s date first.

What can a European family rely on now that free movement has ended?

The general rules for foreign national children and state schools, including what councils and schools may and may not ask, are in the status guide. This section covers only what is specific to Europe.

DfE’s guidance on school applications for foreign national children, last updated on 28 March 2024, says: “Freedom of movement into the UK ended at the end of 2020.” It then gives the rule that applies now: “Unless they meet the EU Settlement Scheme requirements, EEA and Swiss national children entering the UK will be treated the same as other foreign nationals.”

On the Settlement Scheme itself, DfE says: “Any EEA or Swiss national who arrived in the UK by 31 December 2020 wishing to continue to live, work and study in the UK should have applied to the EU Settlement Scheme by 30 June 2021. They can still apply after this deadline in limited circumstances.” gov.uk’s Settlement Scheme guide repeats that “The deadline for most people to apply to the EU Settlement Scheme was 30 June 2021.” For a family member joining someone in the UK, gov.uk sets out the conditions in its own words:

“If you’re joining a family member, your deadline will be based on when you first arrived in the UK after 31 December 2020, as long as:”

• “your family member was living in the UK by 31 December 2020”
• “you were their family member by 31 December 2020 (this does not apply to children born or adopted after this date)”
• “the family relationship still exists when you apply”

The EU Settlement Scheme family permit is a separate gov.uk route. It says “You must be outside the UK to apply” and “You can apply for the permit if your family member started living in the UK by 31 December 2020”. The permit “lets you come to the UK for up to 6 months”, and “It is free to apply for the permit.” A family unsure whether a relative’s residence before 2021 meets those conditions should check the Settlement Scheme guide, linked above.

Irish families are in a different position. DfE says: “The Common Travel Area arrangements permit Irish citizens to access state-funded and independent schools in the UK.” Their rights “have not changed as a result of the UK leaving the EU – they still do not normally require permission to enter, live and study in the UK.”

What do Eurostat’s and the Home Office’s counts for Europe actually measure?

Two public tables put numbers on European children and the UK, and neither counts families on a route. Eurostat’s table “Population on 1 January by age group, sex and citizenship” (updated 25 September 2026) counts people recorded as United Kingdom citizens in each reporting country. The Home Office counts Child Student visas issued, by the nationality of the applicant, in the year ending June 2026. Neither says where a child will go to school, or whether the family is aiming at the 11+.

Eurostat, 1 January 2025. The age band is 10 to 14, five birth years, so it is wider than the 11+ cohort.

Source: Eurostat, table MIGR_POP1CTZ, citizen United Kingdom, both sexes, 1 January 2025.

A British citizen has the right of abode: gov.uk says “All British citizens automatically have the right of abode in the UK”, and “If you have the right of abode, you do not need a visa or electronic travel authorisation (ETA) to come to the UK.” gov.uk’s ETA guidance adds that a person “may have British citizenship automatically” if they were born in the UK or have a parent with British citizenship. A family in Spain with a British parent should check the child’s own status first.

Home Office, year ending June 2026. The entry clearance visa outcomes workbook, published 27 August 2026, counts Child Student visas issued to each nationality, by quarter, and notes that data from Q1 2026 onwards are provisional. DfE says an unaccompanied child on a Child Student visa “cannot lawfully, under their UK entry conditions, study at a state-funded school”, so for an unaccompanied child the visa is not a route to a state grammar school.

Source: Home Office, Immigration System Statistics, year ending June 2026, sheet Data_Vis_D02, visa type subgroup Child Student, case outcome Issued, main applicants; each sum is the four quarterly cells in its row.

Ranked across the full table of nationalities, Germany’s 1,136 and Spain’s 785 are the third and fourth largest totals of the 10,446 Child Student visas issued in the year ending June 2026, after China (2,301) and Hong Kong (1,192). Of Spain’s 785, 648 (82.5%) fall in two quarters, 386 in 2025 Q3 and 262 in 2026 Q2. For the year ending June 2022 the four Spanish quarters, 2021 Q3 to 2022 Q2, were 694, 114, 81 and 359, a sum of 1,248, so the 2026 total is 463 (37.1%) lower.

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Which UK schools test inside Europe, and which expect the family in London?

Schools answer this in their own words, and the answer changes with the entry point, so each line below carries the entry it comes from. The other grammar areas’ rules for a child living abroad are in the 11+ from overseas hub.

Dulwich College, overseas day places in Years 7 and 9 (our guide). On its overseas applicants page, read on Sunday 4 October 2026, Dulwich says: “Our expectation would be that families will bring their son to Dulwich College for the entrance examination if they live in Europe.” Its overseas registration deadline for September 2027 entry was Friday 2 October 2026. Its Year 7 page sets the UK registration deadline at Monday 2 November 2026, midday, and the UK exam date for Year 7 entry is Friday 4 December 2026.

James Allen’s Girls’ School, 11+ (our guide). On its joining page the school says: “11+ Overseas applicants may apply and can sit their ISEB Common Pre-test abroad, along with the creative writing element of the Welcome Morning, rather than attending in person. An interview will be arranged via Zoom. Please note that we do not sponsor overseas applicants for visas.”

ISEB Common Pre-Tests (our guide). ISEB says the tests are “designed for pupils in Years 6 and 7” and “can be taken by pupils in the UK and overseas”. A child sits them “at an approved invigilation centre”, which can be a prep, senior or maintained school, “British Councils worldwide” or “Registered governmental or educational locations”. ISEB’s invigilation-centre map, read on Sunday 4 October 2026, lists centres in Spain, France, Switzerland and Germany, among other countries. Its entries in those four countries include the British Council offices in Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia, Queen’s College in Palma de Mallorca, Holy Mary British Catholic School in Madrid, the International School of Lyon, Schule Aeugst am Albis (Zürich) and Grundschule Tegernsee in Germany. ISEB’s invigilation-centre article adds: “Parents and guardians should always confirm that their child can take the tests with the invigilation centre before selecting them during registration.” It also says: “If your child’s current school does not usually host the Pre-Tests, it is quick and easy for them to get set up as an invigilation centre”.

Buckinghamshire, area test (our guide). Buckinghamshire Council’s registration page says: “If your child currently lives abroad, we will not be able to test them until they return to the UK. You should then contact us.”

Travelling to sit. gov.uk says an ETA “lets you travel to the UK, Jersey, Guernsey or the Isle of Man for up to 6 months” and that “Each person travelling needs an ETA, including babies and children.” It adds that “You usually need an ETA rather than a visa if you’re from Europe, the USA, Australia, Canada or certain other countries”. Its page on who does not need one lists “a British or Irish citizen”, and its page on what an ETA allows includes a stay of up to 6 months “for tourism, visiting family and friends, on a business trip or for short-term study”. gov.uk also sets out the ETA fee and how to apply. Which document a given passport needs for a school visit is a question for gov.uk’s visa checker and for the school. Clock differences between Europe and London on a test day are in the time-zones guide.

Does the European school calendar clash with the UK dates?

A move has to fit two calendars. The dates below are quoted from each body’s own page, and every date for 2028 entry is labelled as such.

Source: Dulwich College; Buckinghamshire Council key dates, registration page and 2028 timeline; Service-Public (France); Eurydice (Spain).

Service-Public gives the 2026-2027 French summer holidays as starting on Saturday 3 July 2027, and 3 July 2027 is 15 days after 18 June 2027: 12 days from 18 June to 30 June, plus 3 days in July. A family that leaves France when the holidays begin would arrive 15 days after Buckinghamshire’s move-in date. For Spain, Eurydice says the teaching activity “begins during the month of September and ends at the end of June”; if teaching runs to 30 June, the gap is 12 days. Whether a child may leave school earlier is a question for the child’s school.

For Germany, Eurydice says that “the school year begins on 1 August and ends on 31 July. The actual beginning and end of the school term depend on the dates of the summer holidays”, and that summer holidays “have been restricted to the period between mid-June and mid-September”. A German family needs its own Land’s calendar. A move partway through a cycle is covered in the relocation guide, entry after Year 7 in the in-year admissions guide, and curriculum gaps in the guide to returning to UK grammar schools.

Does a child schooled in Spanish, French or German need to prove their English?

Each school writes its own rule; none of the lines below is a rule for UK schools in general.

• Emanuel School. Section 4 of its admissions policy (May 2026 edition), “Fluency in English”: “pupils must demonstrate a high level of fluency in English. Normally, applicants should have been educated in an English-medium environment for at least three years prior to joining the school.”
• Highgate School, 11+ for 2027 entry. Its admissions policy says: “Candidates with English as an additional language will need to demonstrate that they have a sufficient command of English to cope with a curriculum which is delivered in English. Allowances will be made and parents are invited to seek guidance from the Admissions Officer and Head of Admissions.” See also the Highgate 11+ guide.
• Felsted School. Its Language Level Guidelines say: “We expect our international students to be at a certain CEFR language level, depending on what year they are joining Felsted.” For “entry into Year 9 and below” the level is “B1”.
• Roedean School. Its apply page asks for “their English language level via a UKiSET or IELTS report*” and adds: “*English language levels are only required for international applicants and those whose first language is not English.”

Ask the target school in writing which evidence it accepts. The UKiset guide explains one of the tests Roedean names.

How does Leading Tuition plan an 11+ around a European school year?

The plan starts from the child’s cohort, which decides the dates, then follows the first sitting the target school allows: a centre near home, a trip to London, or, for Buckinghamshire, a move first. Our expert 11+ tutors build the preparation around that date, the family’s school calendar and the school’s English requirement, and tuition can be one to one. Families outside the UK can take the whole programme online. Council applications from abroad are in the Year 7 from abroad guide.

Frequently Asked Questions

Reviewed Sunday 4 October 2026 against the official sources and the school and council pages cited above.