11 Plus From Overseas: 2027 Entry Rules, Area by Area

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Applying to the 11+ from overseas means clearing three gates: the child’s right to attend school in England, access to the area’s selective test, and an address that counts on the cut-off date. Among 15 grammar areas, Sutton, Tiffin and Tiffin Girls’ sit the test only at their own schools, Buckinghamshire tests only after return to the UK, and King Edward VI Grammar School in Chelmsford agrees a venue with applicants moving to Essex who live abroad.

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

Can a child living abroad go to a state grammar school at all?

The first gate is legal, not academic. DfE guidance says a foreign national child outside the UK “will normally need either” a right of abode or an immigration status that permits study at a school. A Child Student visa does not lead to a state school in England: rule CS 17.4 of Appendix Child Student says a Child Student “must not study at a state school or academy except for:” two narrow cases, one a Northern Ireland voluntary grammar school with boarding. DfE adds that unaccompanied children on a Child Student or Student visa “cannot lawfully, under their UK entry conditions, study at a state-funded school.” State schools and councils may not ask for passports, so the check falls to parents. Children under 18 can usually attend as dependants of a parent with settled status or a work or student visa, and DfE names “Hong Kong British Nationals (Overseas) (BNO) and their dependants who have applied, at the same time, to move to the UK as a family”.

What can a family abroad do on the council application?

The council application and the test registration are separate steps, and DfE guidance covers the first. It says that if an application is “made from another country, local authorities should consider the application as adequate proof of an intention to move or return to the area”, and that admission authorities cannot “require the applicant has a permanent home address either in the UK or overseas before processing an application”. Evidence of intent might include a mortgage or rental agreement, deeds, a letter from an employer showing a transfer date, or registration with a local GP.

An overseas address can still weigh against a child. DfE says that if a parent is unable to provide evidence of a return to the area, admission authorities “could apply a catchment area policy or distance tie-break, if they have such admission criteria”, using the parents’ place of residence when the application is made, and that an address in another country “might give the child a lower priority for admission if the admission authority operates a catchment area or if the child is tied for the final place available with other applicants.” If the child does not attend school on the first day of term, the admission authority “could, in some circumstances, remove the offer”. The School Admissions Code asks admission authorities to inform parents of selection test outcomes before the closing date for secondary applications on 31 October, which is Saturday 31 October 2026 for 2027 entry, and paragraph 2.9(e) says they must not refuse to admit a child solely because the child has missed entrance tests for selective places. Late sittings are arranged area by area, as the sections below show.

What does each area say to a child who has not yet moved?

Fifteen areas, read on Saturday 3 October 2026 from each council’s or school’s own pages, for the 2027-entry cycle unless a row says otherwise. Each row gives one rule in the area’s own words and the dates that go with it. The guide for expat families returning to UK grammar schools covers the curriculum gap and return planning, which this page leaves aside.

Six areas with their own from-overseas guides

More area guides: Birmingham, Essex, Reading and Slough, Trafford, Hertfordshire. Country guides: Singapore, the USA, Europe.

Nine more areas, linked to their existing guides

Three patterns recur. In Sutton and Kingston the test is sat only at the schools themselves, while Bexley’s is open whatever the child’s address and King Edward VI Grammar School in Chelmsford agrees a venue with applicants who intend to move to Essex and currently live abroad. Kent, Redbridge, Birmingham and Enfield tie access or priority to where the child lives. At least eight areas publish a way to ask or apply after the closing date: Kent, Buckinghamshire, Birmingham, Reading, Gloucestershire, Lincolnshire, Wirral and Bexley.

Which address dates lock out a family that moves late?

A family abroad more often fails on a date than on a rule. Each of these arrangements fixes the address that counts months before the move.

A family that arrives after Thursday 7 January 2027 has passed the last fixed date in this table.

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Are service and Crown servant families treated differently?

Yes. Paragraph 2.21 of the School Admissions Code 2021 covers “families of service personnel with a confirmed posting, or crown servants returning from overseas”. Admission authorities must allocate a place in advance of arrival, as long as one is available, when the application carries an official letter that declares a relocation date, and must not refuse because the family has no intended address or does not yet live in the area. Trafford’s council page gives the same allocation before arrival. King Edward VI Grammar School in Chelmsford treats service and Crown servant families as meeting its priority-area residence test before they arrive, and Kendrick and Kent name the same two groups. The forces families guide sets out the full route.

Which independent schools let a child sit the 11+ from abroad?

School by school, in each school’s own words: London independent schools from overseas.

Independent schools set their own rules, so the picture is a count rather than a rule. The figures below are our own reading of the schools’ own admissions pages, checked on Saturday 3 October 2026: of 61 independent schools read, 48 list a 10+ or 11+ entry point at the school or its own prep school (not only through partner prep schools), and 27 of those 48 publish an arrangement for a child abroad.

Venue rules differ even between schools that allow a sitting abroad. Alleyn’s runs a separate overseas sitting on Thursday 7 January 2027, against Friday 8 January 2027 for home candidates, for candidates “living abroad at the time of the entrance assessments”. Haileybury does “not permit our entrance exams to be taken at the applicant’s current school”, where Felsted names the current school first. Ask the school which venues it accepts before booking anything.

Where can the ISEB Common Pre-Test be sat abroad?

The ISEB says its tests “can be taken by pupils in the UK and overseas”, at invigilation centres that include “British Councils worldwide”. A parent cannot add a venue of their own: “Unfortunately, a parent or guardian cannot add a venue as a new invigilation centre.” Parents “should always confirm that their child can take the tests with the invigilation centre before selecting them during registration”, and the Pre-Tests “can be taken between August and May of each academic year”. The ISEB pre-test page covers the test itself.

What if the child boards in the UK at 11 while you stay abroad?

A Child Student visa covers ages 4 to 17 for study at an independent school, and a nominated guardian can host the child for “up to 27 days in a row”. A parent can come too only on the Parent of a Child Student visa: the child “must be aged between 4 and 11 when you apply”, and the parent’s stay ends when the child’s visa expires or the child turns 12, whichever happens first. The state alternative is weekly boarding at Reading School, where boarders’ weekends away from school must be covered by “the family or a guardian”.

School by school: boarding schools at 11 from overseas.

What if the date has passed or the move came late?

Some areas publish a late route, some publish a closed door, and a family needs to know which before spending a term on preparation.

• Buckinghamshire: “Families who move into Buckinghamshire by 18 June 2027 will be offered late testing for their child, as long as they can provide evidence that they have moved.” The date is Friday 18 June 2027.
• Gloucestershire: The Late Entrance Test: check the preferred grammar school’s page “in December 2026 for more information on how to register”.
• Wirral: Late registration is accepted only “if a child has moved to Wirral after the closing date”.
• Lincolnshire: The consortium allows tests after the preference-form deadline: “This happens, for example, when families have just moved into the area.”
• Kent: A family not registered by the closing date can email Kent’s admissions team with the child’s name, date of birth, full address and current school, and Kent says it will then “let you know of the next steps”.
• Bexley: “If you move into the area while your child is in Year 6 and you did not register from your previous address before 31 March 2026, your child can be tested for the first time in secondary school.” The date is Tuesday 31 March 2026.
• Birmingham: Camp Hill’s arrangements say “Candidates who are not registered by the deadline may only be tested in exceptional circumstances”.
• Reading (Kendrick School): “Late applications for the Kendrick School Admission Test will only be accepted in exceptional circumstances.”

Entry in later years is a separate route, not a late Year 7 sitting for 2027 entry. Colchester Royal Grammar School’s 2025-2026 policy says, under its heading for Years 8 to 10, “Occasionally vacancies occur in other years, for example due to family relocation.” Kendrick School’s non-routine (in-year) admissions page says “a family must be living permanently in our designated area before completing the non-routine admissions application form”.

Others close the door. Sutton: “No late registrations will be accepted under any circumstances.” Bexley: “late registration requests will not be accepted under any circumstances”. The Tiffin Girls’ School is “unable to accept any late registrations”. For the national picture after Year 7 see the in-year admissions guide, for a move partway through a cycle the relocation guide, and for Buckinghamshire’s later transfers the late transfer test guide.

Which country page should a family read next?

• 11+ from Hong Kong: Cheltenham Ladies’ College writes that “we offer an assessment day at a test centre in Hong Kong on a fixed date in October”, and DfE names “Hong Kong British Nationals (Overseas) (BNO) and their dependants who have applied, at the same time, to move to the UK as a family”.
• 11+ from the UAE: Felsted’s tests “can be taken remotely at the pupil’s current school, a lawyer’s office or British Council office”.
• 11+ from the Gulf: Haileybury writes that “international pupils can be invigilated online by us via a Zoom meeting”.

Topic guides: Year 7 from abroad, year groups, immigration status, time zones.

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Reviewed Saturday 3 October 2026 against the DfE guidance on applications from overseas children, the School Admissions Code 2021 and each council’s or school’s own admissions pages.