11 Plus Moving From USA to UK: Year Groups and 2027 Entry

England normally places a child by date of birth, not by the US grade. Children born between 1 September 2015 and 31 August 2016 are Year 6 in 2026-27 and start Year 7 in September 2027; the secondary closing date is 31 October 2026, and DfE says a council should not refuse an overseas application because the family does not live in its area. Immigration status normally decides whether a state school is open to the child.

Which English year is a US fifth-grader in?

DfE uses “normal age group” to mean “the year group a child would have been in had they entered school in the September following their fourth birthday” (DfE guidance); requests to be placed outside that group are covered in the year-group guide. Barnet Council’s year-group table, read on 4 October 2026, puts children born from 1 September 2015 to 31 August 2016 in Year 6, with “Year 7 (from September 2027)” next. Kent gives the same window for its 2026 test: “Children currently in Year 5 who were born between 1 September 2015 and 31 August 2016 can take the Kent Test in 2026.” Its “currently” dates from when registration opened (June 2026), so those children are Year 6 now. The next cohort, born from 1 September 2016 to 31 August 2017, is Year 5 now, and Buckinghamshire’s 2028-entry timeline says it “will be moving up to secondary school in September 2028”.

The Education Commission of the States (ECS) table State K-3 Policies 2026, dated September 2026 and read on 4 October 2026, has an entry for each of the 50 states and DC, and notes that “some states leave age cutoffs to the discretion of the local school district”. Five entries give no fixed date. Our count of its 51 entries, by the last birthday that qualifies a child for kindergarten that year:

Source: ECS, State K-3 Policies 2026 (September 2026); banding and counts are ours. Count rule: 26 put the last eligible birthday on 31 August or 1 September, being 19 entries reading “Age 5 on or prior to September 1.”, 3 reading “Age 5 prior to September 1.” (Arizona, New Mexico, West Virginia) and 4 ending on 31 August (Delaware, Kansas, North Carolina, Washington). The other 20 dated entries are earlier or later, so 46 of the 51 give a date.

In those 26 states, on the assumption stated below, every child born from 2 September 2015 to 31 August 2016 is in Grade 5 in 2026-27 and starts Grade 6 in September 2027, so the rule of thumb that an English year is one more than a US grade holds there. In the other 20 dated entries it fails for some birthdays, and in the 5 undated ones the district decides. Our arithmetic for a state in the 26 band, from Barnet’s table:

One exception sits inside the 26: where the ECS entry reads “on or prior to September 1.”, a child born on 1 September itself qualifies for kindergarten a year earlier and is one grade ahead of this table.

Worked examples, not published equivalences. Each assumes the child started kindergarten in the first year the cut-off allowed; a deferral or a district rule changes the answer. All three children are Year 6 in England in 2026-27.

Year 6 in England can be Grade 4, 5 or 6 in the USA depending on the state and the birthday, so the birth date is the input to use. The year-group guide has the full mapping.

Which American families can use a state grammar school at all?

DfE’s guidance, last updated 28 March 2024 and read on 4 October 2026, says: “To lawfully enter the country to access a school, foreign national children resident outside the UK will normally need either:” a right of abode, or “an immigration status which otherwise permits them to enter the UK to study at a school”. Admission authorities for state-funded schools “must not ask to see passports or other immigration information as a condition of admission”.

A visit is not a route into a state school. The gov.uk ETA page says “You usually need an ETA rather than a visa if you’re from Europe, the USA, Australia, Canada or certain other countries”, that 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”. DfE then says what a visit does not allow: “Foreign nationals may also visit the UK for up to 6 months under the visitor route. Those visiting the UK under this route, or the 11-month Short-term Study (English language) visa, are not permitted to enter the UK to enrol as a pupil at a state-funded school but may study a course at an independent school provided this is an accredited institution.”

A parent’s work visa can include the child’s right to study. gov.uk’s Skilled Worker page prints, under “Your partner or child can:”, a list that begins “work, except as a sportsperson or coach”, “study”, “travel abroad and return to the UK”, and lists among dependants “your child under 18”. Other routes have their own pages; gov.uk’s visa checker is where a family confirms its own.

A child entering alone on a Child Student visa is limited to independent schools. The gov.uk eligibility page says “You can apply for a Child Student visa if you’re between 4 and 17 years old and you want to study at an independent school in the UK.” Rule CS 17.4 of the Immigration Rules, Appendix Child Student reads: “A Child Student must not study at a state school or academy except for: (a) a voluntary grammar school with boarding in Northern Ireland: or (b) if the Child Student has been granted permission to study at a student sponsor which becomes a state school or academy during that period of permission, in which case the Child Student may complete the course for which the Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies was assigned.” DfE’s version: “unaccompanied foreign national children and young people who are entering on a Child Student visa or Student visa must, when accessing education in England, study at the independent school … which is a licensed student sponsor … They cannot lawfully, under their UK entry conditions, study at a state-funded school.”

The Home Office table Vis_D02 sits in an entry clearance outcomes workbook (Excel file, downloads), part of the immigration system statistics, year ending June 2026, published 27 August 2026. It lists Child Student visas by nationality and quarter; the four cells for US nationals follow, with the sum ours:

Source: Home Office, Vis_D02 (Excel file), rows Child Student, Main Applicant, Issued, United States. The workbook’s notes say “Data from Q1 2026 onwards are provisional.”

The Independent Schools Council (ISC) census (PDF) counts pupils rather than visas. It is based on “a survey carried out in January 2026”, and defines the groups this way: “a non-UK pupil is classified as having parents overseas if neither parent resides in the UK. If one or both parents reside in the UK, the pupil is classified as having parents in the UK.” Table 4.1 gives the USA row:

The ISC adds: “The United States is the largest single source, with 4,685 pupils, followed closely by Mainland China with 4,631 pupils”, among the 34,273 non-UK pupils whose parents live in the UK. The two counts differ: visas issued in a year, against pupils counted in January 2026 and grouped by where their parents live, not by visa. The foreign-national children guide sets out each route against grammar schools in DfE’s words.

How far is Common Core maths from a Year 6 paper?

This section compares England’s national curriculum programme of study for mathematics with the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), by where each places a topic and not by what any child or school has covered. The CCSS site records that states “may choose to change or add onto the standards”.

Which lines a given paper draws on is for the test body. ISEB, which runs the Common Pre-Tests, writes: “The tests are designed for pupils in Years 6 and 7.” and “The Mathematics and English tests are broadly based on the National Curriculum, meaning the tests are suitable for all pupils seeking entry into senior schools.”

Source: the linked programme-of-study and Common Core pages, read on 4 October 2026.

Read as printed, ratio, percentages, formulae, the mean and the standard algorithm for division are filed under Grade 6, a grade after the Grade 5 that England’s 2027 cohort is in across the 26 states above. Long multiplication and division by strategies are filed under Grade 5, and equations with a letter for the unknown under Grades 3 and 4. The table is a checklist of lines to look at, not a finding about any child.

A different curriculum does not by itself bar a child. Paragraph 2.9 of the School Admissions Code begins “Admission authorities must not refuse to admit a child solely because:” and its item c) is “they followed a different curriculum at their previous school”. The word “solely” carries the meaning: the paragraph is not a promise of a place, and each school’s own test and published criteria still decide who is offered one.

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Can the first stage be sat from a US school?

ISEB’s registration guidance answers for the Common Pre-Tests: “Is it possible to take the ISEB Pre-Tests overseas? Yes, it is possible for applicants to take the ISEB Pre-Tests overseas. For overseas applicants, parents should ask the child’s current school if they can invigilate the ISEB Pre-Tests. If the pupil’s current school cannot accommodate the test, please contact ISEB for support in sourcing an approved non-school invigilation centre.” The same page says “An applicant only takes the ISEB Pre-Tests once in an academic year”, and a separate ISEB answer says “Unfortunately, a parent or guardian cannot add a venue as a new invigilation centre.”

ISEB’s answer on timing says the Pre-Tests “can be taken between August and May of each academic year”, and the registration page adds that where the centre is the child’s current school, “the tests will probably be scheduled on a suitable date during the school timetable”. For a US school that timetable is a US clock; the time-zones guide converts the English dates to New York, Chicago and Los Angeles clocks. Which schools ask for the Pre-Tests is for each school’s admissions page. Grammar-school tests are set area by area, and the 11+ from overseas hub reads them with their dates.

What changes when the family arrives after the Year 7 round?

Dates already fixed for September 2027 entry. The School Admissions Code (2021) says “The deadlines for submitting applications to be allocated on National Offer Day are 31 October for secondary school and 15 January for primary school”, and that National Offer Day is “1 March for secondary schools” or the next working day: Saturday 31 October 2026 and Monday 1 March 2027. Kent’s Kent Test page, read on 4 October 2026, states that registration closed on Wednesday 1 July 2026 and gives results day as Thursday 15 October 2026.

In-year applications. DfE: “Admission authorities must consider all in-year applications and should not refuse an application simply because a parent or child currently lives in another country.” How a grammar school tests a late arrival is for the school or council, as the Kent and Buckinghamshire sentences below show.

Kent, read on 4 October 2026. Kent’s page on moving to a different school carries no entry year; it was read after the Kent Test sittings for September 2027 entry. It says: “If you move to Kent after the Kent Test has taken place and you are looking for a Year 7 place at a grammar school, your child will still need to be assessed. This can be arranged through the grammar school you are applying for.” For families moving from outside the United Kingdom it says to “email kentinyearadmissions@kent.gov.uk to discuss your application”. On what follows an in-year application that is not offered a place, it says: “It is highly unlikely that popular schools will have spaces available as other children would have already secured them.” The Kent guide for families abroad has the rest.

Buckinghamshire, read on 4 October 2026. The late transfer test page, which describes registration for September 2027 entry, says: “Late grammar school testing (the 12+ and 13+ exams) are for pupils currently in Years 7 and 8 who want a grammar school place in Years 8 or 9.” For a family arriving from abroad: “If your child has moved into Buckinghamshire from outside the county or abroad you will need to make an in-year application for a grammar school place. We will contact you to arrange a test date.” On the odds: “Places are extremely limited, especially for pupils in Year 8 and 9. Most pupils do not get a place.” For September 2026 entry, the round before this one: “For September 2026 entry, no places were offered for either Year 8 or Year 9 in the first round of allocations in March.” The Buckinghamshire guide for families abroad sets out its testing rules.

These are councils’ own sentences and not a forecast for any family. Several turn on conditions, such as DfE’s “could, in some circumstances” on withdrawing an offer, so a family that arrives late should put its question to the council and the school in writing and keep the reply. The guides on joining a grammar school after Year 7 and on relocating to the UK mid-cycle cover the national picture, and the guide for expat families returning to UK grammar schools covers the return itself.

How does Leading Tuition prepare a child who is still in a US school?

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. Our expert 11+ tutors help families overseas prepare for UK grammar and independent school entry, calibrating each plan to the return date and target schools. The time-zones guide converts the English dates to a US clock, and the Common Core table above lists the lines to look at with the child.

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