Forces Families and the 11+: How to Apply for a Grammar School Place from Overseas in 2026

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The 11+ for a forces family posted overseas has two steps: a selection test run by the council or its grammar schools, then a school application to a local authority. Paragraph 2.21 of the School Admissions Code 2021 protects the application for families with a confirmed posting; it does not mention selection tests. For September 2027 entry, Kent's test registration closed on 1 July 2026 and Medway's on 12 June 2026.

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What Legal Rights Do Forces Families Have When Applying to Grammar Schools?

The legal framework is paragraph 2.21 of the School Admissions Code 2021 (gov.uk), headed “Children of UK service personnel and crown servants”. It applies to “families of service personnel with a confirmed posting, or crown servants returning from overseas”, and binds admission authorities, which for an academy means the academy trust (DfE explanatory note on the admission of children of crown servants). Admission authorities must:

• allocate a place in advance of the family arriving in the area, as long as one is available, provided the application is accompanied by an official letter that declares a relocation date; they must not refuse to process an application, or refuse a place, solely because the family does not yet have an intended address or does not yet live in the area (2.21a);
• use the address at which the child will live when applying their oversubscription criteria, as long as the parents provide some evidence of their intended address, and use a Unit or quartering address as the child's home address where a parent requests this (2.21b);
• not reserve blocks of places for these children (2.21c);
• ensure that arrangements in their area support the Government's commitment to removing disadvantage for service children, with arrangements that are appropriate for the area and described in the local authority's composite prospectus (2.21d).

Two limits matter for a grammar school family. Paragraph 2.21 is about the school application and the address used for it; it does not mention selection tests or test registration, so what a council does for a child abroad at the testing stage is set area by area. And a selective school admits on its entry requirement: Kent states “A Kent grammar school can only consider your child for a place if you have named it on your application and your child has been tested and assessed suitable for admission.”

How Does the 11+ Application Process Work When Your Child Is Posted Overseas?

Stage 1: test registration. Each area registers children for its own test through a different body. Buckinghamshire Council takes registrations for children at partner schools or schools outside Buckinghamshire, and The Buckinghamshire Grammar Schools, a company set up by the thirteen grammar schools, manages and administers the test. In Lincolnshire the forms go to the individual grammar schools, and in Trafford the council says “You must contact your preferred grammar school directly to register to sit the test.”

Stage 2: the school application. Parents apply through a local authority. The DfE explanatory note on the admission of children of crown servants puts the national closing date for secondary applications at 31 October and National Offer Day on or about 1 March. In 2026, 31 October falls on a Saturday: Lincolnshire lists “Sat 31 October 2026”, Buckinghamshire lists 31 October 2026, and Kent's scheme lists Monday 2 November 2026.

Which authority receives the application varies. Buckinghamshire says a family living overseas that will move to Buckinghamshire before the child starts secondary school should apply to Buckinghamshire Council with the overseas address. Medway says families must “apply through the local authority you reside within as of 31 October 2026”. Kent says all preferred schools go on the home local authority's form. Ask the council for the area you will live in which it treats as the home authority.

A child who has not been assessed can still be named on the form, but that does not produce an offer. Kent states that the application to that school “will be refused when school places are offered on 1 March 2027”, and its scheme treats the preference as invalid for National Offer Day because “the child will not have met the entry criteria”.

What Are the Critical Registration Deadlines Forces Families Must Not Miss for the 11+?

The table gives each area's published dates for September 2027 entry, which Kent's scheme defines as children born between 1 September 2015 and 31 August 2016: Year 6 in the 2026 to 2027 school year, and Year 5 the year before, when the registration windows ran.

For September 2028 entry (Year 5 in 2026 to 2027, children born between 1 September 2016 and 31 August 2017), Buckinghamshire's timeline lists registration in May to June 2027, the test in early September 2027, results in mid-October 2027 and an application deadline of 31 October 2027.

What Do the Main Grammar School Areas Say About Service Families and Children Abroad?

The table sets out what each area's own pages say about a child living abroad, about service and crown servant families, and about a family arriving after the registration window. A dash means the pages read for this guide do not address the point, which is not the same as the area refusing it.

• Kent. Our guide to the Kent Test rules for families living abroad covers 2027 entry.
• Buckinghamshire. Our guide to Buckinghamshire's rules for families living abroad covers the same ground.
• Medway. For children who do not live in or close to Medway the council says “it's unlikely that your child will be offered a grammar school place in Medway, even if your child passes the Medway Test”, because places are mainly allocated by distance; less than 8% of non-Medway children who registered in its 2026 admissions data were offered a place.
• Redbridge and Trafford. Our guide to Redbridge's rules for families moving from abroad explains the catchment area. Our Altrincham Grammar Schools preparation page covers two of the five grammar schools that share the Trafford Consortium test.

For other areas, see our hub on the rules for families abroad, area by area.

How Can a Service Child Take the 11+ Test When Stationed Overseas?

Medway and Buckinghamshire both hold their tests in the UK. Medway says “A child must sit their test in a Medway Council test venue in Medway.” Buckinghamshire says “All testing happens in the UK.” Kent's scheme lists two exceptional circumstances for another test date: illness, and “a move into the Kent County Council area after the closing date for test registration.”

Option 1: travel to England for the test. Medway allocates the test date “rather than parental preference”. Buckinghamshire says “If your child currently lives abroad, but will be moving to the UK, tell us when they will be in the UK and we will arrange for them to be tested.” Kent, Lincolnshire, Buckinghamshire and Medway each use more than one sitting or paper: Kent's are two papers of about 1 hour each and a 40-minute writing exercise; Lincolnshire's tests fall on 11 or 12 September and on 18 or 19 September 2026; Buckinghamshire's on 8 September (Practice Test) and 10 September 2026 (Transfer Test); and Medway's on 15 and 16 September 2026. Ask Kent, Lincolnshire and Redbridge in writing whether any sitting outside England is possible; their pages read for this guide do not mention one.

Option 2: arrive after the test dates. Medway and Redbridge accept no late registration; the table above gives the other areas. For a move into Kent after the Kent Test, its in-year page says the child “will still need to be assessed”, using the Kent Test until the end of the first term of the school year. Paragraph 2.23 of the Code, under “In-year admissions”, says “A parent can apply for a place for their child at any school, at any time.” It is about applying for a place and does not mention selection tests, so it gives no right to a test sitting.

Option 3: sit another area's test. Kent says its test is only valid for Kent grammar schools, Buckinghamshire says its qualification only qualifies children for Buckinghamshire grammar schools, and Medway says its test cannot be used for grammar schools in other areas. Lincolnshire says that after an 11+ test passed outside Lincolnshire, “In most circumstances, it will still be necessary to take the Lincolnshire tests.” Medway's page names one exception: Chatham Grammar School, which also accepts the Kent Test.

How to Apply for a Grammar School Without a UK Home Address Yet

For families covered by paragraph 2.21, admission authorities “must not refuse to process an application and must not refuse a place solely because the family do not yet have an intended address, or do not yet live in the area.” The DfE explanatory note on crown servant families adds that an oversubscribed school “may expect to have some level of certainty about a family's intended new address”, and that a parent who cannot confirm one is advised to give “an indication of the area, narrowed down as far as possible”.

• Get the official letter. The Code's condition for a place in advance is “an official letter that declares a relocation date”. DfE guidance refers to evidence from the employer or commanding officer; for crown servants it is an official government letter. Without it, the condition in 2.21a is not met.
• Gather evidence of the intended address. DfE guidance lists a mortgage or rental agreement, deeds, a letter from an employer showing a transfer date to the area, or registration with a local GP. The table above gives the Unit or quartering address provisions in Buckinghamshire and Kent.
• Contact the council before the application closes. Buckinghamshire's date for evidence to count in the main allocation is 29 January 2027, and Kent's date for these families is Monday 7 December 2026, on the conditions in the table above. Cite paragraph 2.21 and ask for the answer in writing.

Service families can also get advice on school admissions from the Ministry of Defence's Education Advisory Team (UK). Our guide for expat and relocating families returning to UK grammar schools covers civilian families, and our guide to the 11+ exam explains what the test involves.

Reviewed October 2026: registration, test and application rules for forces families checked against the Kent, Buckinghamshire, Lincolnshire, Medway, Redbridge and Trafford council and consortium pages, the School Admissions Code 2021 and DfE guidance on children moving from overseas.

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