Everything you need to know — from 11+ registration to National Offer Day
Book a Free ConsultationThe grammar school admissions process in England involves two entirely separate steps: registering your child for the 11+ entrance exam (usually in Year 5), and then submitting a secondary school application through your local authority (in Year 6). Getting both steps right — and on time — is essential. There are around 163 grammar schools in England, mostly concentrated in Kent, Buckinghamshire, Greater London, Essex, Lincolnshire, and Greater Manchester, and each has its own registration process, test format, and admissions criteria.
| Stage | When | What To Do |
|---|---|---|
| 11+ Registration | April–July, Year 5 | Register directly with each school or consortium |
| 11+ Exam | September, Year 6 | Child sits the 11+ test (GL, CEM, or school-specific) |
| Results Released | Mid-October, Year 6 | Standardised score and pass/fail notification |
| LA Application (CAF) | By 31 October, Year 6 | List preferred secondary schools with your local authority |
| National Offer Day | 1 March | School place offer issued; accept by mid-March |
| Appeals / Waiting Lists | March–September | Appeal within 20 school days; join waiting lists |
Grammar schools are state-funded secondary schools that select all or most pupils by academic ability. Unlike comprehensive schools, they require children to sit an entrance exam — commonly known as the 11-plus or 11+ — before any application can be considered. Passing the 11+ does not automatically guarantee a place; it simply makes your child eligible for consideration. The school then allocates places according to its published oversubscription criteria, which may include a child's score, proximity to the school, or sibling priority.
The admissions process unfolds in five broad stages:
Stage 1 — Register for the 11+ exam (Year 5, typically April–July). This is a separate process to the school application itself. You register directly with each school or consortium that your child will sit a test for.
Stage 2 — Sit the 11+ exam (Year 6, usually September, occasionally early October). Most grammar schools hold their tests in the first two to three weeks of the autumn term.
Stage 3 — Receive 11+ results (usually mid-October). Most schools release scores before the secondary school application deadline, so you can make an informed choice when completing the Common Application Form.
Stage 4 — Submit secondary school application (Year 6, deadline 31 October). This is the Common Application Form (CAF) submitted to your home local authority. You list up to six preferred secondary schools in order, including any grammar schools.
Stage 5 — National Offer Day (1 March). Your child is allocated a school place. If a grammar school place is offered, you typically have until mid-March to accept or decline.
One critical point that trips up many families: do not wait for 11+ results before submitting the secondary school application. The CAF deadline of 31 October falls before all results are released at some schools. You must list your preferred grammar schools on the form regardless of whether you have a score yet.
Registration for the 11+ exam typically opens in April or May of Year 5 — about 18 months before your child's secondary school start date. Most registration windows close between June and early July, though some individual schools set their own earlier deadlines. There is no national registration date, which means families applying to multiple grammar schools may face different registration deadlines for each one.
In areas where grammar schools operate as a consortium — such as Kent (the Kent Test), Buckinghamshire (the Bucks test), or the Slough Consortium — a single registration covers all participating schools in that area. In other regions, such as Greater London or Lincolnshire, each school sets its own registration separately. This means a family applying to Henrietta Barnett, Tiffin Girls, and Nonsuch High in London would need to register individually for each of those schools' tests.
Key registration timeline (typical — always verify with each school):
April–May of Year 5: Registration windows open at most grammar schools and consortia.
June–July of Year 5: The majority of registration deadlines fall within this period. Some super-selective schools in London close as early as mid-June.
September of Year 6: 11+ exams take place, typically in the first two to three weeks of term.
Mid-October of Year 6: Results released by most schools, ahead of the CAF deadline.
31 October of Year 6: National deadline for secondary school applications (Common Application Form) with your local authority.
1 March (Year 7 start year): National Offer Day — school place offers are released.
Because registration deadlines can fall as early as April of Year 5, families should begin researching their target grammar schools no later than the start of Year 5. Many grammar school preparation plans recommend beginning structured 11+ tuition in Year 4 to give children sufficient time to build the required skills before the exam.
The 11+ exam is not a single national test. Grammar schools — or the local authorities and consortia that run admissions on their behalf — choose their own test provider and format. Understanding which type of test your target school uses is one of the most important steps in your preparation strategy.
GL Assessment is the most widely used 11+ provider in England. GL tests are structured and repeatable: question types follow established formats across verbal reasoning, non-verbal reasoning, mathematics, and English comprehension. Because GL papers follow consistent patterns, they respond well to targeted practice with past-style papers. Schools or areas using GL include many in Essex, Kent (CSSE format for grammar schools in Southend and Medway areas), and the majority of Greater London grammar schools.
CEM (Centre for Evaluation and Monitoring) was historically used in Buckinghamshire, parts of the North West (including Trafford), and a number of other areas. CEM tests were designed to be less predictable than GL, with heavier emphasis on vocabulary, reading comprehension, and timed sections that mixed question types within a single paper. Families found CEM tests harder to prepare for with standard practice papers alone. It is worth noting that CEM's role in delivering paper-based 11+ testing has significantly reduced in recent years, with some areas returning to GL or commissioning their own bespoke assessments.
Bespoke school-specific tests are used by some of England's most selective grammar schools. Manchester Grammar School, for example, sets its own examination with a focus on mathematics and English. The CSSE consortium in Essex sets papers for grammar schools in Chelmsford and surrounding areas. Parents should check the school's own admissions page — not just the local authority website — to confirm which tests are required.
Most 11+ tests assess some combination of these four subject areas:
Verbal Reasoning — word patterns, analogies, codes, and letter sequences. These question types are rarely taught in primary schools, making early exposure and targeted practice particularly valuable.
Non-Verbal Reasoning — visual puzzles involving shapes, sequences, and spatial relationships. Again, this is a skill that benefits significantly from structured preparation.
Mathematics — typically Key Stage 2 content applied in problem-solving contexts: arithmetic, fractions, percentages, ratios, geometry, and multi-step word problems.
English — reading comprehension passages, vocabulary, grammar, and sometimes creative writing.
Some schools — particularly London super-selectives such as Tiffin School, Tiffin Girls' School, Henrietta Barnett School, and St Olave's Grammar School — operate a two-stage assessment process. A first-stage test, typically in September, removes a large proportion of applicants. Those who pass then sit a second-stage test in October or November, with results known in time for the secondary school application. At highly competitive schools, the number of applicants per place can exceed ten to one, meaning even a strong test performance does not guarantee a place.
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Book a Free Consultation Message us on WhatsAppAfter the September 11+ exam, most grammar schools release results in mid-October, before the 31 October secondary school application deadline. Results are usually sent to parents as a letter or email and include a standardised score. Some schools also communicate whether a child has met the qualifying threshold — though meeting the threshold does not guarantee a place if the school is oversubscribed.
Standardised scores are designed to equalise for age: a child born in September (the oldest in their year group) and a child born in August (the youngest) take the same test, but their raw scores are adjusted upward or downward to reflect their relative age. This means the published qualifying score or pass mark reflects standardised, not raw, performance.
Schools operating a two-stage process may only release first-stage results before the application deadline, with second-stage results following in November or even January. In these cases, families apply without knowing the final outcome — making it particularly important to include a range of school preferences on the CAF.
Following the 31 October application deadline, local authorities coordinate the allocation of school places. The governing principle is that every family's listed preferences are considered simultaneously, and the school that ranks highest on the family's preference list — and where the child meets the eligibility criteria — makes the offer. This system means listing a grammar school first on the CAF does not affect your child's chances of being offered a comprehensive school if the grammar school place is not available.
School place offers are released on National Offer Day, 1 March. Families receive notification by email or post and must accept or decline by a deadline in mid-March. If a grammar school place is not offered, the family is allocated the highest-ranked school on their list where a place is available.
Not all grammar schools use catchment areas. The key distinction is between catchment-based grammar schools and super-selective grammar schools.
Most grammar schools outside London operate on a catchment-plus-score basis: they require children to meet a qualifying threshold in the 11+ exam, and then prioritise applicants from within a defined geographical area (sometimes called a priority area or catchment zone) when allocating places. If a school is oversubscribed, children living closer to the school — or within the catchment boundary — are generally offered places ahead of those from further away, assuming both have met the qualifying score.
Super-selective grammar schools — concentrated in London and including schools such as Tiffin School, Tiffin Girls' School, Henrietta Barnett School, Latymer School Edmonton, and Nonsuch High School — allocate places primarily or entirely on the basis of 11+ score, with no geographic priority zone. This means the most academically able children from across a wide region compete for each place. Families may need to travel significant distances to access these schools, and the effective qualifying score is typically higher than at catchment-based schools.
Some grammar schools reserve a proportion of places for children eligible for the Pupil Premium — children from lower-income backgrounds — in line with government guidance encouraging more socially inclusive admissions. A small number also reserve places for children with a particular talent in music or, in fewer cases, sport. These reserved places use a separate admissions process, so families should check the school's full admissions policy carefully.
At most grammar schools, more children will meet the qualifying threshold each year than there are places available. When this happens, the school must apply its published oversubscription criteria to decide which children receive offers. These criteria are set by the school or its academy trust and must be published in the admissions policy.
Common oversubscription criteria, applied in order of priority, typically include: children with an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) naming the school; looked-after children and previously looked-after children; siblings of current pupils; children living within a defined priority area or catchment zone; and, finally, all other qualifying applicants ranked by distance from the school or by score.
At some schools, a higher 11+ score can be decisive — particularly at those that rank all qualifying applicants by score rather than distance. At others, two children with very different scores may both receive offers simply because one lives within the catchment boundary and the other does not. The detailed oversubscription criteria therefore need to be read alongside historical data: many schools publish the qualifying score and distance of the last child admitted in the previous year, which gives a realistic picture of what it takes to secure a place.
The process by which grammar schools choose between children with identical scores varies by school. Some use a secondary criterion such as distance; others hold a second test or lottery. Parents should read the admissions policy for each school carefully, rather than assuming the same rules apply across a region.
Not receiving a grammar school offer on National Offer Day is disappointing, but it is not necessarily the end of the road. Families have three routes available to them: accepting the offered alternative school, joining waiting lists, or submitting a formal appeal.
Waiting lists are maintained by grammar schools after National Offer Day. Children are ranked on the waiting list according to the school's oversubscription criteria — not by the order in which families join the list. Waiting lists can move significantly between March and September, particularly as families decline offered places in favour of independent school offers or other grammar school places they hold. Some families receive a grammar school place from a waiting list as late as August — even after term has started in September.
Grammar school appeals are a formal process overseen by an independent appeal panel. Parents have the right to appeal if their child was refused a place, and appeal hearings typically take place in May or June. There are two grounds on which an appeal can succeed: first, that the admissions authority did not apply its admissions arrangements correctly; second, that the panel is satisfied the child is of grammar school ability and the case for their admission outweighs any prejudice to the school from exceeding its published admission number. The latter argument — sometimes called the second-stage argument — requires parents to present evidence that their child is academically suited to the grammar school environment. Evidence might include school reports, predicted GCSE grades, or a statement from the child's primary school teacher. Our guide to grammar school appeals covers the process in detail.
It is important to accept the offered alternative school place while pursuing a waiting list position or appeal. Accepting an offer does not prejudice the appeal or remove your child from any waiting lists — it simply ensures your child has a secondary school place secured.
Tutoring is a central part of grammar school admissions for many families — not because passing the 11+ requires coaching, but because the exam tests skills that primary schools rarely teach directly. Verbal reasoning and non-verbal reasoning, in particular, involve question types that most Year 6 children will not have encountered in class. Familiarity with these formats — and the timing pressure that comes with them — can make a meaningful difference to performance on the day.
The timing of 11+ preparation matters. Starting too late — in Year 6 — leaves limited time to build skills, particularly in verbal and non-verbal reasoning, which benefit most from extended practice. Starting too early — before Year 4 — risks burning out a child on content that is not age-appropriate. The sweet spot for most families is to begin structured preparation in Year 4, building familiarity with question types gradually before ramping up to practice papers and timed conditions in Years 5 and 6. By the time the September exam arrives, children who have prepared in this way are familiar with the exam format and confident in their technique.
The role of specialist tutoring is particularly significant for the most competitive grammar schools. At super-selective schools in London, the difference between a qualifying score and a place-securing score can be narrow — and exam technique, speed, and accuracy under timed conditions are all things that respond to deliberate practice. Our specialist tutors work with children on the specific test type used by their target schools: GL Assessment papers, CEM-style comprehension and vocabulary, or the bespoke formats used by schools such as Manchester Grammar School or the CSSE consortium in Essex.
Beyond the exam itself, our specialist tutors help families understand the admissions timeline — including often-overlooked details such as 11+ exam dates and registration windows that close much earlier than families expect. Early conversations with a specialist tutor can prevent the most common pitfall in grammar school admissions: missing a registration deadline because the timeline was not understood.
Specialist 11+ tuition is available through Leading Tuition's 11+ programme, which is tailored to each child's target schools and designed around the specific test format they will face. Our tutors have supported children into grammar schools across London, the Home Counties, Greater Manchester, Kent, Buckinghamshire, and Lincolnshire.
For children starting secondary school in September 2027 — currently in Year 5 — most grammar schools open 11+ registration between April and May 2026. Deadlines typically fall in late June or July 2026, though some schools close earlier. Registration is a separate process from the LA secondary school application, and late entries are rarely accepted. Check each school's admissions page directly, as there is no national registration date.
GL Assessment and CEM have historically been the two main 11+ exam providers. GL Assessment uses structured question types across verbal reasoning, non-verbal reasoning, maths, and English — making it easier to prepare for with practice papers. CEM tests, used in areas including Buckinghamshire and parts of the North West, traditionally emphasised vocabulary and time pressure, with less predictable formats. Many families preparing for grammar school admissions in 2026 will encounter a GL-style test, though parents should always confirm which provider their target schools use.
The 11+ exam typically tests some or all of the following: verbal reasoning (word-based logic and language patterns), non-verbal reasoning (shape sequences and visual puzzles), mathematics (arithmetic, fractions, word problems), and English comprehension. The exact combination depends on the school or testing consortium. Some schools — particularly in Essex or areas using bespoke tests — set their own papers. A few schools, including Manchester Grammar School, test maths and English only with no reasoning papers. Always check individual school admissions policies.
National Offer Day is 1 March each year (or the next working day if it falls on a weekend). On this date, local authorities notify families which secondary school their child has been offered. For grammar school applicants, the offer is conditional on 11+ results already assessed in the September exam. Families must respond — accepting or declining — by a deadline typically set in mid-March. If a grammar school place is not offered, families can accept an alternative offer while staying on waiting lists.
Yes. If a child is refused a place at a grammar school, parents have the right to appeal to an independent appeal panel. Appeals can succeed on two grounds: that the school's admissions arrangements were not properly applied, or that the child is of grammar school ability and the case for admission outweighs any prejudice to the school. The appeal deadline is typically 20 school days after the offer letter date. Success rates vary but are generally low — around 10 to 20 per cent nationally.
Leading Tuition provides specialist 11+ tuition tailored to each grammar school's exact test format — whether GL Assessment, CEM, or a school-specific paper such as Manchester Grammar School's own exam. Our specialist tutors hold Oxford and Cambridge degrees and have sat equivalent selective examinations themselves. We work with children from Year 4 onwards, building the verbal reasoning, non-verbal reasoning, maths, and English skills the 11+ demands — while also preparing families for registration timelines and what to expect on results day. Rated 4.8/5 on Trustpilot. Book a free consultation to discuss your child's preparation.
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