Grammar Schools in England: The Complete 2026 Directory

England has approximately 164 state-funded grammar schools for 2026-27 entry, spread across 36 local authority areas and educating around 176,000 pupils. No new maintained grammar school has opened since the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 banned it, so this list has been essentially fixed for over 25 years — the only source of change is the occasional school merger or governance change. This directory lists every one of them by region and county, links directly to a dedicated Leading Tuition 11+ guide wherever one exists — currently 101 of the 164 — and sets out which admission test each area uses, because the test format is the single most important thing to get right before you start preparing.

Last updated: 4 August 2026, for the 2026-27 admissions cycle (Year 6 pupils sitting tests in autumn 2026 for September 2027 entry). Test dates, thresholds and consortium details change annually — always confirm current-year specifics on the individual school guide or with the school directly.

How Many Grammar Schools Are There in England in 2026?

The table below sets out the current national totals, sourced from the House of Commons Library's grammar schools briefing and cross-checked against the current list of maintained selective schools.

The regional breakdown below shows how unevenly grammar schools are distributed across England. Three regions — the South East, Yorkshire & the North (driven by Lincolnshire) and the South West — account for well over half the national total, while large parts of the country, including almost all of the North East, most of the East Midlands and the whole of Wales-bordering Herefordshire and Worcestershire, have no state grammar schools at all.

How Do Grammar School Admission Tests Vary by Region?

There is no single national 11+ test in England. Each testing area sets or commissions its own, and the differences matter — practising the wrong question style is one of the most common and avoidable mistakes families make. GL Assessment is the dominant national supplier following the 2021 retirement of Durham University's CEM service, but several of the largest areas — Essex/Southend (CSSE), Buckinghamshire (Bucks Transfer Test) and Kent/Medway (Kent Test) — run their own branded formats, and a number of individual super-selective schools, including Tiffin School, Henrietta Barnett School and Queen Elizabeth's School Barnet, set entirely bespoke papers outside any consortium.

Each region section below states the specific test provider for that area, alongside the full list of grammar schools and a link to our dedicated guide where one exists. See the House of Commons Library's grammar schools briefing for the statutory background and national pupil-number data behind selective entry, and our own Grammar School Admissions Process Guide 2026 for a step-by-step walkthrough that applies across every region.

Which Grammar Schools Are in Greater London? (18 Schools, 7 Local Authorities)

Greater London holds seven grammar-school local authorities — Barnet, Bexley, Bromley, Enfield, Kingston upon Thames, Redbridge and Sutton — with 18 schools between them, several of the most oversubscribed in the country including Tiffin School, Henrietta Barnett School and Wilson's School.

Barnet — 2 Grammar Schools

Admission test: Own school test (QE Boys and Henrietta Barnett each set independent papers).

Bexley — 4 Grammar Schools

Admission test: Bexley Selection Test (GL Assessment format, VR/NVR/Maths).

Bromley — 2 Grammar Schools

Admission test: Own school tests (Newstead Wood and St Olave's set independent papers).

Enfield — 1 Grammar School

Admission test: The Latymer School's own entrance test.

Kingston upon Thames — 2 Grammar Schools

Admission test: Tiffin Schools' own test (English, Maths, VR).

Redbridge — 2 Grammar Schools

Admission test: Essex/Redbridge-aligned consortium test (GL Assessment format).

Sutton — 5 Grammar Schools

Admission test: Sutton Educational Trust (SET) consortium test — GL Assessment format.

Which Grammar Schools Are in South East England? (56 Schools, 5 Local Authorities)

The South East is the heartland of English grammar-school education. Kent alone runs 32 fully selective grammar schools — the largest single-county selective system in the country — and together with Medway, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire and Slough the region accounts for 56 of England's roughly 164 grammar schools, more than a third of the national total.

Kent — 31 Grammar Schools

Admission test: Kent Test (GL Assessment format since 2019 — English, Maths, Reasoning).

Medway — 6 Grammar Schools

Admission test: Medway Test (GL Assessment format, aligned with the Kent Test).

Buckinghamshire — 13 Grammar Schools

Admission test: Bucks Transfer Test (GL Assessment — English, Maths, VR/NVR).

Reading & Berkshire — 2 Grammar Schools

Admission test: Own school tests (Reading School and Kendrick set independent papers).

Slough — 4 Grammar Schools

Admission test: Slough Consortium Test (GL Assessment format).

Which Grammar Schools Are in East of England? (11 Schools, 3 Local Authorities)

Essex, Southend-on-Sea and Hertfordshire operate 11 grammar schools between them. Essex and Southend use the CSSE (Consortium of Selective Schools in Essex) test rather than GL Assessment or the Kent-style format, which catches out families who move from a GL-testing county.

Essex — 4 Grammar Schools

Admission test: CSSE Test (Consortium of Selective Schools in Essex — own VR/NVR/Maths papers).

Southend-on-Sea — 4 Grammar Schools

Admission test: CSSE-aligned Southend Test (own VR/NVR/Maths papers).

Hertfordshire — 3 Grammar Schools

Admission test: Own school tests (Watford Grammar Schools and St Michael's set independent papers).

Which Grammar Schools Are in South West England? (20 Schools, 6 Local Authorities)

Devon, Torbay, Plymouth, the Bournemouth-Christchurch-Poole (BCP) area, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire together run 20 grammar schools, spread thinly across a wide geography — several, like Colyton Grammar School, serve genuinely rural catchments with no other selective school for 20+ miles.

Devon — 1 Grammar School

Admission test: Devon Verbal Reasoning Test (own paper, GL-style).

Torbay — 3 Grammar Schools

Admission test: Torbay's own 11+ test (VR/NVR, GL-style).

Plymouth — 3 Grammar Schools

Admission test: Plymouth's own consortium test (VR/NVR).

Dorset (BCP) — 4 Grammar Schools

Admission test: Own school tests (GL Assessment format, BCP consortium).

Gloucestershire — 7 Grammar Schools

Admission test: GL Assessment single-paper Verbal Reasoning test.

Wiltshire — 2 Grammar Schools

Admission test: Own Wiltshire 11+ test (VR-based).

Which Grammar Schools Are in West Midlands? (19 Schools, 6 Local Authorities)

Birmingham's King Edward VI Foundation runs eight grammar schools sharing one admissions test, alongside Walsall, Wolverhampton, Warwickshire, Telford & Wrekin/Shropshire and Stoke-on-Trent — 19 schools across the region.

Birmingham — 8 Grammar Schools

Admission test: King Edward VI Foundation Test (GL Assessment — VR/NVR).

Walsall — 2 Grammar Schools

Admission test: Own Walsall consortium test (VR/NVR).

Wolverhampton — 1 Grammar School

Admission test: Own school test.

Warwickshire — 5 Grammar Schools

Admission test: NFER-based test (VR/NVR).

Telford & Wrekin / Shropshire — 2 Grammar Schools

Admission test: Own school tests (Adams' and Newport Girls' set independent papers).

Stoke-on-Trent — 1 Grammar School

Admission test: Own school test.

Which Grammar Schools Are in North West England? (18 Schools, 4 Local Authorities)

Trafford's five-school grammar consortium (plus two Catholic voluntary-aided grammars) is the busiest selective system outside the South East, and together with Wirral, Liverpool and Lancashire the North West runs 18 grammar schools.

Trafford — 7 Grammar Schools

Admission test: Trafford Consortium Test (GL Assessment — two papers: VR/NVR + Maths).

Wirral — 6 Grammar Schools

Admission test: Own Wirral consortium test (GL Assessment format).

Liverpool — 1 Grammar School

Admission test: Liverpool Blue Coat's own entrance test.

Lancashire — 4 Grammar Schools

Admission test: Own Lancashire-area tests (GL/NFER format, varies by school).

Which Grammar Schools Are in Yorkshire & the North? (22 Schools, 5 Local Authorities)

Yorkshire's grammar schools are scattered across Calderdale, Kirklees and North Yorkshire rather than concentrated in one authority, and Lincolnshire alone contributes 15 schools across five separate testing consortia (Grantham, Boston, Skegness, Gainsborough and Spalding) — plus Cumbria's single grammar school at Penrith, the northernmost in England.

Calderdale — 2 Grammar Schools

Admission test: Own Calderdale test (VR/Maths).

Kirklees — 1 Grammar School

Admission test: Own Kirklees test (Heckmondwike Grammar's own paper).

North Yorkshire — 3 Grammar Schools

Admission test: Own school tests (Ermysted's, Ripon and Skipton Girls' set independent papers).

Lincolnshire — 15 Grammar Schools

Admission test: Own Lincolnshire 11+ tests (format varies by consortium area — Grantham, Boston, Skegness, Gainsborough, Spalding).

Cumbria (Westmorland & Furness) — 1 Grammar School

Admission test: QE Penrith's own entrance test.

Related Grammar School Guides from Leading Tuition

Beyond the individual school guides linked in the tables above, these cross-regional resources cover topics that apply to grammar school families anywhere in England:

• Grammar School Preparation: The Complete Guide 2026 — our master preparation guide, covering timelines, subject breakdowns and strategy for any test format
• Grammar School Admissions Process Guide 2026 — how registration, testing, offers and appeals work nationally
• Grammar School Exam Dates 2026: Complete Regional Guide — registration and test dates by region
• Super-Selective Grammar Schools Guide 2026 — the most competitive schools nationally, with typical thresholds
• Grammar School Catchment Areas in London: 2026 Guide — how postcode priority works across London boroughs
• 2026 Grammar School League Tables — GCSE results ranked across all regions
• Grammar School Waiting List Movement Data by Region — how far waiting lists typically move after results day
• Is a Grammar School Right for My Child? — a balanced look at fit before you commit to a preparation programme
• Grammar School vs Comprehensive School — outcomes data compared
• 11+ Tuition Overview — how Leading Tuition structures 11+ preparation across every test format

Frequently Asked Questions About Grammar Schools in England