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11+RegionalGuide

11+ in 2026–27: a parent's guide by region

Region-by-region 11+ guide for England — Bucks, Kent, Lincs, Trafford, Birmingham — formats, deadlines, and what to expect.

Published May 7, 2026

The 11+ exam isn’t one exam — it’s a family of tests, each designed by a different local authority or admissions consortium, each with its own format, deadlines, and weighting. This guide breaks down what to expect in the most selective regions in England for the 2026–27 admissions cycle.

Two things to note before we get into specifics. First, the local-authority-run tests (Bucks, Kent, Lincs, etc.) determine which children qualify for grammar entry; the schools themselves then admit by their own oversubscription criteria on top of that. Second, the consortium-run tests (King Edward Birmingham, Trafford’s grammar consortium) cover several schools with one sitting. Always check the individual school’s admissions page for the rules that bite.

Disclaimer. The figures and dates below are accurate as of when this post was last updated. LEA policies, test providers, and qualifying scores all change year-on-year — sometimes mid-cycle. Always confirm against the LEA’s own admissions page and the school’s admissions document before relying on anything here.

Buckinghamshire

Buckinghamshire runs the most parent-friendly 11+ in the country — in name, at least. It’s called the Secondary Transfer Test (still widely known as the “Bucks 11+”) and the LEA explicitly says children should not need tutoring to do well, while publishing a familiarisation pack so every child knows the format on the day.

Format: two papers covering verbal reasoning, non-verbal reasoning, and mathematics, taken in September of Year 6. Qualifying score: usually around 121 on a standardised scale (mean 100, SD 15). Schools: the 13 grammar schools across Aylesbury, High Wycombe, Beaconsfield, and Chesham. Appeals route: a separate Selection Review process for borderline children, plus the Secondary Academic Review for in-Year 7 entry. Non-Bucks residents can sit, but resident children get priority at most of the over-subscribed schools.

Kent

Kent is the largest grammar-school cohort in the country — 32 grammars admitting roughly 25% of the year group. The Kent Test is run centrally by Kent County Council using GL Assessment papers.

Format: verbal reasoning, non-verbal reasoning, mathematics, plus a written-English exercise that sits separately and is only marked for borderline cases. Test date: early September of Year 6; results in mid-October. Pass rate: roughly 30% of those who sit, though it varies sharply by district — central Kent is more competitive than the eastern coast. Out-of-county: non-Kent residents can sit, and a meaningful share of grammar places do go to children from south-east London boroughs each year.

Lincolnshire

Lincolnshire is one of the few entirely-selective tiers in England — in towns like Lincoln, Boston, Grantham, Spalding, and Sleaford the secondary system is grammar + secondary modern with no comprehensive option. That means a much higher proportion of the cohort sits the test.

Format: GL Assessment papers covering verbal reasoning, non-verbal reasoning, and mathematics. Test date: typically the second week of September. Qualifying score: set per cohort, but the bar is meaningfully lower than in Kent or Bucks because more children sit. Schools: a long list including King Edward VI Grammar (Spilsby, Louth), Skegness Grammar, Boston Grammar, Spalding Grammar, Caistor Grammar, and the two Lincoln grammars.

Trafford (Greater Manchester)

Trafford is the most competitive grammar-school cohort in the north of England. Eight selective schools (Altrincham Grammar for Boys, Altrincham Grammar for Girls, Stretford Grammar, Sale Grammar, Loreto, Urmston, Ashton-on-Mersey, and the bilateral Wellacre / Wellington intake) admit a high proportion of the local year group.

Format: verbal, non-verbal, and quantitative reasoning, run by the Trafford Consortium across most schools with one sitting. Qualifying scores: higher than most LEAs — the high-demand schools routinely admit only above 230–240 on the consortium scale. Out-of-borough: a meaningful number of children come in from neighbouring boroughs (Manchester, Salford, Stockport).

Birmingham (King Edward consortium & Sutton Coldfield)

The King Edward VI consortium runs a single test for entry into seven grammar schools: King Edward VI Aston, Camp Hill Boys, Camp Hill Girls, Five Ways, Handsworth, Handsworth Wood Girls, and the foundation schools at Aston and Edgbaston. Sutton Coldfield’s Bishop Vesey’s Grammar and Sutton Coldfield Grammar for Girls run in parallel via a Sutton Consortium test.

Format: a single multi-paper test covering verbal reasoning, mathematics, and English (the comprehension and writing components are weighted differently across consortia — check the relevant consortium’s prospectus). Test date: September of Year 6. Schools applied to: via a single consortium-wide entry form, with each child allowed to rank-order schools.

Other selective heartlands

Smaller selective regions, each with their own format and tendencies. Detail varies year-to-year — check the actual school site:

  • Slough & Reading. Reading School, Kendrick (girls), Langley Grammar, Herschel Grammar, Slough Grammar (now Slough & Eton). Format: GL-style verbal, non-verbal, mathematics.
  • Wirral. Wirral Grammar Boys/Girls, Calday Grange, Upton Hall, West Kirby. Wirral runs a CEM-format test with verbal, non-verbal, and numerical reasoning.
  • Bexley. Townley, Beths, Bexley Grammar, Chislehurst & Sidcup, plus the new Beths Boys expansion. The Bexley Selection Test covers verbal, NVR, and maths.
  • Essex (CSSE). Colchester Royal Grammar, Colchester County High for Girls, KEGS Chelmsford, Westcliff High Boys/Girls, Southend High Boys/Girls. The CSSE consortium test focuses heavily on English (comprehension + writing) and mathematics, with less stand-alone NVR than other regions.
  • West Midlands belt. Queen Mary’s Walsall, Aldenham, Wolverhampton Grammar, plus the Stratford-upon-Avon and Warwick selective schools each run their own admissions tests.

Independent-school 11+: a different beast

Most independent schools test at 11+ via their own paper, the ISEB Common Pre-Test (taken at age 10–11), or both. The ISEB Pre-Test is computer-adaptive and covers English, maths, verbal reasoning, and non-verbal reasoning. Individual schools may add a written paper, an interview, or a subject-specific assessment on top.

Two practical differences from the state grammar 11+. First, independent papers are noticeably more verbal-heavy: cloze passages, synonym selection, extended writing, and complex comprehension show up far more than in the GL-style tests. Second, many independents weight CAT4-style cognitive ability assessments alongside the academic paper — if your child has sat CAT4 at primary school, an independent admissions team may already have the score on file via the primary’s reference.

That verbal slant is part of why Puzzitron covers synonyms, cloze, and letter-pattern questions on top of the CAT4 core — the same content shows up across both pathways.

How to practise without losing your mind

Two things parents typically get wrong with 11+ prep: starting too late and then over-correcting, or starting too early and burning the child out. The middle path that works:

  • Year 4 and the start of Year 5: light familiarity. Twenty minutes of mixed-style reasoning a couple of times a week. Goal: comfort with the question types, no time pressure.
  • Year 5 (mid-late): introduce the format. Once you know which test your child will sit, pivot some practice towards that specific format. Buy a handful of past papers, work through one a fortnight, talk through mistakes calmly.
  • Six weeks before the test: structured run-up. One full timed paper a week, debrief on the wrong ones, targeted practice on weak areas. Not more than that.
  • The week of the test: back off. Sleep matters more than one extra paper. Talk about what the day will be like (where they sit, when they get to eat, what happens if they don’t finish), not about how important it is.

And one bigger thing worth saying out loud: 11+ outcomes aren’t destiny. Plenty of children who don’t pass thrive in non-selective secondaries; plenty of children who pass don’t end up using the grammar place. The test measures one slice of one moment in your child’s development. Frame it that way at home and you’ll get better effort on the day, regardless of result.

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