If you've heard the phrase "the 11+" thrown around at the school gates and felt a quiet panic, you're in good company. The 11+ is a selective entrance test taken in the autumn of Year 6 by children hoping to win a place at a UK grammar school or selective independent school. It sits outside the National Curriculum, which is why most pupils need dedicated practice — and why families start looking for the right resources early. This guide explains, in plain English, exactly what the exam is, who sets it, what it tests, how it is scored, and how to plan a calm, effective preparation year. Everything we link to on Quest Arena is genuinely free, with no signup wall, so you can start free practice the moment a question below sparks a "let's try that".
What exactly is the 11+?
The 11+ is an admissions test used to select pupils for academically selective secondary schools. There are two broad worlds. The first is the state grammar school system: around 163 grammar schools in England run entrance tests, mostly clustered in areas like Kent, Buckinghamshire, Birmingham, Trafford, Sutton and Essex. The second is the independent (fee-paying) school world, where many senior schools use the ISEB Common Pre-Test or their own bespoke papers. A child can sit for one, the other, or both. The name "11+" simply reflects that candidates are aged 10 or 11 when they take it, usually in September of Year 6, with results arriving in October before the secondary-school application deadline of 31 October.
Who sets the papers? The exam-board landscape
This is where a lot of older online advice is now out of date. Today GL Assessment is the dominant provider across most grammar-school regions. The other big historic name, CEM, discontinued its separate 11+ tests around 2022–2023, and many former CEM areas have moved to GL or to bespoke local papers — so if you read a page treating CEM as a current, widespread live test, treat it with caution. Alongside GL you will meet a handful of regional and independent variants, summarised below.
| Provider / exam | Where it is used | Format notes |
|---|---|---|
| GL Assessment | Most grammar regions nationally | Multiple-choice, tightly timed, no calculator |
| CSSE | Essex consortium (Chelmsford, Colchester, Southend) | Includes free-response maths, not only multiple-choice |
| SET | Sutton (South London) grammar consortium | Own maths and reasoning papers |
| ISEB Common Pre-Test | Many independent senior schools | Adaptive, online, sat in Year 6/7 |
| Bespoke local / consortium | Kent, Bucks, Birmingham (King Edward's) etc. | Region-specific mix, check the local guide |
Because the details differ so much by area, the single most useful early step is to identify your target schools and read their admissions pages. Our grammar school directory and 11+ process guide help you work out which variant applies to your family.
What's actually on the paper?
Almost every 11+ paper draws on four skill areas. Some regions test all four; others weight two or three more heavily. Knowing the shape of each helps you target practice sensibly.
- English: reading comprehension (fiction, non-fiction and sometimes poetry), inference and retrieval, vocabulary in context, spelling, punctuation and grammar (SPaG), plus cloze and shuffled-sentence tasks. Some independents add a creative or continuous writing task.
- Maths: number and place value, the four operations, fractions, decimals, percentages, ratio, basic algebra and function machines, sequences, angles, area, perimeter and volume, coordinates, averages, data handling and multi-step word problems.
- Verbal Reasoning (VR): word logic — synonyms, antonyms, analogies, odd-one-out, hidden words, compound words, letter and number codes, letter sequences and logic puzzles. GL famously uses 21 recognisable VR question types.
- Non-Verbal Reasoning (NVR): shape-based logic — series, analogies, matrices, odd-one-out, reflection, rotation, symmetry, cube nets, hole-punching and figure completion.
Under GL, the paper is almost always multiple-choice, with answers A–E marked on a separate OMR answer sheet, and the pace is brisk — roughly a minute a question. You can drill each of these strands with our free worksheets, and see the exact GL formats explained in our GL 11+ papers guide.
How is the 11+ scored?
Raw marks are not compared directly. Instead schools convert them into a Standardised Age Score (SAS), which adjusts for how old each child was, to the month, on the test day. This matters enormously for summer-born children: an August-born pupil who is nearly a year younger than a September-born classmate is not penalised for that age gap, because the standardisation levels the field. Standardised scores typically run from about 69 to 141, with 100 as the exact average. Many grammar schools look for roughly 111 or above, and highly competitive areas can require higher aggregate totals — but the precise qualifying mark varies by region, by school, and even by year, because it moves with cohort size and the number of places available. Never rely on a fixed "pass mark" you saw online; always check the current figure for your specific target school.
| Standardised score | Rough interpretation |
|---|---|
| Around 100 | National average for the child's age |
| 111+ | A common qualifying benchmark at many grammars |
| 120+ | Competitive in oversubscribed selective areas |
| 130+ | Very strong; toward the top of the range |
When should we start, and how?
Little and often beats last-minute cramming every time. A calm, effective plan usually looks like this:
- Year 4 / early Year 5: build strong foundations — reading widely, solid times tables, comfortable arithmetic. No pressure, just habits.
- Year 5: introduce VR and NVR (which are not taught in most primaries), and work through topic worksheets a little each week. Aim for short, regular sessions rather than long weekend marathons.
- Summer before Year 6: begin full, timed mock papers to build stamina and exam technique, and use the results to target weak spots.
- September of Year 6: the real tests. Keep practice light and confidence-building in the final fortnight.
Exam technique is worth real attention: read each question twice, underline keywords, keep to roughly a minute per maths/English question and 30–45 seconds per reasoning item, and never leave a multiple-choice answer blank — an educated guess costs nothing. Our revision hub and exam guides break these techniques down skill by skill, and centre-based practice at centre-specific mocks lets your child rehearse the exact format of their region.
Frequently asked questions
Is the 11+ compulsory?
No. It is entirely optional and only relevant if you want your child considered for a selective grammar or independent school. Non-selective secondaries do not require it.
Do I need to pay a tutor to pass?
Not necessarily. Many families prepare successfully at home with structured, regular practice. The key ingredients are early familiarity with VR and NVR, timed mock experience, and consistent short sessions — all of which Quest Arena provides free, with worksheets, mocks and a gamified practice arena.
Is CEM still a thing I need to prepare for?
Largely no. CEM's separate 11+ tests were phased out around 2022–2023, and GL Assessment now dominates most regions. Prepare for the GL-style format unless your specific school states it uses CSSE, SET, ISEB or a named bespoke paper.