Parent questions,
clearly answered.

No: listing a grammar school first does not reduce your child’s priority at the school you list second. But a second-choice place is not guaranteed. Your child must still qualify for a place there under that school’s own admissions rules.

Usually, no. A pass means your child meets an academic requirement for the relevant route or stage. A place also depends on applying correctly, meeting the school’s rules and ranking high enough for its available places. Some routes have specific priority exceptions.

Usually, yes: test registration books the assessment, while the CAF applies for school places. Sitting or passing the 11+ does not replace the school application. Some routes register pupils automatically, so check your child’s specific arrangements.

Yes, children can enter different 11+ routes when they meet each route’s rules. That is different from taking the same selection test twice. Check shared-test arrangements, separate registrations, clashes and any second-stage dates before adding another exam.

Yes. For normal Year 7 entry in England, apply through the council where you live, even when a grammar school is in another borough or county. Register separately for its entrance test and check how its admissions policy treats your address.

Contact the official test organiser promptly and read its current late-registration rules. There is no single late-entry policy across 11+ areas: some routes are closed, while others give a defined process or limited exceptions. Keep the CAF application on time even if the test issue is unresolved.

Compare the same evidence for both schools: entry requirements, allocation priority, school-day travel, dated results, subjects and support. Then decide which you would choose if both could offer. Your CAF order should reflect that preference, not just a ranking position.

A standardised score is a raw test result converted onto the scale used by that test. The conversion can account for age and the performance of the comparison group. It is not a percentage, and scores from different 11+ routes are not directly interchangeable.

Read the full result and establish exactly what it allows: qualification, a second-stage invitation or consideration under a school’s policy. Then check each school’s allocation rules and submit your CAF on time. A pass is not a school offer, and a disappointing result may have a separate review or appeal process.

For the normal Year 7 admission round in England, your home council sends one school offer on 1 March, or the next working day. It is the highest CAF preference that can offer under the admission rules. For September 2027 entry, National Offer Day is Monday 1 March 2027.

Grammar school waiting lists follow the school’s published oversubscription criteria, not the date you joined. Your child can move up or down as applicants join or leave. Check whether you must request a place on the list, and keep an offered school place while you wait.

A formal admission appeal challenges a refused school place. Before that, some areas offer a separate selection review or test enquiry. Identify which process your result allows, because the decision, evidence and deadline can be different.

Yes. Families living outside Kent can register an eligible child for the Kent Test. Kent’s current guidance allows registration by parents of children resident in England, with specified service-family exceptions. Passing does not guarantee a Kent grammar school place.

No. “Super-selective” is commonly used for schools where high test performance plays a strong role in entry, but it is not a quality rating. Judge the named school’s teaching, subjects, support and daily journey, alongside its actual admissions rules.

You normally need a refused application before you can appeal for a school place. If the grammar school was not on your CAF, ask your home council how to add it or make a late application. A test registration or result alone is not a refused school application.

Often you can edit and resubmit before your council’s deadline. After it, the council’s coordinated admissions scheme decides whether a change is accepted and when it is considered. Check the rules before deleting a school or changing the order.

Yes, an eligible child can take both, provided you register separately and can meet each organiser’s arrangements. Bexley and Kent are different tests: a pass in one does not replace the other, and an alternative date for a clash is not guaranteed.

Yes, where schools belong to a shared testing arrangement. One sitting can produce a result used by several schools, but each school may apply different qualification or allocation rules. Check score-sharing requirements and any further test stage.

A review can change an academic outcome without changing the original numerical score. A score correction, selection review and admission appeal are different processes. What can change depends on the published rules for your child’s test and school.

No. Some 11+ tests use only multiple-choice questions; others include written English or a later writing paper. Even where a writing exercise is included, it may not count towards the published test score. Check the exact route and stage.

Yes. A child with an Education, Health and Care plan uses the EHC placement process. Disagreeing with the school named in the plan is different from an ordinary school admission appeal. If a named school refuses admission, contact the council that issued the plan.

No — putting a grammar school first does not give your child extra admissions priority. List schools in the order you actually want them. Your council uses that order to offer the highest preference that can offer your child a place.

There is no single distance that is right for every child. Measure the whole school-day journey, including walks, waits, changes and the return after clubs. A reliable direct route can be more manageable than a shorter journey with difficult connections.

There is no useful universal limit. An extra 11+ route earns its place only if it adds a school you would accept, can reach and can apply to realistically. Count the additional test days and preparation demands, not just the number of school names.

Shortlist as many schools as you can investigate properly and would plausibly accept. There is no fixed ideal number. Keep your research list, test-route list and final CAF preferences separate, and include realistic non-selective options before the application deadline.

121 is enough to qualify academically for Buckinghamshire grammar school consideration. It does not guarantee a place. Once a child is qualified, a higher score does not give extra allocation priority; each school applies its own oversubscription rules.

Neither is simply better. Attainment 8 describes GCSE outcomes across specified qualifications; Progress 8 compares outcomes with pupils who had similar prior attainment. Progress 8 cannot be calculated for the 2025 and 2026 GCSE cohorts because their Key Stage 2 assessments were cancelled.

You can name a genuinely preferred grammar school, but check what its policy and review process require. An uncertain or unsuccessful test result does not extend the CAF deadline. Include realistic alternatives and understand that the grammar application may be refused.

Compare the individual schools rather than assuming one school type is best. A boys’, girls’ or mixed school can differ in curriculum, support, activities and atmosphere. Check Year 7 eligibility and sixth-form arrangements separately, and discuss the visits with your child.

Only if it is also the school you would prefer after checking admissions, travel, subjects and support. A ranking orders schools by a particular measure; it cannot decide which school is the best daily choice for your child.

Usually, yes: include a non-selective school you would accept and have a realistic chance of securing. A grammar test pass may still not lead to an offer. A local comprehensive also has admissions criteria, so calling it a backup does not reserve a place.

Keep the test registration, result, submitted CAF and offer confirmations, together with the admission policies for the correct entry year. Add any required address or eligibility evidence and relevant correspondence. Save original emails or PDFs as well as screenshots so the date, reference and full wording remain available.

A Bexley result reports a weighted age-standardised total and whether your child is deemed selective. A selective outcome normally means eligibility for consideration by Bexley’s grammar schools, not a guaranteed offer. Top-180 status is a separate priority distinction.

A Kent Test result includes standardised scores for English, maths and reasoning, an aggregate total and an assessment outcome. The grammar assessment tells you about academic suitability; the individual school’s admissions policy still determines whether a place can be offered.

“Outstanding” usually refers to a judgement under an older Ofsted framework. New report cards grade separate areas rather than give one overall grade. Check the latest report and its date: an old Outstanding label is not a current whole-school rating under the new system.

A child can pass the 11+ and still be refused a school because other applicants have higher priority under its catchment or distance rules. Passing meets the academic requirement; it does not override the school’s published oversubscription criteria.

A grammar school consortium is a group of schools working together on testing or admissions administration. It often offers a shared entrance test. Membership does not mean the schools share one admissions policy, one catchment or a guaranteed place after a pass.

A second-stage test is a further assessment for candidates who meet a school’s first-stage requirements. It can contribute to the final academic decision or ranking. An invitation means your child has progressed in the process; it is not a school offer.

Age standardisation is a statistical adjustment intended to account for age differences between children taking a test. It is part of converting raw marks into reported scores. It does not give every summer-born child a fixed number of extra marks or guarantee qualification.

GL Assessment is a test provider, CSSE is a consortium running a shared Essex and Southend examination, and Sutton SET is the Selective Eligibility Test used by a group of Sutton schools. They describe different things, not three interchangeable exam boards.

Qualifying means meeting the relevant academic standard. An offer means a school place has actually been allocated through the admissions process. Between the two come the application, the school’s priority rules and your preference order.

A score is the result on a test’s scale. A rank is a position in an ordered group. That group might be all test candidates, applicants to one school or a particular admission category, so you need to know exactly what has been ranked.

Ask how the school works on an ordinary week: what Year 7 homework involves, how pupils get help, which activities they can join and how they get home afterwards. Use the visit to resolve specific questions that results tables and admissions policies cannot answer.

Let your child return to their usual routine while you check the result date, any second-stage arrangements and the CAF deadline. Report a test-day problem through the official process promptly. Use the waiting period to visit schools and compare admission rules and travel, including non-selective options.

Check the school names, genuine preference order, admission requirements and any separate forms, then submit through your home council and save the receipt. Include realistic schools you would accept. Test registration and an 11+ pass do not replace the CAF, and a saved draft is not a submitted application.

Confirm the date, venue, arrival instructions and permitted equipment, and check that any agreed access arrangements are recorded. Use the organiser’s materials for light, relevant familiarisation. Keep the final weeks manageable and know what to do if your child is ill or a test-day problem occurs.

Check the relevant 11+ routes early in Year 5, then complete registration and any access-arrangement requests by each organiser’s deadline. Do not wait for summer: some windows close in spring. Before the holidays, confirm receipts, test dates, relevant schools and a manageable plan for familiarisation.

A formal school admission appeal follows refusal of a place, usually after National Offer Day in March for normal Year 7 entry. The admission authority publishes the appeal timetable and must allow at least 20 school days from sending the decision letter to lodge an appeal. Earlier selection reviews are a separate process.

There is no single required starting age or timetable. Year 4 can be a useful time for parents to understand local test routes and for children to build reading and maths confidence. Keep preparation proportionate; detailed familiarisation should match the actual test rather than an assumed universal 11+ syllabus.

Schools share a test only where the official route says they do. Examples include Bexley’s four grammar schools, Sutton’s SET group, the CSSE schools and Redbridge’s two grammars. Nearby schools or schools using the same provider do not automatically share results.

London has several independent testing routes. Queen Elizabeth’s, Henrietta Barnett, Latymer and the Tiffin schools each publish their own entrance arrangements. Bexley, Sutton and Redbridge have shared groups. There is no single London-wide 11+ registration or transferable pass.

A school may not have one meaningful cut-off score. Offers can depend on priority categories, catchment, distance, ties and allocation dates as well as marks. Where a last-offered score is published, it describes that past allocation rather than guaranteeing next year’s outcome.