The 11+ exam: an honest guide for parents

I'm Anmol, and I teach Maths and Non-Verbal Reasoning one-to-one online to children preparing for the 11+ exam. I've sat across the screen from a lot of nervous parents, and the first thing I usually tell them is this: the 11+ is beatable with steady, sensible preparation. You don't need to panic. You do need to understand what you're signing up for.

What is the 11+ exam?

It's an entrance test used by state grammar schools to decide who gets a place in Year 7. Children take it at 10 or 11, near the start of Year 6, so most families are preparing during Year 5.

Here's the part that trips people up. There's no one "11+" paper sat across the country. In most areas the tests are written by GL Assessment, in four subjects: English, Maths, Verbal Reasoning and Non-Verbal Reasoning. But some regions run their own thing. In Essex, the Consortium of Selective Schools in Essex (CSSE) sets its own English and Maths papers. Gloucestershire's grammar schools have appointed a bespoke provider, FSCE. A handful of schools write their own exams entirely.

One more change worth knowing. CEM, which used to supply a lot of these papers, withdrew its standard 11+ tests in late 2022, and most of those areas moved across to GL for the following admissions round. So if you're reading an old guide that talks about "the CEM exam", treat it with caution.

The practical takeaway: find out who sets your local paper before you buy a single practice book. Your county council's admissions page and the Eleven Plus Exams community are good places to check.

Why the 11+ matters

Grammar schools are state-funded. No tuition fees, no boarding costs, a genuinely academic education for free. For a lot of families that's the whole appeal, and it's a fair one.

But the places are limited and demand is fierce. In many areas grammar schools are heavily oversubscribed, and the most competitive "super-selective" schools turn away children who comfortably passed the qualifying mark, simply because someone else scored higher.

So the 11+ isn't a pass-or-fail driving test. In a lot of places it's a ranking. That shapes how you prepare, because a "good enough" score sometimes isn't — and I'd rather you knew that going in than found out in March.

The honest caveat too: the 11+ suits some children and not others, and a grammar school isn't the only route to a happy, successful child. If it's right for your family, prepare properly. If it isn't, that's a valid decision, not a failure.

Who the 11+ is for

Any child in Year 6 applying for a selective state school can sit it. In practice it tends to suit children who are already comfortable with primary-level Maths and English and who enjoy a challenge.

Registration usually opens in the spring or early summer before the exam and closes well ahead of the test date, so this is one deadline you cannot afford to drift past. Miss the registration window and your child can't sit the paper, full stop. Dates vary by area, so check your local admissions authority the moment your child starts Year 5.

You don't need a private school or an expensive head start. Plenty of children from ordinary state primaries do brilliantly. What helps most is starting early enough that preparation stays calm rather than crammed.

What subjects does the 11+ exam cover?

Four subjects come up, in combinations that vary by region:

• English — comprehension, spelling, grammar and vocabulary, and in some areas a piece of creative or persuasive writing.
• Maths — built on the Key Stage 2 curriculum, with a strong emphasis on quick, accurate problem-solving under time pressure.
• Verbal Reasoning — word- and logic-based puzzles that test how a child works with language and information.
• Non-Verbal Reasoning — shape, pattern and spatial puzzles, the kind of questions children rarely meet in normal school lessons.

Your local test might use all four, or just two. CSSE Essex, for example, tests only English and Maths. GL areas often cover all four across a couple of papers. Check your specific schools rather than assuming.

Non-Verbal Reasoning catches a lot of families off guard, because there's no equivalent in the school day. The good news is it's very learnable. Once a child recognises the question types, scores tend to climb fast.

How I help with the 11+

I teach two of the four subjects: Maths and Non-Verbal Reasoning. I've kept my focus deliberately narrow, because I'd rather be genuinely good at two things than average at everything.

My lessons are one-to-one and online, so your child gets my full attention and you don't spend your evenings driving anywhere. In Maths I work on the fluency and problem-solving the 11+ leans on hardest, filling the gaps that slow children down under timed conditions. In Non-Verbal Reasoning I teach the question types explicitly, then build speed and accuracy through practice, so the paper stops feeling like a mystery.

I keep parents in the loop, too. You'll know what we covered, what's improving and what still needs work, without the jargon.

The first lesson is free. No commitment, no hard sell — a chance for me to see where your child is, and for you to decide whether I'm the right fit.

Common questions

When is the 11+ exam sat?

For most areas it's September or early October, right at the start of Year 6. Some regions run a little later into the autumn — CSSE Essex, for instance, tests in mid-September. Always confirm the exact date with your local admissions authority, because it varies.

Do I have to pay to sit the 11+?

No. Sitting the exam and the grammar school place itself are both free, since grammar schools are state-funded. You register through your local authority or the school's consortium, usually the year before. The only costs are optional, like tutoring or practice papers.

Will my child take a GL or a bespoke paper?

It depends entirely on your area. Most regions now use GL Assessment; Essex uses CSSE; some schools write their own. Since CEM stopped supplying standard 11+ tests in 2022, most former CEM areas moved to GL. Find out which applies locally before you buy anything.

How early should we start preparing?

For most children, the start of Year 5 is sensible — a full year of steady, low-pressure work rather than a frantic summer of cramming. If you'd like a month-by-month plan, I've written a guide to the 11+ timeline. Some children need less, some a little more; starting early keeps it calm, which matters more than most parents expect.