“What score does my child need?” is the first question every family preparing for the 11+ wants answered. The honest answer is: it depends on the area, the specific school, and the competitiveness of that year's cohort. But there are clear benchmarks — and this guide covers them all. From the exam board each area uses to the specific SAS ranges needed for the most selective schools, here is everything a family needs to understand about grammar school entry requirements in 2026.
How Grammar School Selection Works
Grammar schools in England are legally permitted to select their entire intake by academic ability under the School Standards and Framework Act 1998. This sets them apart from all other state schools, which must admit without selecting by ability. Most grammar schools use the 11+ exam — taken in September or October of Year 6 — as the primary selection instrument. A child who scores above the school's formal pass mark is placed on the "selective register."
Being on the selective register is necessary but not sufficient for a place. Oversubscribed schools — which is most grammar schools in competitive areas — then rank selective applicants by secondary criteria. These typically prioritise, in order: looked-after children; siblings already at the school; proximity to the school (measured as straight-line distance from home to school). At the most competitive schools in London, a child can score 125 on the SAS and still fail to get a place because children who scored 128 live closer.
This is why families in competitive areas — particularly London — need to understand that the pass mark and the competitive score are two different numbers. The pass mark is the floor. The competitive score is what actually gets a place at a specific oversubscribed school.
Which Exam Boards Are Used?
Produces a Standardised Age Score (SAS), adjusted for age in months. Tests Verbal Reasoning, Non-Verbal Reasoning, English and Maths in separate papers. The most widely used 11+ format in England.
Produces an age-standardised score. Questions blend verbal ability, numerical reasoning, and spatial reasoning without labelling by subject. Deliberately harder to prepare for using standard VR practice papers.
Tests English, Maths, Verbal Reasoning and Non-Verbal Reasoning separately. Used for both 11+ and 13+ entry at independent schools. Computer-adaptive format.
Written by the school. Typically tests English and Mathematics at a level significantly above the National Curriculum. Harder to prepare for because there are no official practice materials.
Area-by-Area Score Benchmarks 2026
The following ranges are indicative based on typical pass marks and historical competition levels. Individual school cut-offs change year to year based on the cohort. Always check your target school's published admissions policy directly. For a full explanation of how SAS is calculated and what each score means in practice, see our interactive SAS scores guide.
| Area | Exam Board | Target SAS | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kent | GL Assessment | 115–121 | 32 grammar schools. Cut-offs vary by school and town. Judd and Tonbridge Grammar are among the most competitive. |
| Buckinghamshire | CEM | 118+ | 13 schools. Fully selective county. The test is harder to prepare for than GL Assessment papers. |
| London (Barnet) | GL Assessment | 121–132 | QE Boys and Henrietta Barnett are among the most selective state schools in England. |
| London (Sutton) | GL Assessment | 118–125 | Nonsuch, Wallington, Wilson's, Sutton Grammar. Sutton Consortium shares one test. |
| Birmingham (KE Foundation) | Own papers | 119+ | King Edward's Foundation schools are highly selective with school-set English and Maths papers. |
| Essex | GL Assessment | 112–118 | Colchester Royal Grammar, Westcliff High. Lower competition than London or Kent. |
| Hertfordshire | GL Assessment | 111–115 | Dame Alice Owen's, Watford Grammar (Boys/Girls). Distance is a key tie-breaker. |
| Gloucestershire | GL Assessment | 113–118 | Pate's Grammar is most selective. All four schools use GL Assessment. |
What Counts as a Competitive Score?
There is an important distinction between passing the 11+ and being competitive for a place. Passing — scoring above the formal pass mark — means a child is academically suitable for grammar school education. Being competitive means scoring high enough to actually secure a place at a specific oversubscribed school, given the secondary criteria.
In less competitive areas (parts of Essex, Hertfordshire, Gloucestershire), passing and being competitive are roughly the same: most children who score above the pass mark and live within a reasonable distance get a place. In highly competitive areas (London, top Kent schools, Buckinghamshire), the competitive score is significantly above the published pass mark. At Queen Elizabeth's Boys, for example, the pass mark might be SAS 111, but the median offered applicant scores closer to 127–130.
Where does your child sit on this scale — right now?
Eduentry's free adaptive assessment gives your child a standardised score on the same GL Assessment scale (mean 100, SD 15) — so you know exactly where they stand before 11+ preparation begins.
The Borderline Zone
Most schools operate an informal borderline band — typically 2–4 SAS points either side of the published pass mark. Children who fall within this band are considered "borderline" and may be offered a place through the normal secondary criteria process (siblings, distance) if they live sufficiently close to the school.
Being in the borderline band is not the same as failing. Many children in this range are offered places at their first-choice school because their secondary criteria are strong (for example, they live within half a mile of the school). It is worth researching the distance criterion for each target school: some schools publish data on the maximum distance at which a place was offered in the previous year.
The Appeals Process
If your child is not offered a place at a grammar school for which they sat the 11+, you have the right to appeal. Appeals are heard by an independent panel and can succeed on two grounds: either the admissions authority made an error in applying their published criteria (a "procedural error" appeal), or the child's interests in attending the school outweigh the school's interest in limiting class sizes.
In practice, grammar school appeals are harder to win than non-selective school appeals because the school can legitimately argue that the child's score means they are not suitable for the grammar school curriculum. However, appeals can succeed — particularly where there is compelling evidence that the child's result was not representative of their true ability: for example, if they were ill on the day of the exam and can provide medical evidence.
An independent standardised assessment taken around the time of the 11+ — showing a higher score than the official result — is one of the most useful pieces of evidence in a grammar school appeal. It provides an objective, third-party benchmark suggesting the exam result was an underperformance.
What If Your Child Doesn't Pass?
Not passing the 11+ does not mean your child cannot access an excellent secondary education. In most areas, the majority of children attend good or outstanding comprehensive schools that provide strong academic outcomes. Many children who do not pass the 11+ at 11 gain entry to sixth form at grammar schools at 16, where the selection is typically by GCSE grade rather than an entrance exam.
Some independent schools also offer means-tested bursaries that make grammar school alternatives accessible to families who could not otherwise afford them. If your child narrowly misses the 11+, it is worth investigating these options alongside the strong comprehensive schools in your area.
Every child has strengths the 11+ doesn't measure
Curiosity, creativity, perseverance, social intelligence — these character strengths predict academic success and wellbeing regardless of selective school entry. Eduentry's free 10-minute VIA-based assessment gives your child a personalised strengths profile.
How Eduentry Scores Relate to the 11+
Eduentry uses the same standardised scale as GL Assessment (mean 100, standard deviation 15). An Eduentry score of 115 places a child at the 84th percentile — which corresponds to the competitive entry range for most grammar schools outside London. An Eduentry score of 121 corresponds to approximately the 92nd percentile — competitive for the majority of selective schools in England.
The key caveat: Eduentry's questions are AI-generated and have not been empirically normed on large populations. The score reflects the standardised scale, not a precise GL Assessment SAS equivalent. Use Eduentry scores as a directional benchmark and a progress-tracking tool — not as a definitive prediction of 11+ performance. For a full explanation of how standardised scores work and what percentiles mean, read our standardised score guide. For a step-by-step home preparation plan, see our complete guide to preparing for the 11+ at home. For school-specific details for your area, browse our grammar school area guides.
Frequently Asked Questions
There is no single national pass mark. Each school or consortium sets its own qualifying score (formal pass mark). In most areas this falls between SAS 108–115. However, passing the threshold is only the first step — heavily oversubscribed schools rank selective-register children by secondary admissions criteria (siblings, distance), so in practice a child in a competitive area may need SAS 118–125 to receive an offer.
For most grammar schools outside London and the South East, an SAS of 111–115 clears the formal pass mark. For competitive schools in Kent, Essex, Buckinghamshire, or selective London areas, the effective entry score is typically SAS 118–125 due to oversubscription. The very highest-ranked London selective schools (Tiffin Girls, Wilson's, Nonsuch) routinely see entry at SAS 128+.
GL Assessment (most areas in England) reports a Standardised Age Score (SAS) with a mean of 100 and standard deviation of 15. CEM (Durham University, used in parts of Northern Ireland and some English areas) uses a similar normalised scale but different test content. A SAS of 115 means the same percentile rank (84th) on both systems, but the question style differs significantly — GL Assessment includes separate Verbal Reasoning and Non-Verbal Reasoning papers, while CEM has a different format. Check which board your target school uses before purchasing preparation materials.
Yes. Every family has the right to appeal to an independent admission appeal panel. Appeals are typically won on one of two grounds: (1) the admissions authority made a procedural error or misapplied its criteria; (2) a legitimate exceptional circumstances case (the most common being medical evidence that the test score was not representative of the child's ability). An independent standardised assessment showing a higher score than the official 11+ result is one of the strongest forms of supporting evidence in an appeal.
No. Grammar schools across England use different exam boards, test formats, and marking schemes. The most common are GL Assessment and CEM. Some schools run their own bespoke tests. A child preparing in Kent will sit a GL Assessment exam covering English and Maths; a child in parts of Berkshire may sit a CEM exam with a different question style. Research the specific exam board used by your target schools and use preparation materials designed for that board.
There are approximately 163 grammar schools in England as of 2026. They are concentrated in specific areas: Kent and Medway (33), Lincolnshire (15), Buckinghamshire (13), Essex (10), and selective London boroughs (around 12 across Kingston, Sutton, and Enfield). Large parts of England — including most of London, the North West, and the South West — have no grammar schools at all.