11+ Guide ยท 3 of 5
Which Areas Offer 11+ Grammar Schools?
England doesn't have a single selective school system โ just over 30 local authority areas still have state grammar schools. Here's where, and how the rest of the UK differs.
Most of England moved to a fully comprehensive (non-selective) secondary school system in the 1960s and 70s. A minority of areas kept some or all of their grammar schools, and it's only in those areas that the 11+ matters for state school admissions.
Always confirm with your local authority. Admission arrangements, catchment boundaries and exam boards can change from year to year. Treat this list as a starting point for your own research, via your local authority's admissions pages or the schools themselves โ not as the final word.
Fully selective areas
In a small number of areas, grammar schools make up most or all of the secondary school system, so the majority of children in that area sit the 11+:
Kent
Medway
Buckinghamshire
Lincolnshire
Trafford
Wirral
Partially selective areas
In these areas, one or more grammar schools sit alongside a majority of comprehensive schools, so the 11+ is relevant to families applying specifically to a grammar school rather than to everyone:
Barnet
Bexley
Bromley
Enfield
Kingston upon Thames
Redbridge
Sutton
Birmingham
Walsall
Wolverhampton
Bournemouth, Christchurch & Poole
Bradford
Calderdale
Kirklees
North Yorkshire
Devon
Torbay
Plymouth
Essex
Southend-on-Sea
Gloucestershire
Hertfordshire
Lancashire
Liverpool
Reading
Slough
Stoke-on-Trent
Telford & Wrekin
Warwickshire
Westmorland & Furness
Wiltshire
This list reflects publicly documented local authority areas with one or more state grammar schools. Boundaries and individual school selective status can change โ check with the specific school and local authority.
The rest of the UK
๐ฌ๐ง Northern Ireland
Academic selection is still widespread in Northern Ireland. Most grammar schools use the SEAG transfer test โ a unified test covering English and Maths across two papers, which replaced the formerly separate AQE and PPTC tests. It's sat by a large proportion of Year 7 applicants across the region.
๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ณ๓ ฃ๓ ด๓ ฟ Scotland & ๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ท๓ ฌ๓ ณ๓ ฟ Wales
Both nations operate fully comprehensive state secondary systems with no selective grammar schools, so the 11+ generally doesn't apply to state school admissions there. Some independent (private) schools in both nations do still set their own entrance assessments at age 11.
๐ซ Independent schools, everywhere
Outside the areas above, academically selective independent schools exist across the whole UK and set their own entrance tests at 11 (often using ISEB Common Pre-Tests) โ regardless of whether the local area has state grammar schools.
Not sure if this applies to you?
Search "[your local authority] 11+ admissions" or check your council's school admissions page directly โ it will confirm whether any grammar schools serve your catchment, which exam board they use, and the current application timetable. Our subjects & exam boards guide explains what to expect once you know which board is used.