11 Plus Exam Results 2026: When They Arrive, What They Mean and What to Do Next
11+ results are arriving across England this month. Here is when each area releases them, what a standardised score really means, why qualifying is not the same as getting a place, and what to do before the 31 October application deadline.
If an email from a council or consortium has just arrived with your child's name on it, you are probably looking at a number and wondering what it actually means. Or you are still waiting, refreshing your inbox and checking the junk folder. Either way, results week is one of the most confusing moments in the secondary school process, because the result is not what most parents expect it to be.
It is not an offer. In most areas it is not even a simple pass or fail. It is a score, or a decision about eligibility, and what happens next depends on where you live, which schools you choose and a deadline that arrives on 31 October. This guide sets out when results are released in 2026, how to read them, and what to do over the next few weeks, whatever the outcome.
11+ results 2026 at a glance
- Results are released by each area, not nationally. The main dates fall between 9 and 16 October 2026.
- A result makes your child eligible for a school. It does not give them a place. Offers come on National Offer Day, Monday 1 March 2027.
- Your Common Application Form must reach your home local authority by Saturday 31 October 2026. Aim to submit it by Friday 30 October.
- Most areas do not release raw marks, and many do not re-mark papers.
- A result below the standard is not the end of the road. There are routes to check this month, and many strong schools outside the grammar system.
When are 11 plus results released in 2026?
There is no single results day for the 11+. Each council, consortium or group of schools sets its own date, and in 2026 the main ones fall within one week in October. The table below lists the dates published for the biggest selective areas. It was last checked on 14 October 2026.
Area and test | Results date | How results are sent |
|---|---|---|
Buckinghamshire (Secondary Transfer Test) | Friday 9 October 2026 | Email to the address used to register |
Essex and Southend (CSSE) | Monday 12 October 2026, after close of business | Email. CSSE asks families to allow 24 hours |
Medway (Medway Test) | Wednesday 14 October 2026, from 10am | Email if you gave an address at registration, otherwise post |
Kent (Kent Test) | Thursday 15 October 2026 | Email to the registered address |
Warwickshire (11+ test) | Friday 16 October 2026 | Warwickshire Parent Portal |
Birmingham (King Edward VI Foundation) | Friday 16 October 2026 | Sent to parents by the Foundation |
Some areas, including Sutton, Redbridge, Trafford and Gloucestershire, have given a date of mid-October, or release results school by school. If your area is not listed, check the website of the council, consortium or school that ran your child's test, and do not rely on a date quoted by anyone else, including us. Where a date has not been published, we would rather leave a gap than guess.
How will the result reach you?
Most areas email the address you gave when you registered, which is why it matters that the address is current. A few still post letters, and Warwickshire uses its Parent Portal. Medway sends an email after 10am on results day to anyone who supplied one, and posts a result to everyone else.
When the email arrives, take a screenshot and save the message. You will need the exact figures for the application form, for any review, and possibly for an appeal in the spring.
What if the result has not arrived?
Check your junk and spam folders first. Emails go out in batches, and providers can be slow. If a day has passed, contact the office that ran the test, not your child's primary school. CSSE, for example, asks families to allow 24 hours, and Medway asks you to email its test team if nothing has arrived by the following day. Scores are not given out over the phone.
What does an 11 plus result actually tell you?
What is a standardised score?
Most areas do not report the number of questions a child got right. They report a standardised score, which adjusts the raw mark so that every child is compared fairly. The adjustment usually takes account of the child's age in months, so that an August-born child is not marked against a classmate who is almost a year older, and of the difficulty of the paper, so that a harder test does not penalise one year's cohort.
In many areas the scale is built so that 100 represents the average of the children who sat the test. That is a smaller and stronger group than all ten-year-olds, because children who sit the 11+ are self-selected and usually prepared. A score of 100 does not mean a child is average. It means they are in the middle of a strong group.
Is there an 11 plus pass mark?
Usually not in the way people imagine. Most areas set a qualifying standard, and they do it in different ways.
Some publish the standard in advance. In Buckinghamshire, a Secondary Transfer Test Score of 121 or more means a child has qualified for a Buckinghamshire grammar school, and a score below 121 means they have not. Others set the line after marking, based on that year's cohort. Kent County Council confirms its threshold when it releases results, and the King Edward VI Foundation in Birmingham publishes a qualifying score and a higher priority score after results are issued. Essex works differently again. CSSE does not publish a pass mark. Its guide sets a minimum total score of 303 for an offer from any member school, and each school then ranks the children who clear that level.
That last point is the key distinction. In a qualifying system you ask whether your child cleared the line. In a ranking system you ask where your child sits in the queue, and nobody can see the whole queue. Both are covered by the same words, 'the 11+ result', and they call for different decisions.
What is a good 11 plus score?
It depends on the area, the school and the year, and anyone who gives you a single number is guessing. A score comfortably above a published qualifying standard gives you breathing room. In a ranking system, a good score is one that is high enough to be offered a place at the school you want, and that can only be judged against what was needed in previous years.
Where that information exists, use it. CSSE publishes a Historical Guidance Sheet on its website showing cut-off data from last year's entry, and Birmingham's grammar schools publish qualifying and priority scores. Treat these as guidance, not as a forecast. The cohort changes every year, and so does the line.
You will also come across claims online that a certain percentage is a pass. Standardised scores do not convert to percentages in that way, and some councils will not release raw marks or percentages at all.
Does passing the 11 plus guarantee a grammar school place?
No. This is the single most misunderstood point of results week. A qualifying result means your child is eligible to be considered. Whether they receive an offer depends on the admissions policy of each school you name, and on how many other eligible children want the same places.
When a grammar school is oversubscribed, it works through its oversubscription criteria in order. The exact list differs from school to school, so read the policy for each one. Common priorities include children in care or previously in care, children with an Education, Health and Care Plan that names the school, children who receive Pupil Premium where the school gives them priority, children living within a catchment or priority area, siblings of current pupils, children of staff, and children from armed forces families. After that, many schools rank the remaining eligible children by score, with distance from the school used to separate children on the same score.
This is why a child who scores well above the line and lives close to a school can be in a very different position from a child who scrapes through and lives further away. It is also why it is worth reading each policy before you decide the order of your preferences.
What to do after you get your 11 plus results
Whatever the number says, the next three weeks run on one clock: the 31 October application deadline. That date falls on a Saturday this year, so treat Friday 30 October as the real deadline and keep the confirmation email when you submit.
In the first 24 hours
Read the whole message, including the parts you did not expect. Save it, note the score and any breakdown, and check what the message says about next steps. Then give yourself and your child a little time. Decisions about school order do not need to be made on the evening the email arrives.
Complete your Common Application Form
All state secondary school applications go through your home local authority, even if the school you want is in a different area. Your authority sets how many preferences you can list. Schools are considered fairly against each other, and your child will be offered the highest-ranked school on your list that they qualify for and that has a place, so put your true first choice first.
Include at least one school where an offer is very likely. Only the local authority sees your whole list, so schools do not know where else you have applied, and a list made up only of selective schools can leave you with a school allocated to you rather than chosen by you.
The rules differ by area, so read your council's guidance. Buckinghamshire Council says that if a child scores below 121, it will refuse grammar school preferences on the form. Medway Council says that a child assessed as non-grammar can still apply for grammar schools, but recommends naming a mixture of grammar and non-grammar schools, because a grammar place cannot be offered on National Offer Day to a child who was not assessed as suitable.
Send any extra forms and evidence
Some schools ask for more than the application form. In Buckinghamshire, families who want a school to consider Pupil Premium entitlement need to send evidence of the entitlement and the test score to the school by the deadline. In Essex, CSSE asks Pupil Premium families applying to Colchester County High School, Colchester Royal Grammar School or King Edward VI Grammar School to complete its Pupil Premium Form and return it directly to the school. In Warwickshire, proof of address is mandatory and is requested in December. Check each school's policy for anything similar.
If you are applying outside your own area
A result from one area's test generally only counts for that area's schools, and some grammar schools set their own rules for children from outside the area. Check the admissions policy for each school before you name it, and remember the application itself still goes to your home authority.
Mistakes to avoid
The most common ones are listing only grammar schools, leaving blank preferences, submitting on the last evening, and forgetting that an old address on the form can cause trouble later. A late application is processed after all on-time ones, which at a popular school usually means no offer on National Offer Day, even for a child well above the line.
If your child did not qualify, or only just missed
A result that falls short is a hard moment, and often harder for the parent than for the child. Give yourself a day before making decisions.
Then separate two questions. The first is practical: which schools can you realistically list, and are you happy with every one of them? Your local authority's admissions team can help you plan. The second is about learning. An 11+ result is a snapshot of a single morning in September, and it says very little about how your child will do in English and Maths over the next five years. Many strong GCSE and A Level students did not attend a grammar school.
If the score was close to the line
Some areas have a review or assessment route for near misses. Buckinghamshire runs a Selection Review, and Kent uses a headteacher assessment, both with their own deadlines and evidence requirements. Medway gives a right of appeal against any school on your form, including grammar schools. Check your council's page this week, because deadlines in this process are short and some fall before 31 October.
After National Offer Day, you can appeal to an independent panel against any school that refused your child a place. You will have at least 20 school days from the offer to lodge an appeal, and the best advice is to accept the place you are offered in the meantime, so your child is not left without a school if the appeal fails.
Can the result be re-marked?
Generally not. Medway, for example, does not release raw scores, paper-by-paper breakdowns, the standardisation calculation or the papers themselves, and several consortiums, including CSSE, do not offer re-marking. Reviews and appeals exist in place of re-marking, and they look at evidence about your child, not the script.
Talking to your child about the result
Children take their cue from you. Keep it short and calm, say what the result means in plain terms, and avoid language like 'passed' and 'failed' if you can. Make it clear that the result is not a measure of who they are, and that the next step is a plan, not a verdict. If they are upset, listen before you reassure.
Key dates from results to National Offer Day
- From results day: read the admissions policy for each school, and send any extra evidence or forms the school asks for.
- Friday 30 October 2026: the practical deadline for your Common Application Form. The official closing date is Saturday 31 October.
- December 2026: some areas, including Warwickshire, ask for proof of address.
- Monday 1 March 2027: National Offer Day. Councils email offers, and appeals open from this date.
- March to spring 2027: appeals are lodged. You will have at least 20 school days, and each authority sets its own closing date.
- Through 2027: waiting lists are held until at least 31 December of the year of admission. If you want a higher preference, ask to be put on the list and confirm in writing.
- May 2027: Key Stage 2 SATs.
What to do between results and National Offer Day
If your child has sat the 11+, the practice papers have done their job. The best use of the months before March, and before the SATs in May, is to work on what Year 7 will actually require.
The 11+ rewards speed and pattern spotting. Year 7 Maths rewards method and explanation. Children who clear the line on reasoning can still land in a lower set because they never learned to show their working, or because fractions, decimals, percentages, ratio and early algebra were skimmed over. Written methods and comprehension that relies on evidence from the text matter too. Some secondary schools use SATs scores to help with initial setting, so it is worth being comfortable with them.
A short weekly session of one-to-one work from January to May is often enough to close those gaps. If you would like to talk about where your child stands and what support would make sense, the OxbridgeX team can help.
If your child is in Year 4 or Year 5
Results week is the best moment to find out what the target really looks like. If you have a younger child, you can now see the format of the test, the timing, the way results arrive and how the process feels for your family. That is information you cannot get from a practice paper.
Registration dates for 2028 entry will be published by each area over the coming months. CSSE has said that its dates will be available by Easter 2027, and other areas publish on their own timetables. For most families, preparation works better when it is gradual rather than squeezed into the final term, with time to fix gaps in understanding rather than cram around them.
OxbridgeX provides online 11+ tutoring for children across the UK, matched to each child's level and the test they are preparing for. If you would like to plan ahead, get in touch with the OxbridgeX team.
11 plus results 2026: frequently asked questions
When are the 11 plus results out in 2026?
There is no national date. Buckinghamshire released results on 9 October, CSSE on 12 October after close of business, Medway on 14 October, Kent on 15 October, and Warwickshire and Birmingham on 16 October. Some areas have only given a date of mid-October, so check the council or consortium that ran your child's test.
How will I find out my child's 11 plus result?
Most areas email the address you gave when registering. Some post a letter, and Warwickshire uses its Parent Portal. Check your junk folder, and contact the office that ran the test if nothing arrives within a day or so.
What is the 11 plus pass mark?
Most areas do not have a pass mark in the usual sense. They set a qualifying standard, either in advance or after marking. Buckinghamshire uses 121, Kent and Birmingham confirm theirs once results are issued, and Essex sets a minimum total of 303 for an offer, with each school then ranking the children who reach it.
Does passing the 11 plus guarantee a grammar school place?
No. It makes your child eligible. Places are allocated after the 31 October deadline using each school's oversubscription criteria, and offers are made on National Offer Day, 1 March 2027.
What is a standardised score?
It is a raw mark adjusted for the child's age and the difficulty of the paper, so that every child is compared fairly. In many areas the scale is set so that 100 is the average of the children who sat the test.
What is a good 11 plus score?
It depends on the area, the school and the year. A good score is one that clears the qualifying standard with some room to spare and is high enough, compared with previous years, for the school you want.
What happens if my child does not pass the 11 plus?
You can still apply to non-selective schools, and some areas offer a review or assessment route for near misses. After National Offer Day you can appeal. Check your council's guidance this week, because some deadlines fall before 31 October.
Can an 11 plus result be re-marked?
Generally not. Most areas do not release raw marks or papers, and several do not re-mark. Reviews and appeals exist in its place.
When is National Offer Day 2027?
Secondary National Offer Day is Monday 1 March 2027.
What is the deadline for secondary school applications?
The national closing date is Saturday 31 October 2026. Submit by Friday 30 October to be safe, and apply through your home local authority even if the school you want is elsewhere.