How grammar school entry works
Grammar schools in England select students based on the 11+ exam, but the process varies significantly by area. Some regions have their own consortium tests; others allow individual schools to set their own papers.
Kent
Kent is the largest fully selective Local Education Authority in England. The Kent Test is sat in September of Year 6. It covers Maths, English, and Reasoning using GL Assessment papers. Children who pass are eligible to apply to any Kent grammar school through the standard admissions process.
Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire also operates a fully selective system through the Secondary Transfer Test (STT). The test is sat in September and covers Verbal Reasoning, Non-Verbal Reasoning, English, and Maths. All state secondary schools in Buckinghamshire are either grammar or secondary modern.
Birmingham and the West Midlands
The West Midlands does not operate a county-wide selective system. Individual grammar schools — including King Edward VI schools — run their own admissions tests. Each school sets its own paper and manages its own applications, so families typically apply to multiple schools with different test formats on different dates.
Preparing across formats
Because different schools use different formats, many families in competitive areas prepare for both GL Assessment and CEM simultaneously. ExamVerge allows you to filter papers by exam board so you can work on the specific format each target school uses.