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Birmingham & West Midlands grammar-school entry • 2027
Birmingham 11 Plus 2027:
West Midlands Grammar Schools Test & Practice
Birmingham grammar-school applicants now prepare for the shared
West Midlands Grammar Schools Entrance Test.
The GL Assessment test covers English comprehension, verbal reasoning,
mathematics and non-verbal/spatial reasoning, while the 19 partnership
schools continue to apply their own admissions and oversubscription rules.
This guide will help you:
partnership schools
main test papers
English + verbal weighting
current provider
On this page:
How it works
Test format
Mistakes
Six-stage plan
Skills
Timing
19 schools
Scores
Papers
FAQs
skills are secure. Image: Alison Wood / Wikimedia Commons,
CC BY 3.0.
Preparation philosophy
Prepare for the current West Midlands test — not the old Birmingham CEM exam
Older Birmingham 11 plus resources often describe the region as using
CEM. That is no longer the current entrance-test arrangement.
Participating selective schools across Birmingham, Shropshire, Walsall,
Wolverhampton and Warwickshire now use the shared
West Midlands Grammar Schools Entrance Test.
The current entrance test is provided by GL Assessment.
What useful preparation does
- Matches the current GL structure
- Develops vocabulary and comprehension
- Strengthens mathematical reasoning
- Teaches verbal and visual reasoning methods
- Practises separate answer sheets
- Adds timing progressively
What it should not do
- Use obsolete Birmingham CEM-only materials
- Promise admission from a practice percentage
- Assume all 19 schools have identical thresholds
- Start with endless full mocks
- Ignore priority areas
- Confuse test registration with school application
Psychometric principle:
familiarisation should reduce irrelevant uncertainty about the assessment.
The child’s English, mathematics and reasoning capability should remain
the main source of performance.
For deeper assessment and admissions interpretation, see
RWA Birmingham & West Midlands Grammar Schools
.
Compare this region with the rest of England using the
RWA Grammar Schools in England flagship
.
2027 admissions cycle
Birmingham and West Midlands 11 plus 2027 timeline
| Stage | Parent action |
|---|---|
| Early Year 5 | Shortlist Birmingham and wider West Midlands grammar schools. |
| Year 5 | Read the individual admissions policies, including priority areas and Pupil Premium arrangements. |
| Year 5 | Register separately for the West Midlands Grammar Schools Entrance Test during the published registration window. |
| Spring–summer Year 5 | Complete diagnostic work across English, verbal reasoning, mathematics and visual reasoning. |
| Start of Year 6 | Sit the shared entrance test. |
| Autumn Year 6 | Interpret the standardised score against each target school’s admissions arrangements. |
| 31 October | Submit the secondary-school common application through the home local authority. |
Entrance-test registration and the secondary-school application
are separate. Completing one does not automatically complete
the other.
Assessment structure
What is in the West Midlands Grammar Schools test?
Candidates sit two papers, each approximately
50–60 minutes including instructions and example questions.
Each paper is divided into smaller individually timed sections.
English
Reading comprehension, vocabulary and accurate interpretation.
Verbal reasoning
Relationships between words, meanings, letters and rules.
Mathematics
Curriculum mathematics applied efficiently to unfamiliar problems.
Non-verbal / spatial
Shapes, patterns, transformations and spatial relationships.
There is no writing section. The test is multiple choice
and answers are recorded on a separate answer sheet.
booklet is not the marked document. Image: Pixabay/Wikimedia Commons,
CC0.
Score weighting
The West Midlands 50 / 25 / 25 weighting
English + verbal reasoning
mathematics
non-verbal + spatial
standardised scoring
This gives English and verbal reasoning particular importance, but parents
should not interpret the weighting as permission to neglect maths or
non-verbal reasoning.
Use weighting to decide where diagnostic attention is most valuable —
not to omit whole areas of the test.
Common mistakes
Six Birmingham 11 plus preparation mistakes
Using old CEM guidance
Current West Midlands testing is provided by GL Assessment.
Completing endless mocks
Full papers reveal weaknesses but do not automatically correct them.
No error analysis
Vocabulary, method, knowledge, timing and misreading need different
interventions.
Chasing 80–85%
A commercial paper percentage is not an official standardised score.
Ignoring priority areas
Individual schools continue to apply their own admissions rules.
Timing too early
Speed should be layered onto an accurate method, not used instead of one.
Core framework
The six-stage Birmingham 11 plus preparation model
Diagnostic familiarisation
Sample all four domains. Record unfamiliar formats, missing knowledge,
instruction errors and obvious guessing.
Method learning
Teach reliable approaches for weak question families and ask the child
to explain why the method works.
Targeted practice
Spend more time on the areas currently responsible for avoidable lost
marks.
Mixed accuracy practice
Mix domains so the child has to identify the correct approach rather
than being told what skill is required.
Timed sections
Introduce realistic section limits once methods are accurate and
reasonably automatic.
Full rehearsal and taper
Practise pacing, answer sheets and test stamina, then reduce preparation
volume before the assessment.
Targeted skills
Prepare each West Midlands test domain separately
English comprehension
Develop retrieval, inference, vocabulary in context and accurate
selection between plausible alternatives.
Verbal reasoning
Practise word relationships, classifications, analogies, codes and
structured verbal rules.
Mathematics
Secure arithmetic and curriculum knowledge before adding test-speed
pressure.
Non-verbal and spatial reasoning
Look systematically for changes in position, number, rotation,
direction, shading and relationship.
Timed sections
The real West Midlands test controls when children can move on
The official test uses individually timed sections. Instructions and timing
are delivered to candidates, and children work only on the current section.
1. Untimed
Learn the question and an accurate solution method.
2. Soft timing
Measure how long small sets take without forcing speed.
3. Test timing
Rehearse realistic section limits and moving on from difficult items.
Introduce harder timing only when the child’s explanations and accuracy
remain stable.
Partnership schools
The 19 West Midlands Grammar Schools partnership schools
Birmingham
Sutton Coldfield
Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham
Sutton Coldfield
Free Grammar School, Birmingham. Public-domain image via Wikimedia
Commons.
Shropshire, Walsall & Wolverhampton
Newport
Newport
Walsall
Walsall
Wolverhampton
Warwickshire
Alcester
Rugby
Stratford-upon-Avon
Rugby
Rugby
Stratford-upon-Avon
One test does not mean one admissions policy.
Each school can apply different priority areas, oversubscription criteria
and score-ranking rules.
Score interpretation
Do not convert practice percentages into a Birmingham pass mark
The real entrance-test sections are standardised, including adjustment
for age.
Practice percentage
Useful for monitoring progress within the same resource.
Standardised score
The transformed score generated from the official assessment.
School qualifying rule
The score or ranking condition used within a school’s admissions
policy.
Actual offer
Depends on the school’s admissions categories and the competition in
that particular year.
Remove old claims that children “need 80–85% to pass”. Commercial papers
vary in difficulty and percentage correct is not the West Midlands
standardised score scale.
Official familiarisation
Start with official West Midlands familiarisation
The partnership publishes an entrance-test familiarisation guide and links
to GL Assessment sample material.
Use these first to understand:
- how instructions are presented;
- the section structure;
- multiple-choice response recording;
- the separate answer sheet; and
- the style of the main question families.
Official familiarisation defines what the real assessment looks like.
Commercial practice should then help build and diagnose the relevant
skills.
West Midlands Grammar Schools official preparation guidance →
Practice resources
Choose Birmingham 11 plus papers by purpose
School-specific replica papers
Search for Birmingham and West Midlands school-specific resources.
Free diagnostic practice
Use short free sets to identify weaker domains before buying large
practice-paper bundles.
GL Assessment practice
Use the SET GL flagship to understand the relevant GL-style question
families.
Target the weak subject
Use individual subject resources rather than automatically assigning
another full paper.
SET + Rob Williams Assessment
Use SET for practice — RWA for test and admissions interpretation
School Entrance Tests
- practice papers;
- English;
- verbal reasoning;
- mathematics;
- non-verbal reasoning;
- timing;
- regional parent guidance.
Rob Williams Assessment
- standardised scores;
- what the test measures;
- qualification versus allocation;
- school admissions architecture;
- regional comparison;
- psychometric interpretation.
Related flagship guides
Continue your 11 plus preparation
Free 11 Plus Practice
Begin with short diagnostic practice.
GL 11 Plus Practice
Current GL-style preparation.
11 Plus English
Comprehension, vocabulary and grammar.
11 Plus Maths
Numerical fluency and problem solving.
Verbal Reasoning
Build the heavily weighted verbal domain.
Selective Schools Guide
Compare selective regions across England.
Expert guidance
Frequently asked questions
Birmingham 11 plus 2027 FAQs
Does Birmingham still use CEM?
No. The current West Midlands Grammar Schools Entrance Test is provided
by GL Assessment.
How many schools are in the West Midlands Grammar Schools partnership?
The current partnership lists 19 selective schools across Birmingham,
Shropshire, Walsall, Wolverhampton and Warwickshire.
What subjects are tested?
English comprehension, verbal reasoning, mathematics and
non-verbal/spatial reasoning.
How is the test weighted?
English and verbal reasoning together contribute 50%, mathematics 25%,
and non-verbal/spatial reasoning 25%.
Is there a writing paper?
No. The current test is multiple choice.
Do children use a separate answer sheet?
Yes. Only the separate answer sheet is marked, so answer-recording
familiarisation is important.
Can the same test be used for Birmingham and Warwickshire schools?
The shared partnership test supports participating schools across both
areas, but each school still applies its own admissions policy.
Does 80% on a practice paper mean my child will pass?
No. Commercial practice percentages are not equivalent to official
standardised West Midlands test scores.
Are scores age standardised?
Yes. The test standardises section scores to take account of age
differences within the cohort.
Does a strong test score guarantee a grammar-school place?
No. Individual schools apply their own ranking, priority-area and
oversubscription criteria.
Where should preparation begin?
Begin with official familiarisation and short diagnostic work across all
four domains before moving towards full timed papers.
Your next step
Prepare for the shared test — then target the right grammar schools
Identify the West Midlands grammar schools you are realistically
considering, check their current admissions criteria, diagnose all four
test domains and build weaker skills before introducing realistic
GL-style timing.
Updated for the 2027 Birmingham and West Midlands grammar-school admissions
cycle. School admissions criteria, priority areas and test administration can
change. Always confirm the current position with West Midlands Grammar
Schools and the individual school.