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London school entry • 2027
London 11 Plus 2027:
Grammar Schools, Private Schools & Entrance Tests
London does not have one 11 plus exam. Families can face borough-wide
grammar-school tests, individual super-selective school exams,
two-stage selection, the London 11+ Consortium assessment,
ISEB Common Pre-Tests or school-written English and Maths papers.
This guide replaces dozens of generic borough pages with one practical
question: which London school are you applying to, and which
assessment route does it actually use?
This London guide will help you:
London grammar schools commonly counted
main grammar-school boroughs
London 11+ Consortium schools
different assessment routes
On this page:
Routes
Grammar boroughs
Barnet
Bexley
Sutton
Tiffin
Other grammars
Private schools
Consortium
Practice
FAQs
online adaptive assessment. Image: Alison Wood / Wikimedia Commons,
CC BY 3.0.
Start with the assessment route
London has four main types of 11 plus selection
Route 1
Borough grammar-school tests
Bexley and Redbridge are examples where a shared local selection
assessment supports applications to grammar schools within the
borough.
Route 2
School-specific selective tests
Queen Elizabeth’s, Henrietta Barnett, Latymer, St Olave’s,
Newstead Wood and the Tiffin schools use school-specific or
multi-stage selective routes.
Route 3
London 11+ Consortium
Fourteen independent girls’ schools share one bespoke online
assessment, while applications, references and interviews remain
school-specific.
Route 4
Other independent-school tests
London independent schools can use ISEB Common Pre-Test,
English/Maths papers, reasoning tests, interviews or combinations
of these.
The London rule:
choose the school first and the practice second.
“London 11+ practice” is too broad to define a useful preparation plan.
State-selective London
London grammar schools by borough
| Borough | Main schools | Selection route | What parents should know |
|---|---|---|---|
| Barnet | Queen Elizabeth’s; Henrietta Barnett; St Michael’s Catholic Grammar | School-specific | Three different admissions processes. Do not prepare for a supposed “Barnet test”. |
| Bexley | Beths; Bexley Grammar; Chislehurst & Sidcup; Townley | Bexley Selection Test | One local selection test supports all four grammar schools. |
| Bromley | Newstead Wood; St Olave’s | Different school-specific routes | These two schools do not simply share one Bromley 11+. |
| Enfield | The Latymer School | School-specific selection | Check Latymer’s current admissions specification directly. |
| Kingston | Tiffin School; The Tiffin Girls’ School | Multi-stage selection | Separate school processes with Stage One and later selection. |
| Redbridge | Ilford County High; Woodford County High | Redbridge Grammar School test | Shared test; individual school admissions still apply. |
| Sutton | Nonsuch; Sutton Grammar; Wallington County; Wallington High; Wilson’s | SET + second-stage assessment | Shared initial eligibility testing, followed by later school-specific assessment routes. |
There is no single useful “London grammar-school pass mark”.
These schools use different assessments, score scales, ranking rules,
geographic priorities and oversubscription criteria.
North London selection
Barnet: three selective schools, three different routes
Queen Elizabeth’s School
QE Barnet’s current Year 7 entrance examination tests
English and Mathematics.
Parents register directly with the school for testing and must
separately submit the secondary-school application through their
home local authority.
Henrietta Barnett
The first round assesses verbal reasoning, non-verbal reasoning
and English. Successful candidates progress to second-round
English and Mathematics.
St Michael’s Catholic Grammar
St Michael’s operates its own academically selective admissions
route alongside faith-based admissions requirements.
Check both the entrance-test and supplementary-form requirements
for the current year.
The main error on the old Barnet page was treating three school-specific
assessments as if they formed one regional grammar-school test.
Borough-wide selection
Bexley: one selection test, four grammar schools
Bexley is different from Barnet. Children take a common Bexley
Selection Test for eligibility across four grammar schools.
Boys
Mixed
Mixed
Girls
The current Bexley assessment covers verbal ability and English
comprehension, numerical reasoning and non-verbal reasoning.
Reaching the selective standard makes a child eligible for grammar-school
consideration but does not automatically produce a place.
Selection Test. Image: Mx. Granger / Wikimedia Commons.
Check file-page licence when uploading to the SET media library.
South London selection
Sutton: eligibility first, second-stage selection later
Sutton’s grammar-school system is especially important because the
first-stage Selective Eligibility Test is not the whole admissions
assessment.
Partially selective rather than grammar
Prepare for the stage the child is actually taking.
A first-stage eligibility paper and a later written assessment serve
different selection purposes.
Kingston selective schools
Tiffin School and The Tiffin Girls’ School
Kingston’s two highly selective schools use separate multi-stage
admissions processes rather than a generic Kingston or Surrey 11+.
Tiffin School
Tiffin publishes school-specific illustrative English and Maths
material and currently works with Quest on its Year 7 entrance tests.
Its admissions process also includes separate Music and Sporting
Aptitude routes for a limited proportion of places.
The Tiffin Girls’ School
Tiffin Girls operates Stage One followed by Stage Two for candidates
progressing through its selective process.
Geographic priority and other admissions criteria must be considered
separately from test performance.
cannot mean one common test. Image: Hugh Venables / Geograph /
Wikimedia Commons.
Other London selective schools
Bromley, Enfield and Redbridge need separate preparation
Bromley
Newstead Wood School and St Olave’s Grammar School are both highly
selective but should not be treated as one shared “Bromley test”.
Check each school’s current test stages and admissions requirements.
Enfield
The Latymer School is Enfield’s principal academically selective
state-school route.
Preparation should follow Latymer’s own current admissions
specification.
Redbridge
Ilford County High School and Woodford County High School share the
Redbridge grammar-school test.
Families register for the test separately from the eventual state
secondary-school application.
London independent schools
Private-school 11+ entry is school-specific
This is where the old borough pages were least useful.
A child applying to Highgate, Westminster, St Paul’s, King’s Wimbledon
or City of London does not sit an exam simply because the school is
located in a particular borough.
The school’s assessment architecture matters more than
the postcode.
Written English + Maths
Many schools still use traditional written entrance papers, sometimes
followed by reasoning or interview.
ISEB Common Pre-Test
Some schools use the online ISEB Common Pre-Test as an initial
selection stage before later written assessment or interview.
School-specific computer tests
Some London schools use bespoke cognitive or reasoning assessments
rather than traditional written entrance papers.
Writing
Creative or analytical writing can be assessed separately from
comprehension.
Interview
Independent schools may interview all applicants or shortlist
candidates following the test.
Reference
Current-school academic and contextual evidence can form another
part of independent-school selection.
Distinct London private-school route
The London 11+ Consortium
The London 11+ Consortium is a specific independent-school admissions
system and should not be confused with London’s state grammar schools.
Its 14 current member schools share a bespoke
online 100-minute assessment.
The assessment combines an age-standardised adaptive cognitive component
with additional problem-solving, creative and critical-thinking tasks.
Applications, references and interviews remain linked to the individual
schools.
Channing School
Francis Holland — Regent’s Park
Francis Holland — Sloane Square
Godolphin & Latymer
More House School
Northwood College for Girls
Notting Hill & Ealing High School
Queen’s College London
Queen’s Gate School
South Hampstead High School
St Augustine’s Priory
St Helen’s School
St James Senior Girls’ School
St Margaret’s School
Do not describe the current Consortium test as CEM.
The Consortium introduced its bespoke assessment for entry from 2023
onwards.
2027 admissions planning
Build a London 11 plus timeline for every school
Shortlist schools
Separate grammar schools from independent schools and identify every
distinct selection route.
Record registration deadlines
London deadlines vary dramatically. Never assume one borough or
private-school deadline applies elsewhere.
Map the test stages
Mark Stage One, Stage Two, Consortium assessment, Common Pre-Test,
interview and aptitude stages separately.
Prepare only relevant domains
English, Maths, verbal reasoning, non-verbal reasoning, writing and
online adaptive assessment are not required by every school.
Complete state-school application separately
Grammar-school testing does not replace the common secondary-school
application through the home local authority.
Apply directly to independent schools
Independent-school applications remain separate from the state-school
common application process.
London 11+ preparation
Use school-specific practice rather than borough practice
Find the actual school paper
Search by school name to find the closest available replica,
specimen or historic paper.
Free 11+ practice
Diagnose English, Maths and reasoning performance before purchasing
large paper bundles.
ISEB / Pre-Test route
If the target school uses the Common Pre-Test, prepare for that
online test rather than relying only on traditional written papers.
Independent-school finder
Use the SET independent-school flagship to identify the assessment
route and available papers for individual London schools.
Target specific weaknesses
Practise the domain causing the problem
11 Plus English
Comprehension, vocabulary, grammar and writing.
11 Plus Maths
Arithmetic, curriculum knowledge and problem solving.
Verbal Reasoning
Words, relationships, codes and verbal rules.
Free Practice
Use short tests diagnostically before full mocks.
ISEB Pre-Tests
Online adaptive independent-school preparation.
Scores & Pass Marks
Understand raw, standardised and admissions scores.
SET + Rob Williams Assessment
Use SET for practice — RWA for test interpretation
School Entrance Tests
Use SET for:
- school-specific papers;
- London application routing;
- English and Maths practice;
- reasoning practice;
- Pre-Test preparation;
- mock-paper strategy.
Rob Williams Assessment
Use RWA for:
- what selective assessments measure;
- standardised-score interpretation;
- qualification versus allocation;
- London grammar-school architecture;
- regional comparisons;
- psychometric guidance.
Expert guidance
Frequently asked questions
London 11 plus 2027 FAQs
Is there one London 11 plus exam?
No. London grammar schools and independent schools use many different
selection tests and admissions processes.
How many grammar schools are there in London?
London is commonly counted as having 19 grammar schools across Barnet,
Bexley, Bromley, Enfield, Kingston, Redbridge and Sutton.
Do London grammar schools all use GL Assessment?
No. Some use GL-related assessment components, while others use
school-specific tests or locally commissioned multi-stage assessment.
What is the London grammar-school pass mark?
There is no universal London pass mark. Different schools and boroughs
use different scales, thresholds, rankings and admissions criteria.
What is the London 11+ Consortium?
It is a group of 14 independent girls’ schools sharing one bespoke
online assessment. Candidates sit the shared assessment once even when
applying to several member schools.
Does the London 11+ Consortium still use CEM?
No. The Consortium introduced its own bespoke assessment process for
entry from September 2023 onwards.
Are Tiffin schools in Surrey?
No. Tiffin School and The Tiffin Girls’ School are in the Royal Borough
of Kingston upon Thames, although they are commonly considered by
families living in Surrey.
Are Sutton grammar schools part of a Surrey 11 plus?
No. Sutton is a London borough with its own selective testing
arrangements.
Do private schools use the same London 11 plus?
No. Independent schools can use school-written English and Maths,
ISEB Common Pre-Test, bespoke online assessment, reasoning, interviews
and references in different combinations.
How should London 11 plus preparation begin?
Shortlist the target schools first, record their exact assessment
routes and only then select practice matching those tests.
Your next step
Choose the London schools first — then choose the practice
Build a shortlist, identify each school’s exact test stages and admissions
requirements, diagnose the relevant English, Maths and reasoning skills,
and use school-specific practice rather than generic borough papers.
Updated for families researching London Year 7 entry for the 2027
admissions cycle. Test formats, registration rules, geographic priorities
and individual school admissions criteria can change. Always verify the
current arrangements directly with each target school or admission
authority.