11+ Results 2026: Dates by Region, What the Score Means and the Six-Month Decision Map to March 2027

Written for the September 2026 tests — entry to Year 7 in September 2027. Every date below is one a council, consortium or foundation has published for this cycle; school habits are labelled.

Your child sat the 11+ in September. Then nothing for a month, and then everything at once: a results email, a national application deadline days later, and decisions most families have never had to make. Here is when each region’s results land, what the number means, and what to do before National Offer Day on 1 March 2027.

11+ results dates 2026, region by region

Results go to the email address you registered with, not through the primary school, and they go out in batches — check junk first. If you have moved or changed address since registering, tell the council this week. Screenshot the email when it lands: you will need those figures for the application form, for any review, and possibly for an appeal in the spring.

What the score in the email actually means

Almost every area reports a standardised score, not a raw mark. The raw mark is adjusted for age in months, so an August-born child is compared against other August-born children rather than classmates a year older, then rescaled so the cohort average sits at 100. On the GL Assessment scale used in Kent, Buckinghamshire, Lincolnshire and Birmingham, each paper runs 69 to 141.

The number that trips parents up is 100. It is the middle of the children who sat the 11+, not of all ten-year-olds, and those who sit are self-selected and well-prepared. A child on 100 is capable, sitting mid-field in a strong group. Because the scale is built from the cohort, the line moves too: some areas publish a fixed score in advance, others confirm it once papers are marked.

Qualifying standards by area

That table splits into two games. Buckinghamshire, Kent, Medway, Lincolnshire and Birmingham are qualifying systems: clear the line and you are in the pool. Essex, Sutton and Redbridge are ranking systems, with only a position in a queue you cannot see. Our ranked guide to UK grammar schools shows how competitive each is.

“Qualified” is not the same as “has a place”

Kent County Council says it plainly in its own leaflet: an assessment does not guarantee a place. Once the extra selective rule has done its work, ordinary oversubscription criteria decide who gets in.

• Catchment or priority area. A qualified child outside a school’s named area sits behind every qualified child inside it.
• Siblings, then distance. A popular grammar can fill entirely on qualified children living close by.
• Rank. Super-selectives — Sutton, Redbridge, the King Edward VI grammars, several in Essex — order qualified children by score and take the top group. Clearing a county standard means nothing there.

So the useful question in October is not “did we pass?” but “what was the lowest score, or furthest distance, that got an offer here last March?” CSSE publishes exactly that on results day; elsewhere it sits in each school’s determined admission arrangements and the council’s allocation statistics.

The decision map: October 2026 to March 2027

One rule about the form itself: every English council uses equal preference, so listing a grammar at the top costs you nothing below it. Listing only grammars does cost you — if no preference can offer, the council allocates the nearest school with a space left. Put the grammar first, then a non-selective school you would genuinely accept.

Just missed, or want to challenge it?

Near-miss routes, before offer day. Buckinghamshire runs a parent-initiated Selection Review with a hard deadline of Friday 30 October; the council says the most successful cases score 110 to 120, and panels want the headteacher’s summary sheet and school data. Kent’s headteacher panel meets before results go out, so the 15 October email already reflects it. CSSE will not re-mark. The deadlines are in our guide to the near-miss routes after the 11+.

Formal appeals, after offer day. From 1 March 2027 you can appeal to an independent panel against any school that refused a place. At a selective school the panel must first be satisfied your child is of the required academic ability — test scores, school reports, the primary head’s view — and only then weighs the school’s reasons against yours.

What Year 6 should do now the test is over

Stop the papers. The reasoning practice has done its job and there is no second sitting. Two pieces of work are worth doing before July, and neither is 11+ related.

The first is SATs. Key Stage 2 tests run Monday 10 to Thursday 13 May 2027, and secondaries lean on those scaled scores more than parents expect — often for initial Year 7 sets, before any teacher has met your child. A child drilled in reasoning can be rusty on long division, written methods and evidence-based comprehension.

The second gap is specific: fractions, decimals and percentages as one system, ratio, and the first steps of algebra. 11+ maths rewards speed and pattern-spotting; Year 7 maths rewards method and explanation, and children who cleared the line on reasoning can land in a lower set by Christmas because they never learned to show working. One lesson a week from January to June is usually enough — one-to-one, live on video and recorded, so your child can rewatch what they missed. For the first weeks, read how to help your child settle into Year 7; if the region is what you are still working out, start with the 11+ guide by region, then the Kent Test or the Essex CSSE.

FAQ

Is 118 a pass?

It depends where you live. In Buckinghamshire 118 is below the qualifying score of 121, though inside the 110–120 band most successful Selection Reviews come from. In Kent one paper at 118 clears the 106 minimum, but qualification rests on the aggregate: 332 across three papers averages about 111, so it helps only if the other two hold up. In Lincolnshire it needs at least 102 on the other paper to reach 220. In Birmingham it is well short of 205. In Essex, Sutton or Redbridge there is no pass at all.

When exactly do the emails arrive?

Lincolnshire and Buckinghamshire both send on Friday 9 October, Buckinghamshire after 4pm. CSSE goes out after close of business on Monday 12 October and asks parents to allow 24 hours. Medway sends after 10am on Wednesday 14 October, Kent after 4pm on Thursday 15 October, King Edward VI by Friday 16 October. Sutton, Redbridge, Trafford, Warwickshire and Gloucestershire say only “mid-October”.

What if we missed the Common Application Form deadline?

Submit it immediately, then ring the admissions team the same day. Late applications are processed after every on-time one, which at an oversubscribed grammar usually means no offer on 1 March even for a child well above the line. Some councils treat a late form as on time where there is a genuine reason, such as a house move, so ask.

Can we get the paper re-marked?

Generally not. CSSE schools have a joint policy of not re-marking, and Buckinghamshire is explicit that a Selection Review examines evidence about your child, not the script. Review and appeal exist in re-marking’s place.

Sources

• Buckinghamshire Council (results after 4pm, 9 Oct 2026; score 121; Selection Review case by 30 Oct, panels Nov–Jan, outcomes 12 Feb 2027, successful cases 110–120).
• CSSE Information Guide for 2027 Entry, pp. 8 and 13 (results after close of business 12 Oct 2026; guidance sheet same day; no offer below 303; no re-marking). Medway Council (after 10am, 14 Oct 2026; ×2/×2/×1 on 350–700; top 25%; minimum 481 for 2026, 482 for 2025, 492 for 2024).
• Kent County Council leaflet and results page (after 4pm, 15 Oct 2026; 332 aggregate, no paper below 106; scores 69–141). King Edward VI Foundation (16 Oct 2026; 205; Priority Score 224). Lincolnshire Consortium (9 Oct 2026; 220). Redbridge, Trafford, Sutton, Warwickshire and Gloucestershire pages for mid-October.
• School Admissions Code (31 Oct closing date; equal preference; waiting lists to at least 31 December of the admission year); Appeals Code (20 school days to lodge, heard within 40); GOV.UK primary assessments future dates (KS2 10–13 May 2027).