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Which grammar schools can your child apply to?

Enter your postcode and pick up to five schools. See what it takes to qualify, and what actually decides an offer.

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Rules last checked 25 September 2026 against school and council pages. Always confirm on the official page before you apply.

Qualifying, offers and catchment, explained

Which 11+ schools can my child apply to?

Schools outside your own council area too: Kent tests children living anywhere in England, and Bexley's test is open to all children wherever they live. Your child must sit each school's test by its registration deadline, and you name every school on your home council's application. Single-sex schools admit only boys or only girls, and some schools give most places to children in a priority area, so check both before you register.

Does passing the 11+ guarantee a grammar school place?

No. Passing makes your child eligible. Kent, Medway, Wirral and Bexley councils all say so. In Bexley the 180 highest scorers go into the top priority group for their preferred Bexley grammar school; most other places go by distance from home.

What decides who gets an offer?

Each school's own oversubscription criteria, applied in order. Some rank purely by score, such as Queen Elizabeth's School in Barnet and Wilson's. Some mix score and address, such as Tiffin, Nonsuch and the King Edward VI schools in Birmingham. Buckinghamshire grammar schools do not use the score to rank at all once a child has 121.

How do catchment and priority areas work?

A school can define its area as a distance, such as 10 km for Tiffin School or 5.25 km for Nonsuch, as a list of postcodes, such as the 44 districts in Tiffin Girls' Designated Area, or as a map. Distances are measured in a straight line from your home's address point, so a postcode alone cannot settle them. Postcode lists can be checked exactly.

Do I apply to the school or the council?

Usually both. You register for the test with the school or its test group, then apply for the place on your home council's application form. For September 2027 entry most councils close on 31 October 2026; Kent's deadline is 2 November 2026. Offers come from your council on 1 March 2027.

Why do some schools say the offer rules are not checked yet?

We only show a school's ranking rules once we have read them on the school's or council's own page. Until then we show what the council says and link to where the school's rules are published.

Official sources

Every rule above comes from these council, school and test pages, last checked 25 September 2026.

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