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Leading Tuition provides specialist 11+ preparation for the most competitive grammar schools across England. Whether your child is sitting the Stage One and Stage Two tests for Tiffin, the Sutton SET, the Slough Consortium test, the Kent Test, or Buckinghamshire's Secondary Transfer Test, our tutors know these specific exams in depth — not just the 11+ in general.
Select your target school or consortium below to find detailed preparation guidance, exam format information, and how we can help.
Sitting the Tiffin tests in autumn 2026?
Registration for September 2027 entry has now closed at both Tiffin schools. Stage One dates are 1 and 2 October 2026 at The Tiffin Girls' School and 2 October 2026 at Tiffin School, and the council application deadline is 31 October 2026. Our 11+ tutors prepare children for both stages. 91% of our students achieve their desired grades, and we are rated 4.8 out of 5 on Trustpilot from 59 reviews, read on 3 October 2026.
Book a Free ConsultationThe 11+ is a selective entrance examination taken in Year 6 (aged 10–11) for entry into grammar schools and selective independent schools. There is no single national format. Some tests serve a whole county or group of schools — the Kent Test, Buckinghamshire's Secondary Transfer Test, the Slough Consortium test and the Sutton SET — while other schools run their own. Many of the shared tests come from a specialist provider: Buckinghamshire and Slough use GL Assessment, and Bexley's test comes from Quest Assessments. Understanding which test your child will sit is the essential first step, because the question styles, timing and weighting differ significantly between them.
The Department for Education's register of schools lists 163 state-funded secondary schools in England with a selective admissions policy. The largest numbers are in Kent (32), Lincolnshire (15) and Buckinghamshire (13), and 19 are in London, spread across seven boroughs. Hertfordshire has none on the register, although Dame Alice Owen's School, for one, selects part of its intake by ability. Demand has grown at Tiffin School, for example: it tested 1,654 boys at Stage One for 2024 entry and 1,866 for 2026 entry.
For September 2027 entry, the main shared tests, one school-set test and the independent schools' ISEB Pre-Test break down as follows. Knowing which applies to your target school determines everything from the practice materials you buy to the skills your child prioritises.
| Test | Supplied or organised by | What it covers | Test date, September 2027 entry |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kent Test | Kent County Council (registration and results) | An English and maths paper; a reasoning paper with verbal and non-verbal sections; a writing exercise that is not marked | Thursday 10 September 2026 (Kent primary pupils); weekend of 12 and 13 September 2026 (others) |
| Buckinghamshire Secondary Transfer Test | GL Assessment, for the 13 Buckinghamshire grammar schools | A verbal paper (comprehension, technical English, verbal reasoning) and a maths and non-verbal paper; verbal skills are 50% of the score | Thursday 10 September 2026 |
| Slough Consortium test | GL Assessment, for four Slough grammar schools | Two papers mixing verbal and non-verbal reasoning, English and maths | Saturday 19 September 2026 |
| Sutton SET | The six participating Sutton schools | Multiple-choice maths and English; no verbal or non-verbal reasoning | Tuesday 15 September 2026 |
| Redbridge 11+ test | GL Assessment, for Ilford County High and Woodford County High | English and verbal reasoning; maths and non-verbal reasoning | Friday 18 September 2026 |
| Bexley Selection Test | Quest Assessments, for four Bexley grammar schools | Verbal ability and English comprehension, numerical reasoning, non-verbal reasoning | 2 to 10 September 2026 |
| Tiffin School Stage One | Tiffin School, with Quest | English (multiple choice) and maths (multiple choice or numerical) | Friday 2 October 2026 |
| ISEB Pre-Tests | ISEB, for many independent schools | Four online, adaptive assessments: maths, English, verbal reasoning, non-verbal reasoning | — |
Source: Kent County Council, Buckinghamshire Council, Herschel Grammar School for the Slough Consortium, the Sutton SET schools, Redbridge and Bexley councils, Tiffin School and ISEB, retrieved 25 and 26 September 2026.
Tests from the same supplier still differ: Redbridge's GL Assessment papers pair English with verbal reasoning and maths with non-verbal reasoning, while the Sutton SET has no verbal or non-verbal reasoning at all. School-set papers vary further, and some are rewritten every year: Tiffin School says it works with Quest to create a bespoke test "which also changes annually". Cambridge now sells its former CEM tests as Cambridge Select Insight, which it describes as designed for selective independent schools, partially selective state schools, grammar schools and fair-banding schools; the only version it describes specifically for grammar schools is a late-transfer test for entry into Years 8, 9 and 10. Preparation must always be tailored to the specific target school rather than the 11+ in general. The same holds across the independent sector: Brighton College assesses Year 7 candidates on an Academic Assessment Day in December and a separate interview and activities day in January, while Bedford School sets an entrance assessment and an activities morning in January for a place in Year 7 of Bedford Prep School rather than the Upper School.
For September 2027 entry, the first-stage grammar school tests fall in September and October 2026 and are sat by children in Year 6. Registration closed well before the tests: Buckinghamshire's on 2 June 2026, Kent's on 1 July, the Sutton SET's on 31 July and The Tiffin Girls' School's at noon on 1 September. Children aiming at September 2028 entry are in Year 5 in the 2026–27 school year. We usually recommend starting structured preparation in Year 4 or early Year 5 — approximately 12 to 18 months before the exam date. This timeline allows enough time to:
Children aiming for the most competitive schools — Tiffin, QE Barnet, Henrietta Barnett, or Manchester Grammar — typically need a longer preparation window and a higher baseline ability than those targeting less oversubscribed grammar schools. Our specialist tutors assess each child’s starting point and build a preparation plan that is realistic for the timeline available.
Preparing for the 11+?
Our specialist tutors prepare children for the test their target school actually uses — the Kent Test, Buckinghamshire's Secondary Transfer Test, the Sutton SET, the Slough Consortium test, the Tiffin tests and school-set papers for grammar and independent schools across England. We build personalised preparation plans based on your child’s current level and target school.
Rated 4.8 out of 5 on Trustpilot. Our students have achieved a 95%+ offer rate in selective school entry.
Book a Free Consultation Message us on WhatsAppThe main county and consortium tests for September 2027 entry did not share a date: the Kent Test was on Thursday 10 September 2026 for pupils at Kent primary schools, Buckinghamshire's Secondary Transfer Test on the same day, the Sutton SET on Tuesday 15 September, the Redbridge test on Friday 18 September and the Slough Consortium test on Saturday 19 September. Buckinghamshire's results date is 9 October 2026 and Kent's is Thursday 15 October 2026. Registration for all five had closed by 31 July 2026. Where a family sits more than one of those systems, our city guides work through the overlap: 11+ tuition in Slough covers the Consortium test at an eligibility score of 111 alongside Buckinghamshire's Secondary Transfer Test at 121, 11+ tuition in Reading works Reading School, Kendrick and the local independents into one timetable across three separate test dates, and 11+ tuition in London covers the super-selective, Consortium and ISEB Pre-Test routes together.
Independent schools run their own timetables, and each school guide below gives that school's dates. Haberdashers’ and Dame Alice Owen’s do not use the ISEB Common Pre-Test: Haberdashers’ first-round QUEST assessment sits in November, and Dame Alice Owen’s Governors’ Entrance Examination for 2027 entry has two parts: Verbal Reasoning on 1 September 2026 and English and Mathematics on 26 September 2026. We recommend checking the admissions page of each target school directly — dates shift year on year, and a missed registration deadline usually cannot be recovered. Every school-specific guide in this hub links to the official admissions source.
Leading Tuition’s specialist tutors do not offer generic 11+ tuition. Every programme is built around the specific exam your child will sit. Our tutors begin with a diagnostic session to establish baseline performance in verbal reasoning, non-verbal reasoning, mathematics, and English, then design a week-by-week preparation plan aligned to the target school’s format and the time available before the registration deadline.
Progress is tracked through regular timed mock exams that replicate real exam conditions — same question count, same time pressure, same paper format as the target school. This builds both competence and confidence, reducing the anxiety that affects many children on exam day. Our introduction to the 11+ exam and 11+ exam dates guide are free resources available on our blog. Parents can also explore our 11+ tuition service page for an overview of how sessions are structured, or browse the school guides above to find preparation guidance for a specific school or consortium.
Alongside our school-by-school guides below, these are the 11+ resources families find most useful when working out what score they actually need and how the scoring system works:
Official Resources
Book a free consultation and we’ll help you find the right support for your child.
Book a Free ConsultationWe publish a dedicated 11+ guide for each of the schools below, covering the exam format each school or consortium actually uses, its published admissions criteria and how families prepare for it.
Living outside the UK? Our 11+ guide for families abroad sets out, area by area, where a child living overseas can sit each test and what an overseas address does to an application for September 2027 entry.
The 11+ is a selective entrance examination taken by children in Year 6 (aged 10–11) for entry to grammar schools and selective independent schools. There is no single national format: some tests serve a whole county or group of schools, such as the Kent Test or Buckinghamshire's Secondary Transfer Test, and some schools run their own. The content differs too: the Sutton SET is multiple-choice maths and English with no verbal or non-verbal reasoning, while the Kent Test includes a reasoning paper. Choosing target schools and knowing each one's test are the first steps in any preparation plan.
It depends on the test. The Kent Test is an English and maths paper plus a reasoning paper with verbal and non-verbal sections. Buckinghamshire's Secondary Transfer Test has a verbal paper and a maths and non-verbal paper, with verbal skills counting for 50% of the score. The Redbridge test pairs English with verbal reasoning and maths with non-verbal reasoning. The Sutton SET and the Tiffin schools' tests are English and maths only. Some schools add written papers at a second stage, so check your target school's own description before choosing practice material.
Several shared 11+ tests come from GL Assessment, including Buckinghamshire's Secondary Transfer Test, the Slough Consortium test and the Redbridge test; Bexley's comes from Quest Assessments, and Tiffin School works with Quest on a bespoke test that changes annually. Warwickshire County Council moved its grammar school applicants to a GL Assessment 11+ for September 2023 entry, after a joint procurement with The Schools of King Edward VI Foundation when its previous contract with CEM ended. Cambridge now sells its former CEM tests as Cambridge Select Insight. The supplier matters less than the test itself: prepare for the format your target school describes.
We usually recommend starting structured 11+ preparation in Year 4 or early Year 5, approximately 12 to 18 months before the examination. That leaves time to cover every question type, build stamina for timed papers and complete at least six full mock exams before the real sitting. Children aiming at September 2028 entry are in Year 5 in the 2026–27 school year. For the most oversubscribed schools a longer runway helps: The Henrietta Barnett School's 2027-28 admissions policy records 3,121 applications for 104 places in 2025. Starting in the final term before the exam rarely leaves enough time to fix genuine weaknesses.
The main county and consortium tests fell on different days: the Kent Test on Thursday 10 September 2026 for pupils at Kent primary schools, Buckinghamshire's Secondary Transfer Test the same day, the Sutton SET on Tuesday 15 September, the Redbridge test on Friday 18 September and the Slough Consortium test on Saturday 19 September. Buckinghamshire's results date is 9 October 2026 and Kent's is 15 October 2026. Registration for all five had closed by 31 July 2026. Independent schools run their own timetables, so check each school's guide for its dates.
Leading Tuition provides specialist 11+ tuition built around the exact test your child will sit, whether that is a county test such as the Kent Test, a consortium test such as the Sutton SET or a school's own papers. We start with a diagnostic assessment, build a personalised preparation plan around your child's current level and the time available, and run regular timed mock exams under real exam conditions. 91% of our students achieve their desired grades, and our students have achieved a 95%+ offer rate in selective school entry. Book a free consultation to discuss your child's preparation.
Book a free consultation and we’ll help you find the right support for your child.
Book a Free Consultation