What percentage do you need to pass the 11 Plus (11+)?

Why there’s no national pass mark

Every grammar school area sets its own exam, in its own format, marked its own way. Some use multiple-choice papers scored by machine; a few, like Essex’s CSSE exam, include written answers marked by hand. The number of questions, the time allowed and the subjects covered all vary, so a raw percentage from one area’s paper means something completely different from another’s.

Even within one area, the score needed for a place moves from year to year, depending on how many children apply and how they perform. A percentage that would have secured a place two years ago might not this year, and a lower one can be enough in a weaker year.

How the score works

Grammar schools convert your child’s raw marks into a standardised score, typically on a scale centred on 100, age-adjusted, so that a child born in September isn’t advantaged over one born the following August. A score of 100 is average for the year group; well above that is a strong result, well below it a weak one, and the exact cut-off for a place is set by each school.

As a rough guide, scores of 80 or below tend to sit in the bottom tenth of a year group, 100 is the middle, and 120 or above tends to sit in the top tenth, with the highest scores climbing further still. That gives you a sense of scale, and it isn’t the same as a qualifying score: a child can post a strong standardised score and still miss out on a place, because oversubscription criteria and the number of places available also come into it.

Our guide to standardised scores covers how the conversion works and how to read your child’s results once they arrive. Read it before results day; a headline score means very little without the context.

What decides a place

Reaching a school’s qualifying score doesn’t guarantee a place on its own. For most grammar schools, it means your child can be listed as a preference on your Common Application Form. Places are then offered according to each school’s published oversubscription criteria, which typically rank catchment area, siblings already at the school and, in some cases, eligibility for free school meals alongside, or above, the exam score.

Every school publishes its own admissions policy, usually on its website, setting out exactly how it ranks applicants. Reading it before you apply tells you far more than any rumoured pass percentage.

Top tips

• Read your target school’s admissions policy directly rather than relying on a rumoured pass mark.
• Don’t measure home practice percentages against a published qualifying score; without a cohort there’s nothing to standardise against.
• Ask the school how its papers are weighted; the answer tells you where the practice time should go.
• A qualifying score changes most years, so treat last year’s figure as a rough guide only.
• Aim the practice at accuracy and pace across the whole paper, rather than at a number.

How to prepare

One of the most effective ways to prepare for an 11+ entrance exam is to use practice tests written by experts. We publish a full range of 11+ revision resources: area and school-specific practice tests, subject-specific packs, spelling and vocabulary resources, and reading books.

Each of our practice tests:

• is available as a PDF download or in physical format
• familiarises your child with the types of questions they will face in the real exam
• includes answers to every question, with detailed, step-by-step explanations for the maths and reasoning questions
• builds your child’s confidence before the actual exam.

Use the finder below to jump straight to the papers for your child’s school or area.

Find papers for your school or area

Grammar schools and area tests

• Bexley
• Bishop Wordsworth’s
• Buckinghamshire
• CSSE
• Ermysted’s
• Gloucestershire
• Henrietta Barnett
• Kent
• QE Boys
• Redbridge
• Slough Consortium
• St Olave’s
• Sutton
• The Latymer School
• Tiffin School & Tiffin Girls’ School
• Trafford
• West Midlands

Independent schools

• City of London School for Girls
• Hampton
• Latymer Upper
• Merchant Taylors’
• St Paul’s Girls’ School
• St Paul’s Juniors