UK 11-Plus Exam 2026 Kent GL and CEM Guide for Parents

At a glance

• The 11-Plus is the entrance exam for grammar schools in England, taken in Year 6 at age 10 or 11.
• The 2026 Kent Test is on Thursday 10 September 2026, with results sent to parents in mid-October.
• Kent uses the GL Assessment format covering English, Maths, Verbal Reasoning, and Non-Verbal Reasoning.
• Recommended prep window is 12 to 18 months starting in Year 5, at 4 to 6 hours per week of focused practice.
• Tuition cost in 2026 ranges from 200 to 3,000 British pounds, with exam registration fees of 50 to 150 pounds.
• Kent's aggregate pass threshold typically lands between 380 and 420 standardised across the four papers, depending on the year.

The UK 11-Plus exam in 2026 is the entrance test for grammar schools and other selective secondary schools in England. In Kent, around 30 grammar schools use the test for Year 7 entry, and the format follows the GL Assessment 11-Plus structure with four separate papers in English, Maths, Verbal Reasoning, and Non-Verbal Reasoning.

This guide covers the 2026 Kent Test in detail: the exam date and registration timeline, the subjects and test format, the pass mark and how scoring works, the difference between GL and CEM test providers, and a 12 to 18 month prep plan for parents whose children are starting in Year 5. It also covers the cost of tuition and the practical steps to register before the early-July deadline.

What the 11-Plus is in 2026

The 11-Plus is the name for the entrance exam used by grammar schools and other selective secondary schools in England. The exam is taken in Year 6, when children are 10 or 11 years old, and the results are used to allocate Year 7 places at the grammar schools in the local area.

The 11-Plus is not a single national exam. Each local authority sets its own test, and the format and content depend on which test provider the authority uses. The two main providers in England are GL Assessment and CEM, with a small number of schools using the ISEB Common Entrance exam for independent school entry.

The national pass rate for the 11-Plus is roughly 15 to 20 percent of Year 6 students, depending on the year and the local authority. In Kent, the pass rate is higher than the national average because Kent has a higher density of grammar schools, with around 30 grammar schools in the county compared to the typical 5 to 10 in most other English counties.

Kent grammar schools and the Kent Test

Kent has the largest grammar school system in England, with around 30 grammar schools that take Year 7 entry based on the Kent Test. The grammar schools include Wilmington Grammar School for Boys, Wilmington Grammar School for Girls, Dartford Grammar School, Dartford Grammar School for Girls, Gravesend Grammar School for Boys, Gravesend Grammar School for Girls, and many others across the county.

All Kent grammar schools use the same Kent Test for Year 7 entry, with the result used as the basis for ranking and allocation. Children who live in Kent and are in Year 6 are eligible to sit the test, regardless of which primary school they attend.

Some Kent grammar schools are super-selective, meaning they set a higher pass threshold than the county average. The pass threshold for each school is set by the school's admissions policy and is published each year on the school's website and on the Kent County Council admissions page.

A small number of Kent grammar schools are faith schools, with separate faith-based admissions criteria that sit alongside the academic Kent Test. The faith-based criteria are usually applied after the academic pass mark has been met, and the application process is handled separately by the school.

GL Assessment vs CEM in 2026

GL Assessment and CEM are the two main 11-Plus test providers in England, and the choice of provider depends on the local authority. Kent uses GL Assessment for the 2026 Kent Test, with the format covering English, Maths, Verbal Reasoning, and Non-Verbal Reasoning in four separate papers.

GL Assessment tests follow a fixed format that has been used for more than 15 years. The English paper covers reading comprehension, vocabulary, spelling, and punctuation. The Maths paper covers Key Stage 2 content with some extension questions. The Verbal Reasoning paper covers word puzzles, codes, and logical sequences. The Non-Verbal Reasoning paper covers pattern matching and spatial reasoning.

CEM tests follow a different format that was used in Kent before the 2017 change to GL Assessment. CEM tests combine the subjects into mixed papers and rotate the content year to year, which makes them harder to coach for but also more variable. A small number of local authorities in England still use CEM tests, but Kent is not one of them.

For parents preparing a child for the Kent Test, GL Assessment practice materials are the right resource. The official GL Assessment website publishes free sample papers, and most 11-Plus tuition providers use GL Assessment format as the standard for Kent prep.

11-Plus subjects and test format for 2026

The 2026 Kent Test covers four subjects in four separate papers, each timed at 50 to 60 minutes with a short break between papers. The English paper covers reading comprehension (one long passage with multiple-choice questions), vocabulary (synonyms and word meaning), spelling, and punctuation.

The Maths paper covers Key Stage 2 content (the Year 6 national curriculum), with some extension questions that go beyond the standard Year 6 syllabus. Topics include arithmetic, fractions, decimals, percentages, geometry, measurement, and basic algebra. The questions are multiple-choice, with four options per question.

The Verbal Reasoning paper covers word puzzles, codes, logical sequences, and English vocabulary. Topics include synonyms, antonyms, analogies, hidden words, letter patterns, and number patterns. The questions are multiple-choice with four options per question.

The Non-Verbal Reasoning paper covers pattern matching, spatial reasoning, and visual logic. Topics include shape sequences, rotation, reflection, code matching, and 3D visualisation. The questions are multiple-choice with four options per question.

Each paper is 50 to 60 minutes long, with the full test taking about 4 hours including breaks. The papers are administered at the child's primary school or at a designated test centre, and the test is taken once per child. There is no opportunity to retake the test in the same academic year.

11-Plus exam dates and registration 2026

The 2026 Kent Test is scheduled for Thursday 10 September 2026, with results sent to parents in mid-October. The registration window opens in June 2026 and closes in early July, with the exact date published on the Kent County Council website each spring.

Registration is done online through the Kent County Council admissions portal, with parents needing to provide the child's name, date of birth, current primary school, and home address. Children who are not currently attending a Kent primary school can still register, but the process is handled through the KCC admissions team directly.

Late applications are not accepted under any circumstances, so parents should register by the first week of July to avoid missing the deadline. The KCC website shows a real-time count of applications received, and the portal typically closes at midnight on the published deadline date.

After the test in September, results are sent by post to the child's home address in mid-October. The result letter shows the standardised score for each of the four papers, the aggregate score, and whether the child has met the pass threshold for any of the Kent grammar schools. Parents then list their preferred schools through the KCC secondary school application portal, with the deadline usually in late October.

Pass marks and how scoring works in Kent

Kent uses a standardised score system for the 11-Plus, with a maximum of 140 per subject and a pass threshold that varies by school and year. The county-wide pass mark is typically around 380 to 420 in aggregate across the four papers, with the most selective schools requiring closer to 430 or higher.

The standardised score accounts for the child's age within the Year 6 cohort, so a younger child who scores the same raw mark as an older child will receive a slightly higher standardised score. This is designed to make the test fair for summer-born children who are nearly a year younger than their autumn-born classmates.

Each grammar school sets its own pass threshold based on the school's admissions policy. Super-selective schools like Dartford Grammar School and Wilmington Grammar School set higher thresholds, while less selective schools set thresholds closer to the county average. Parents should check each school's individual admissions policy for the exact threshold.

If a child does not meet the pass threshold for their preferred school, the child can still be considered for a place at a less selective grammar school, depending on availability. The KCC allocation system ranks all children by aggregate score and allocates places in order of preference until each school is full.

A 12 to 18 month prep plan for parents

Most tutors and grammar schools recommend 12 to 18 months of preparation starting in Year 5, with a steady 4 to 6 hours per week of focused practice. Children who start in Year 4 or earlier tend to burn out before the September test date, while children who start in the summer before Year 6 usually do not have enough time to cover the full syllabus.

A typical 12-month prep plan starts in September of Year 5 with a baseline assessment to identify the child's strengths and weaknesses across the four subjects. From October to December, the focus is on English and Maths, with 1 to 2 hours per week on each subject. From January to March of Year 6, the focus shifts to Verbal and Non-Verbal Reasoning, with 1 to 2 hours per week on each.

From April to June of Year 6, the focus is on practice papers and timed conditions. Most prep providers recommend 1 to 2 full practice papers per week, with a 50 to 60 minute timed session for each. The summer before the September test should be a consolidation period with 1 to 2 papers per week and light revision, not intensive new content.

For parents who cannot afford tuition, free resources include the GL Assessment sample papers on the official website, the BBC Bitesize Key Stage 2 English and Maths resources, and a small number of free practice papers published by individual tutors. Online subscription services like Atom Learning and 11 Plus Guide cost 20 to 30 pounds per month and are a more affordable alternative to in-person tuition.

Common mistakes to avoid in 11-Plus prep

The first mistake is starting too early. Children who start formal 11-Plus prep in Year 3 or Year 4 often develop test anxiety and lose interest in school by the time the test arrives. The right start is September of Year 5, with light touch practice before then.

The second mistake is over-focusing on one subject. Children who spend 80 percent of their prep time on Maths or English often score well on those subjects but fall behind on Verbal and Non-Verbal Reasoning, which are the most coachable subjects in the 12 to 18 month window. Balance the four subjects from the start.

The third mistake is neglecting reading for pleasure. Children who read widely score noticeably higher on the English and Verbal Reasoning papers than children who do not. Set a target of 30 minutes of independent reading per day from Year 4 onwards, and avoid making the reading list purely 11-Plus focused.

The fourth mistake is taking the test without a mock exam. Most children benefit from at least 6 to 8 full timed practice papers in the two months before the test. Children who have not done a full timed paper under exam conditions often run out of time on the real test, which costs them easy marks in the final third of each paper.

The fifth mistake is ignoring the Kent County Council admissions process. The test is only one part of the application: the school preference list, the faith criteria (for faith schools), and the medical and social criteria all need to be addressed in the KCC application. Start the KCC process in June, not September.

Bottom line

The UK 11-Plus exam in 2026 is the GL Assessment Kent Test, taken on Thursday 10 September 2026, with results in mid-October. The test covers English, Maths, Verbal Reasoning, and Non-Verbal Reasoning, with a county-wide pass mark of around 380 to 420 standardised in aggregate.

Start prep in September of Year 5, run for 12 to 18 months, with 4 to 6 hours per week of focused practice across all four subjects. Use the GL Assessment sample papers as the primary resource, supplement with BBC Bitesize for English and Maths, and run 6 to 8 full timed mock papers in the two months before the test.

Register online through the Kent County Council portal in June, with the deadline in early July. Check each school's individual admissions policy for the exact pass threshold, and apply through the KCC secondary school application portal in late October after the test results arrive.