Free tool · England
11+ application checklist
Every step from registering for the 11+ to offer day, waiting lists and appeals, in order, with your area's dates. Tick each one off as you go, and add all the dates to your phone's calendar.
Your area and year
The steps, in order
Choose your area above to see its dates under each step.
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- Step 1
Look at the grammar schools your child could travel to, read each one's admissions policy (catchment or distance rules, and which 11+ test it uses) and go to open days if you can.
Find schools near you - Step 2
Registering for the test is separate from applying for a school place. Register with each test your schools use, before the closing date, and ask for any access arrangements your child needs when you register.
- Step 3
Check the letter or email about the test centre, the start time and what to bring. A good night's sleep and a calm morning help more than last-minute practice.
Exam day helper - Step 4
In most of England, results arrive before the council application closes, so you can decide which schools to put down.
- Step 5
List your schools in order of preference on your own council's secondary application, including any grammar schools, even ones in another area. In England the deadline is 31 October.
- Step 6
Your council tells you which school your child has been offered on National Offer Day, 1 March (or the next working day).
- Step 7
Accept the place you've been offered by the date in your council's letter, even if you hope for another school. Ask to join the waiting list of any school you'd rather have.
- Step 8
You can appeal for any school that refused a place. The admission authority sets the deadline, which must give you at least 20 school days from the date of your refusal letter.
How appeals work
Reminders
Choose your area to add every date to your phone or computer calendar, with reminders before closing dates. Other parents share reminders in our Facebook group and WhatsApp community too.
General information, not legal advice. Each test organiser, council and admission authority sets its own dates and rules, so always check their websites and the letters they send you. Northern Ireland and Wales have their own arrangements.
Applying for grammar schools: questions parents ask
Is registering for the 11+ the same as applying for a school?
No. In most areas they are two separate steps. You register your child for the 11+ test with the test organiser (often in the spring or early summer of Year 5), and then apply for school places on your council's secondary school application, which in England closes on 31 October of Year 6.
When is the secondary school application deadline in England?
31 October in the year your child is in Year 6. You apply to your own council, listing your schools in order of preference, including grammar schools in other areas.
When will we find out which school we've been offered?
On National Offer Day, 1 March (or the next working day if it falls at a weekend). Your council sends the offer, usually by email if you applied online.
What if we don't get the grammar school we wanted?
Accept the place you've been offered so your child has a school, join the waiting list for the schools you'd prefer, and consider an appeal. You have at least 20 school days from the date of your refusal letter to lodge an appeal.
Is it the same in Northern Ireland?
No. Northern Ireland has its own transfer tests and timetable, and you apply through the Education Authority rather than a council. The steps on this page show the test dates we've checked, but follow the Education Authority's own dates for applications, placements and appeals.