11 Plus Access Arrangements for SEND: Evidence, Deadlines and Support

Access arrangements for the 11+ are not decided by one national panel. The process depends on the assessment and the school. Buckinghamshire Council reviews requests for its Secondary Transfer Test; CSSE decides arrangements for its Essex test; and the King Edward VI Foundation sets the process for its Birmingham grammar-school test. Hampton School handles requests for its own entrance exam. For ISEB assessments, the senior school decides arrangements, but Common Pre-Tests and Common Entrance use separate guidance.

The test organiser, the school that decides an arrangement and the legal admission authority are not always the same body. Check the current instructions for each school and assessment. An arrangement approved for one test does not automatically carry over to another.

Start here. For each school, note who receives the request, who decides it, what evidence is required and the deadline. If the documents do not answer a question, ask the admissions team. This article gives examples from the September 2027-entry cycles; those dates are not deadlines for later entry years.

Identify the process for each test

A council, group of schools, foundation or individual school may organise the test or decide requests. ISEB provides assessment systems and guidance, but senior schools using its assessments decide individual arrangements. A test-provider name alone does not tell you who will decide. Our comparison of GL, CEM and ISEB describes assessment formats; for access requests, follow the current guidance from the organiser and school.

What an arrangement can change

An access arrangement changes how a candidate can access a test. It does not by itself change a school's published qualifying score or oversubscription criteria. For example, Buckinghamshire Council's 2027-entry guidance identifies 121 as the qualifying score for its Secondary Transfer Test. That is a local threshold, not a national 11+ score, and meeting it is not a promise of a place. Each school and authority publishes its own rules.

In England and Wales, section 85 of the Equality Act 2010 covers discrimination against applicants in school admission arrangements and decisions, and says a duty to make reasonable adjustments applies. Schedule 13 requires schools to meet the first and third adjustment requirements for admission decisions: these concern policies or practices that cause substantial disadvantage and reasonable auxiliary aids. Schools are not subject to the second requirement about physical features under this school-specific schedule. How those duties apply depends on the facts and the school. See the current legislation and Schedule 13.

Evidence and normal classroom support

Several policies ask about support a child normally receives at school, but the evidence test is not identical everywhere. Buckinghamshire Council describes a normal way of working as regular classroom support, such as movement breaks. The Bournemouth and Poole guidance for September 2027 entry asks for the support used in class or internal tests and a supporting letter from the current school's SENDCo. ISEB also refers to normal classroom practice, with separate processes for its different assessments.

These examples do not establish one national evidence rule. A diagnosis or plan may be relevant, but each decision-maker specifies which documents it needs and decides the request under its own current policy. A record of support may help explain a request where that policy asks for it. Do not introduce a classroom adjustment solely to strengthen an application; discuss the child's needs and suitable support with the school.

For example, one child may have a recent assessment report and a record of an adjustment in class tests, while another child with the same diagnosis may not. A decision-maker whose policy asks about normal practice may assess those applications differently. This illustrates why the published policy matters; it does not predict an outcome or recommend a particular adjustment.

Examples from 2027-entry policies

These examples concern September 2027 entry, tested in 2026. As of 24 October 2026, the deadlines and most tests below have passed. Use them to see how procedures vary, not as dates for a later cohort.

Buckinghamshire Council. For 2027 entry, deadlines for access-arrangement requests were 2 June 2026 for state-funded Buckinghamshire primary and Partner schools, and 16 June for other schools. Headteachers submit applications; Special Access Panels review requests. The council says not to wait for a pending assessment before applying and asks schools to describe support already in place. See the council's guidance.

CSSE, Essex. For 2027 entry, CSSE published an evidence deadline of 26 June 2026 and said decisions would be communicated in September. CSSE decides arrangements centrally, using supporting evidence and the primary school's confirmation of the candidate's usual ways of working on form F3. Test centres implement approved arrangements. See CSSE's 2027-entry guidance and current forms.

King Edward VI Foundation, Birmingham. For 2027 entry, requests and supporting evidence were due by 4pm on 12 June 2026, before the test-registration deadline of 26 June. The test took place on 12 September 2026. The Foundation says the parent uploads a form with supporting evidence and school information, then an independent professional panel decides each request. See the Foundation's published timeline and reasonable-adjustments guidance for the process that applies to a later cycle.

Hampton School. For September 2027 entry, the 11+ access-arrangements deadline is 1 November 2026 and the entrance exam is scheduled for 21 November 2026. Hampton's current policy asks for a qualifying report signed within two years of the exam and evidence of provision at the candidate's current school. Up to 25% extra time may be granted in written papers where the stated evidence criteria and school support apply. Read Hampton's current guidance.

ISEB: Common Pre-Tests and Common Entrance are different. For Common Pre-Tests, senior schools decide arrangements before testing; parents submit SEND requests and evidence through the Guardian Portal. ISEB's Pre-Tests guidance describes accessibility features built into the online platform and arrangements schools may approve. Its separate Common Entrance guidance applies to CE examinations. It recommends that an Educational Psychologist report is usually no older than 24 months and says non-standard print amendments need at least a year's notice. Do not apply CE details to Common Pre-Tests. A decision for either assessment does not establish what another test will approve.

The examples also show that an access-arrangements deadline may be earlier than test registration. Ask the current organiser whether the parent, primary school or both submit the information. Our parent guide to the 11 plus explains where test registration sits in the wider application sequence.

Evidence requirements are not interchangeable

For Bournemouth and Poole grammar-school entry in September 2027 (tested in 2026), the published guidance set particular requirements for SpLD evidence, including a specialist assessment completed from the start of Year 4 onward and specified standardised-score combinations in reading or processing measures. It also lists evidence routes for other needs. These are consortium-specific thresholds, not a general clinical or legal definition. See the parent guidance and the chosen school's 2027-entry dates.

Hampton's policy asks for a report from an Educational Psychologist, a qualified specialist teacher with a current Assessment Practising Certificate or equivalent, or a medical practitioner other than a GP. It must be written and signed within two years of the entrance exam, with evidence of provision at the current school.

Before commissioning an assessment, ask the relevant school which assessor qualifications, measures, scores and report dates its current policy requires. A report that meets one school's checklist may not meet another's.

Examples of limits in specific policies

The following examples come from Bournemouth and Poole's guidance. They are not rules for all 11+ tests. That guidance does not award extra time for slow handwriting alone, does not accept a dyslexia screener alone, and does not allow dictionaries in its test. It says a supervised rest break must not be used as extra working time.

There is no single national 11+ rule that grants 25% extra time. Hampton and ISEB guidance mention 25% in their own procedures; a request must be considered under the policy for that school and assessment. Do not assume the figure or outcome transfers elsewhere.

CSSE's 2027-entry guidance groups arrangements by impact and says decisions are based on evidence and the candidate's established usual ways of working. It does not create a general entitlement based on a diagnosis or requested adjustment. Read its full SEND guidelines.

Practical next steps

If a policy asks for school evidence, speak with the SENDCo about what support is currently provided and what can be documented. Support should be based on the child's needs, not on a desire to qualify for a test arrangement. Check whether reports need particular measures or a recent date, and ask for the current form early enough to meet the deadline. Keep a copy of what you submit and any confirmation.

You can use a practice paper to become familiar with its instructions and format. Practice does not establish what an admissions panel will decide or whether extra time will be approved.

The calculator below is an arithmetic example for a paper whose duration and question count you enter. Its extra-time switch is not a recommendation or an indication that 25% has been approved. Check the actual assessment rules before using it.

Illness or injury on test day

Illness or injury on the day is separate from an arrangement agreed in advance. CSSE's guidance for the 2027-entry test says it may arrange an alternative day if illness or temporary injury prevented a candidate sitting on the main day, with medical evidence. It also describes what happens if a candidate becomes ill during testing. Other organisers may have different procedures. Contact the relevant organiser promptly and ask what evidence and next steps its current policy requires. Do not rely on another area's rules or assume that a particular action guarantees an alternative sitting.

EHC plans and more than one assessment

An EHC plan or SEN Support record may be relevant evidence, but neither guarantees a particular 11+ arrangement. Follow the test's current criteria and ask the decision-maker what information it needs. If applications involve more than one school or test, check each route separately.

ISEB's Common Pre-Tests guidance applies to the Pre-Tests; its separate Common Entrance guidance applies to CE. For Pre-Tests, ISEB says some accessibility features are built into the online platform and senior schools approve requested arrangements. For CE, schools should discuss a pupil's needs with the relevant senior school and ISEB's guidance lists possible arrangements, including enlarged A3 papers. These processes concern their named assessments only. A decision for either does not establish what another school or assessment will approve.

If a request is refused

Ask for the reasons in writing and check the applicable policy. The next step depends on the decision and the type of school.

1. Ask whether further evidence can be considered. Explain what is new and ask about the deadline. Do not assume a panel must reopen a decision or that a new request creates a right of review.
2. For a refused state-school place, follow the admission appeal process. Follow the refusal letter and include relevant evidence. The government's admissions appeal guidance explains the process. The Smart Cub Learning appeals tool explains national figures and their limits.
3. For suspected disability discrimination, get advice promptly about the forum and deadline. For schools in England, the tribunal’s SEND4 guide says the SEND Tribunal can hear claims about admissions decisions for independent schools, but not admissions decisions for maintained schools, academies or free schools. It normally requires a claim by 5pm on the day before the six-month period ends, with specific rules for non-working days and conduct continuing over time. Read the exact time-limit section rather than treating “six months” as a full extra day. This differs from a school-admission appeal, which addresses the refusal of a place under the admissions process. Do not assume every access-arrangements disagreement is a tribunal claim or that the same forum applies to every school. Seek specialist advice promptly if considering legal action.

Keep copies of forms, decisions and correspondence. If you contact admissions by phone, make a note of the date and follow up in writing if you need a record of what was said.

What to do next

For each test, open the current access-arrangements guidance and note the deadline, who submits the form and the evidence requested. Ask the school for help understanding what is already documented. Agree any classroom support with the school based on the child's needs, not just to strengthen an application.

Our parent guide to the 11+ covers how tests differ by region. Use the current policy and ask the named decision-maker when a detail is unclear.