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Regional Guides

Region by region guides to grammar school admissions and the 11 plus test used in each area, covering Kent, Essex, Birmingham, Buckinghamshire and London, with key dates and registration deadlines.

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The guide that frames the rest of this topic.

Grammar Schools in the UK: Find Your Area and Its Entrance Test

A region-by-region guide to where the UK grammar schools are, which entrance test each area uses, what it tests, and when registration opens and closes. Includes the deadline most parents miss.

  • 14 min read

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Regional Guides guides

The CSSE Exam in Essex: What Makes It Different

Most guides describe the CSSE 11+ from the outside: two papers, sixty minutes, not multiple choice. We opened the actual papers, mark schemes and standardisation report to show what really decides an Essex grammar school place.

Read14 minPublished

The Kent Test: Format, Dates and How to Prepare

A source-led guide to the Kent Test for parents: the real timeline, exact paper timings, why the qualifying score moves every year, and why individual grammar schools admit at far higher scores than the county threshold.

Read14 minPublished

Which Grammar Schools Use the FSCE 11 Plus?

Ten grammar schools use the FSCE 11 plus for September 2027 entry, and twelve more have announced it for 2028. Every row here is checked against the school's own admissions page, with the source printed beside it.

Read13 minPublished

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