Warwickshire 11 Plus and Grammar School Entry

If your child received a Warwickshire 11+ result in October 2026, use it to choose which schools to name for September 2027 entry. It is not a school-place offer. There is no single county pass mark: each of the six schools has its own academic standard and admissions order. Registering for the test did not submit your secondary school application (Warwickshire County Council, applying to a grammar school).

This guide explains the score, the six schools and the next forms and dates. It links the council's current ranking data so you can read the 2026 test cohort without confusing a candidate's rank with an offer cut-off.

For children seeking a place in September 2027, results became available on the Parent Portal on 16 October 2026. Warwickshire residents must submit their separate secondary school application by 4pm on 31 October 2026. If you live outside Warwickshire, use your home council's application and check its deadline. The result is information for choosing schools, not an offer of a place (Warwickshire County Council, 11+ schedule, secondary applications).

Where does the Warwickshire 11 plus timeline actually sit for 2027 entry?

Warwickshire publishes the 2027-entry test and application schedule. These dates are specific to children who sat the test in September 2026 for September 2027 entry.

• Registration opened on 7 May 2026 and closed on 30 June 2026, for children then in Year 5.
• 30 June 2026 was also the deadline for requesting access arrangements, not a later date.
• Access arrangement decision letters were issued in the week beginning 13 July 2026.
• Test invitation letters were issued in the week beginning 10 August 2026.
• The test was held on Saturday 12 and Sunday 13 September 2026. Children were allocated to one of the two days by the council, not by parental choice.
• Results appear on the Parent Portal on 16 October 2026.
• The secondary school application deadline for Warwickshire residents is 4pm on 31 October 2026. Other families apply through their home local authority.
• Proof of address is required by 31 December 2026, sent to poa@warwickshire.gov.uk, with one proof for the parent or carer and one for the child.
• National Offer Day is 1 March 2027.

The dates are set out on the county's grammar schools and 11+ test page. The test registration and school application are separate steps, and both the application and requested proof of address have their own deadlines.

What should you do with the October 2026 result?

Read the score and any section or ranking information in the Parent Portal result. The schools use separate minimum academic standards and automatic qualifying scores, so there is no one Warwickshire number that guarantees a place at all six. The result information includes the previous year's school scores for comparison, but the determined 2027/28 Alcester Grammar School admissions policy warns that exceeding a previous score does not guarantee this year's offer. If you also receive a Birmingham result, its total may differ because the areas can apply different weightings.

The council also publishes a 2027-entry score-ranking spreadsheet. Its heading and explanatory note identify the anonymous candidates who sat Warwickshire's test in September 2026 for September 2027 entry. It lists candidates' scores and ranks, but not who applied to each school, met a priority-area rule or received an offer. A rank in the test cohort is therefore not a predicted place at a particular school.

Choose schools you would genuinely accept, then read each school's September 2027 admissions policy, including its priority area and any residency rule. Warwickshire residents can name up to six preferences. The council's equal-preference process offers the highest preference for which a place is available; putting a grammar school first does not reduce the chance of a lower preference if the grammar school cannot offer a place (2027/28 Alcester policy). Our Warwickshire school directory helps you compare the local routes, and the application order planner can help you put your chosen schools in your real order of preference.

Submit the school application through your home council and keep its confirmation. Warwickshire's application closes at 4pm on 31 October 2026, and a late application is processed only after the first round of offers (Warwickshire County Council, applying for a secondary place). If you name a Warwickshire grammar school, watch for the council's proof-of-address request in December and provide the requested parent and child documents by 31 December 2026 (grammar schools in Warwickshire).

Warwickshire uses a shared West Midlands 11 plus test

Warwickshire County Council says the test is shared across Warwickshire, Birmingham, Walsall, Wolverhampton and Shropshire, with the same papers used across those areas. It is a regional assessment, not a test exclusive to Warwickshire.

The partnership's own site, the West Midlands Grammar Schools entrance test page, confirms that the test is provided by GL Assessment and publishes the weighting used to build a candidate's result: 50 per cent for English and verbal reasoning combined, 25 per cent for non-verbal reasoning and 25 per cent for mathematics. Section scores are standardised for age, so that younger children in the cohort are not disadvantaged against older ones.

The partnership can share a result across participating areas when families make the relevant choice during registration. Candidates sit the same two papers across the participating authorities, but the result is not automatically shared with every authority. Warwickshire says families who missed the 30 June registration deadline cannot have results shared across all authorities through the on-time route and should contact each authority about late registration. Warwickshire and Birmingham may use different weightings, so a child who receives two results letters may see different totals. Each school still applies its own policy. If your shortlist crosses the county boundary, read this alongside our guide to the Birmingham and West Midlands 11 plus.

Which six Warwickshire schools use the test?

Warwickshire lists six schools that use the test. Ashlawn is bilateral, with one selective class; the other five are wholly selective grammar schools.

• Rugby High School, Rugby. Girls, selective.
• Lawrence Sheriff School, Rugby. Boys, selective.
• Ashlawn School, Rugby. Mixed and partially selective. The council describes it as operating one selective class who follow a slightly different curriculum in Years 7 and 8. It is not a wholly selective school, which is why list-makers drop it, but 11+ scores are used for that selective cohort.
• King Edward VI School, Stratford-upon-Avon. Boys, selective.
• Stratford Girls' Grammar School, Stratford-upon-Avon. Girls, selective.
• Alcester Grammar School, Alcester. Mixed, selective.

All six are free to attend, and there is no charge for sitting the 11+ test itself. Allocation typically prioritises higher test scores together with residence inside a school's priority area, and every school publishes its own admission arrangements on its own website. The council's overview of grammar schools in Warwickshire is the reference point, but the binding document for any individual school is that school's own policy for the entry year you are applying for.

Ashlawn gives Rugby families a mixed school with a selective class alongside the two wholly selective schools in the town. Include it in your comparison if you are considering Rugby. Our national overview of grammar schools in the UK and their entrance tests shows how Warwickshire's arrangement compares with other selective areas.

What is on the two papers, and where can you find familiarisation material?

Warwickshire describes an 11+ made up of two multiple-choice papers covering English, verbal reasoning, non-verbal reasoning and mathematics. The council says each test takes around 60 minutes, including spoken instructions and practice-item explanations. The West Midlands Grammar Schools partnership gives an approximate 50 to 60 minutes for each paper, with individually timed sections. Rugby High School's 11+ guide says the assessment is one session of about three hours, including a break. Follow the test-centre letter for your child's allocated arrangements.

The partnership says children record answers on a separate answer sheet rather than in the booklet, and that only the answer sheets are marked. Its familiarisation guide shows the answer-sheet format. Follow the current instructions for the test your child will sit.

The partnership confirms that GL Assessment provides the test. Use its own familiarisation guide to see how the test is organised. The test covers:

• English comprehension and verbal reasoning. Together these count for 50 per cent of the total weighting.
• Non-verbal and spatial reasoning. This section counts for 25 per cent. See our guide to non-verbal reasoning in the 11 plus for general question formats; use the partnership's familiarisation questions for this test.
• Mathematics. This section counts for 25 per cent and is multiple choice. The council says content closely relates to school curriculum, though difficulty may go beyond expected KS2 levels.

A free Familiarisation Guide and other reference documents are published in Warwickshire's School Admissions Document Library. The partnership confirms that the same two papers are used in Warwickshire, Birmingham, Walsall, Wolverhampton and Shropshire. Its sample questions introduce the question style and answer recording; they do not reproduce the actual timings or question counts. Smart Cub Learning's short mock practice contains 24 original questions across four subjects in 30 minutes, with a results preview. It is a short practice activity, not a full simulation of the local papers or their individually timed sections.

Does registering for the test mean you have applied for a school?

No. Warwickshire states it directly: taking the 11+ test is not the same as making an application for a grammar school, nor does it guarantee an offer of a place.

There are two processes and two deadlines. First, you register for the test with Warwickshire by 30 June while your child is in Year 5, through a Parent Portal account and an online form that triggers an automatic email confirmation. Second, you submit a secondary school application through your home local authority by its deadline in Year 6, naming the grammar schools you want as preferences on the common application form. For Warwickshire residents in this cycle, that second deadline is 4pm on 31 October 2026. A late test registration needs individual advice from the admissions teams; a late school application is processed after the first round of offers.

The council's page on applying to a Warwickshire grammar school also explains what happens if the second deadline slips. Late applications after 31 October are processed after initial offers have been made; the 11+ score is then used to assess priority for a place on the relevant waiting list.

If there is no county pass mark, how are places decided?

There is no single Warwickshire pass mark. Each school applies its own minimum academic standard, score ranking and oversubscription order, including any relevant priority-area and residency rules. Meeting the standard makes an application eligible for consideration; it does not reserve a place.

Each of the six schools is its own admission authority and sets its own automatic qualifying score for the entry year. The council frames the requirement as meeting each school's minimum academic standard for that entry year. Those standards are then moderated through a Committee of Reference local review, and Warwickshire runs separate East and South committees whose minutes it publishes.

Warwickshire's School Admissions Document Library publishes the Entrance Test Familiarisation Guide, score rankings, previous Offer Day leaflets, testing-arrangement forms and Committee of Reference minutes. Read the 2027-entry ranking for this test cohort and each school's current policy for its actual admission order. A previous Offer Day leaflet describes an earlier round, not March 2027 offers.

This guide does not treat a previous year's qualifying score as a prediction for September 2027 offers. Thresholds and oversubscription rules belong to each school's policy for the relevant entry year; read any earlier figures with their cohort and date attached.

How do access arrangements and support work?

If your child has special educational needs or a medical issue that may affect them on test day, Warwickshire asks you to complete a specific testing arrangements form and email it to elevenplus@warwickshire.gov.uk after registering. The request deadline is 30 June, the same as the registration deadline. Decision letters are due in the week beginning 13 July. The form and guidance sit in the document library named above.

Two other support points are worth knowing. Pupil Premium eligible families receive free access to Atom Learning's 11+ platform through Year 6, offered both by the council and directly by Rugby High School. And children currently in Year 7 or above follow a separate application process rather than the standard 11+ route, so in-year transfer enquiries should go to the council directly.

Paid tutoring is not an admission requirement. The partnership publishes a familiarisation guide and sample questions to introduce the test format. It advises against intensive coaching and says families should avoid putting pressure on children. Familiarisation can show the kinds of instructions and answer sheets used, but practice scores cannot guarantee a qualifying result or a school offer. Smart Cub Learning's progress tracking can display topic results from completed work; it does not identify the cause of a result or predict admission.

What are the appeal dates, and what if you missed the deadline?

If your child is refused a place, you have a statutory right of appeal. For September 2027 Year 7 entry, Warwickshire lists 1 March 2027 as National Offer Day and 12 April 2027 as the deadline for lodging an on-time appeal. Read the council's current appeal timetable and grammar-school appeal guidance after you receive an offer, and check the school named in the refusal. Our results and appeals guide explains why an October test result and a March admission appeal are different decisions.

If you missed the 30 June test registration deadline, do not assume a September sitting or shared result is still available. Warwickshire says late registrations are not on time and that families who missed the deadline should contact each participating test authority individually about late registration and score sharing (Warwickshire County Council, the 11+ test). Ask Warwickshire Admissions what is possible for your child's entry year and read each school's late-testing policy. A late school application is a separate issue: Warwickshire says it will be processed after the first round of March offers (applying to a Warwickshire grammar school).

If you are planning for a later entry year, use that year's published council and school dates. Our exam plan describes ways to organise practice; it is not a source for local test dates or admissions rules.

Keep the test result, the school application and each school's admissions policy separate. They answer different questions.

Entrance requirements, priority areas and qualifying standards are set by individual schools and change between entry years. Always confirm the current arrangements with Warwickshire County Council and with each school before relying on any summary, including this one.