When to Start 11-Plus Preparation: A Year-by-Year Timeline

The honest answer to when to start 11-plus preparation is Year 5 for the structured work, and Year 3 or 4 for the reading and number habits that make Year 5 possible. What decides the timetable is not opinion, it is a set of fixed dates: registration opens and closes in the early summer of Year 5, the test itself lands in the first fortnight of September in Year 6, and the council application closes on 31 October. Everything else works backwards from those.

Below is what to do in each school year, the deadlines that cannot move, and the mistakes that cost families the most.

The dates that fix the whole timetable

Kent runs the largest selective system in England and publishes its dates clearly, so it makes a useful worked example. For children starting secondary school in September 2027, Kent County Council opened Kent Test registration on Monday 1 June 2026 and closed it on Wednesday 1 July 2026. Children at Kent primary schools sat the test on Thursday 10 September 2026, with out-of-county and home-educated candidates tested over the weekend of 12 and 13 September. Results go out on Thursday 15 October 2026, and the ordinary council application for a secondary place closes on 31 October, with national offer day on 1 March.

Other selective areas run their own calendars, and Medway, Bexley, Buckinghamshire and the London consortia all differ. The shape is the same everywhere: register in the early summer of Year 5, sit the test at the start of Year 6, apply through the council by 31 October.

Years 3 and 4: build the foundations, not the papers

Formal 11-plus practice in Year 3 or Year 4 is usually counterproductive. Children get bored of a test that is still two years away, families run out of practice material before it counts, and the whole thing becomes a source of friction long before it needs to be. What genuinely helps at this stage looks nothing like exam prep:

• Reading widely and often. Vocabulary is the single biggest lever on verbal reasoning and comprehension scores, and it cannot be crammed. Fiction, non-fiction, newspapers, whatever gets read.
• Times tables to 12, fluently. Speed on the maths paper depends on not having to think about multiplication facts.
• Secure written methods for addition, subtraction, multiplication and division, plus mental arithmetic.
• Concentration stamina. Being able to sit and work for 40 minutes is a skill in its own right, and it is easier to build gradually.

If you want a reference point, sit one age-appropriate practice paper at the end of Year 4, see where your child is, then put it away. The result tells you whether Year 5 needs to be gentle or focused, and nothing more.

Year 5, autumn term: decide, then start

This is the term to make the actual decision. Look at the grammar schools you would realistically apply to, read their admissions policies rather than their prospectuses, and find out which test provider they use. That last point matters more than it used to. CEM withdrew from the paper-based 11-plus market and pure CEM grammar tests no longer exist; most former CEM areas moved to GL Assessment or to bespoke tests, and Bexley's grammar schools adopted Quest Assessments from 2025 entry. Buying a stack of practice books for the wrong format is an easy and expensive mistake.

Then start the structured work. Two or three sessions a week of 20 to 30 minutes is a realistic pattern for most families: one on maths, one on English and comprehension, one on whichever reasoning types the target test uses. Little and often, sustained for a year, beats a frantic summer.

Kent's own guidance is worth repeating here, because it is unusually direct: grammar schools in Kent provide for children in about the top 25% of the ability range, and the council suggests discussing your child's academic achievement with their primary school before deciding to register. That conversation is best had in the autumn of Year 5, while there is still time to act on the answer either way.

Year 5, spring term: fill the gaps

By spring you know where the weaknesses are. This is the term to work on them specifically rather than grinding through more mixed papers. Non-verbal reasoning in particular responds well to targeted practice, because most of it is pattern types that can be taught. Comprehension improves slowly and needs consistent reading rather than drills.

It is also the point at which most families decide about tutoring. A tutor buys structure, marking and accountability, not secret knowledge, and plenty of children qualify with parent-led preparation. The case for one is strongest when there is a defined weak area, when home practice has become a battle, or when the target test format is unfamiliar. Weigh it on what is actually missing rather than on what other parents in the playground are paying for.

Year 5, summer term: register, and do not miss the window

The registration window is short and it is unforgiving. In Kent it ran from 1 June to 1 July 2026 for 2027 entry, and requests for access arrangements for children with special educational needs also had to be in by 1 July. Other areas open around the same time. Put the date in a calendar with a reminder a fortnight before, because a missed registration cannot usually be fixed after the fact.

Registering for the test is not applying for a school place. They are two separate processes with different deadlines, which is the single most common misunderstanding in grammar school admissions. Our guide to grammar school admissions and the 11+ sets out both tracks.

The summer holiday before Year 6: full papers, under time

With the test only weeks after term restarts, this is when practice should become timed and complete: full papers, in one sitting, marked honestly. The aim is pacing and exam conditions rather than new learning. Two or three papers a week is plenty, with the last few days before the test kept deliberately light.

Keep some perspective. A child who has been reading and doing short sessions since the previous autumn does not need eight weeks of intensive cramming, and the tired ten-year-old who gets one is often the one who underperforms on the day.

Year 6, September to October: the test, then the application

The test comes first, usually in the first fortnight of September, then results in mid-October, then the council application by 31 October. Those three weeks between results and the deadline are the point of the whole timetable: you find out how your child did in time to build a sensible preference list.

Use them properly. Name realistic non-selective schools alongside any grammar, because qualifying does not guarantee a place. Where a grammar is oversubscribed by qualified children, its oversubscription criteria decide who gets in, which may be distance or, at a super-selective, the highest scores. Our page on how to rank your school preferences covers the ordering, and the government's guidance on how to apply for a school place confirms the national dates: 31 October for secondary applications and 1 March for offers.

If you are starting late

Families arrive at this from all sorts of positions, including finding out about it in Year 5 or moving into a selective area. A shortened run is not hopeless. Concentrate on test familiarity and pacing rather than trying to cover everything, get the registration in, and be realistic about whether the target should be a super-selective or a catchment grammar. Twelve months of steady work is the ideal; six focused months has qualified plenty of children.

Frequently asked questions

When should you start preparing for the 11-plus?

For most children, structured preparation belongs in Year 5, roughly 12 to 15 months before the test. The test itself is sat in early Year 6: in Kent, for example, children in Kent primary schools sat it on Thursday 10 September 2026 for entry in September 2027. Years 3 and 4 are for reading widely, times tables and mental arithmetic rather than practice papers, which is preparation of a kind but does not feel like exam work.

Is Year 4 too early to start 11-plus preparation?

Formal papers in Year 4 usually backfire. Children burn out, lose interest and have often exhausted the available practice material before the test matters. What does help in Year 4 is broad reading, secure times tables to 12, comfortable written methods for the four operations, and building stamina for sitting and concentrating. If you want a marker, try one age-appropriate paper at the end of Year 4 to see where things stand, then leave it.

When does 11-plus registration open and close?

Late spring or early summer of Year 5, and the window is short. Kent County Council opened registration for the 2027-entry Kent Test on Monday 1 June 2026 and closed it on Wednesday 1 July 2026. Miss that and your child cannot sit the test. Registration is entirely separate from the council application for a secondary place, which closes on 31 October in Year 6.

Does my child still take a CEM test?

No. CEM withdrew from the paper-based 11-plus market and pure CEM grammar school tests no longer exist. Most former CEM areas moved to GL Assessment or to bespoke tests, and some have gone elsewhere: Bexley's grammar schools adopted Quest Assessments from 2025 entry. Check with the specific schools you are applying to which provider they now use, because buying practice material for the wrong format is a common and expensive mistake.

How many hours a week should we do?

Little and often beats long sessions. In Year 5, two to three short sessions a week of 20 to 30 minutes each is a realistic pattern for most families, rising to timed full papers roughly weekly through the summer before the test. Consistency over 12 months does far more than intensive cramming in August, and it leaves room for the sport, music and reading that keep a ten-year-old willing to do any of it.

Do we need a tutor to pass the 11-plus?

No. A tutor buys structure, marking and accountability rather than anything a parent cannot teach, and plenty of children qualify with parent-led preparation using published practice papers. A tutor is most useful where there is a specific weak area, where the parent-child dynamic makes home practice a fight, or where the target school uses an unfamiliar test format. Decide on the basis of what is missing, not on what other parents are doing.

Where to go next

Check your own area's dates on the council website first, because the Kent calendar above is an example rather than a national standard. Then read the admissions policy of every school you are considering, since that is where the oversubscription criteria live. The Schools Insight homepage is the starting point for catchment checks and school data, and Kent's own Kent Test pages are the source for the dates quoted here.