State grammars are non-fee-paying, academically selective schools admitting pupils by an 11+ entrance exam. There are 163 of them in England across 36 Local Authorities — and 126 are profiled here with admissions test, gender intake, founding date and a link to the official school site. Use this directory to shortlist schools your child has a realistic chance at, then read each profile for the test board, sixth-form options and oversubscription policy.
Concentrated in 36 LAs. Kent has the largest single system (33), then Buckinghamshire (13). All are free to attend.
Children sit the 11+ in Year 6 — usually early-to-mid September. Most use GL Assessment or CEM; Essex CSSE and some others set their own paper.
Most grammars publish a qualifying standardised score around 121. That's roughly the top 17% nationally — but it's a threshold, not a guarantee of an offer.
You apply for secondary places through your home Local Authority by 31 October of Year 6, after the 11+ results land in mid-October.
Town, county and the selective region the school sits in — useful when you're working out catchment radius from your address.
Whether the school takes boys, girls or both, plus what happens at sixth form (some all-boys / all-girls grammars go co-ed at 16).
The exam board (GL, CEM, ISEB) and whether the school sets its own additional paper on top of the standard LA test.
Year of foundation and school type (Academy, Foundation Grammar, Voluntary Aided) — relevant for governance and ethos.
Direct link to the school's own website for current admissions policy, open days, exam dates and last-year cut-off distances.
Related schools in the same selective region so you can quickly see your child's wider options inside one Local Authority.
If your child sits the 11+ in two different selective regions (it's common to register in both Kent and Medway, for example), each will appear as a separate test on a separate weekend in September.
There are 163 state grammar schools in England and a further 66 in Northern Ireland. Scotland and Wales have none. They are concentrated in a handful of areas — Kent alone has 32, Lincolnshire 14, Buckinghamshire 13, and boroughs like Sutton, Trafford, Wirral and Barnet have strong clusters. This directory profiles 126 of the most-applied-to schools.
Two separate steps. First, register for the 11+ test directly with the school or the local authority — usually between May and early July of Year 5. Second, list the school on your local authority Common Application Form (CAF) by 31 October of Year 6. Missing either step means no place, even with a top score.
Most areas standardise scores to a scale of roughly 69–141, with a typical qualifying line around 121 (about the top 25–30% of the cohort). Super-selective schools — Henrietta Barnett, Tiffin, QEB, Pate's — effectively require the top 5–10%. Each school profile in this directory notes its admissions test; check the school's own site for the current cut-off.
It depends on the school's allocation model. Rank-only schools (Pate's, QEB) take the highest scorers regardless of address. Distance-based schools (Tiffin, Reading School) require a qualifying score, then offer places to the nearest applicants. Most schools use a hybrid. Check the admissions criteria linked from each profile.
Most successful candidates start structured practice 12–18 months before the test — spring of Year 4 or early Year 5. Little and often beats cramming: 15–20 minutes a day, plus one full mock a week from Easter of Year 5. Every worksheet and mock paper on Quest Arena is free.
Four core areas: English (comprehension, vocabulary, SPaG), Maths, Verbal Reasoning and Non-Verbal Reasoning. The exact mix varies — Lincolnshire tests only reasoning, Medway includes extended writing, CSSE Essex uses free-response maths. Each school profile lists the test used, and our exam guides cover every major format.