11+ by area

London has some of the most competitive grammar schools in the country, concentrated in the south (Sutton, Kingston, Bromley) and north (Barnet, Enfield). Most run their own two-stage assessments, while the Sutton cluster uses GL-style testing.

Kent runs the largest grammar-school system in England via the Kent Test (Procedure for Entrance to Secondary Education). Most children in the county sit it, and there are far more grammar places than in London — though the best-known schools remain highly competitive.

Buckinghamshire is a fully selective county where most children automatically sit the Secondary Transfer Test in Year 6. The test is designed to be familiarisation-based rather than heavily tutored, covering verbal, non-verbal and numerical reasoning.

Birmingham has a strong cluster of grammar schools, including the King Edward VI foundation schools, admitting through a shared consortium entrance test. It is one of the most competitive selective systems outside London.

Essex grammars admit through the CSSE test, a shared Maths and English assessment sat once for multiple schools including Colchester Royal Grammar, CCHSG and Chelmsford County High. It is distinctive for not using separate reasoning papers.

Surrey itself has few traditional state grammar schools, but many Surrey families target the nearby super-selective grammars in Sutton and Kingston (just over the London border), plus selective independent schools.

Berkshire’s selective provision centres on Reading — Reading School (boys) and Kendrick School (girls) — both using GL-style assessment with distinct in- and out-of-catchment allocation routes.

Gloucestershire has a well-established set of grammar schools across Gloucester, Cheltenham and Stroud, with Pate’s Grammar among the strongest co-ed grammars nationally. Most use GL-style testing.

Trafford in Greater Manchester is one of the few remaining selective areas in the North West, with a strong cluster of grammars including the Altrincham schools admitting via a shared consortium (CEM-style) test.

Lincolnshire retains a number of grammar schools across towns such as Lincoln, Grantham, Boston and Sleaford, most using GL-style assessment. It is a broad selective area with grammar places spread across the county.