One question comes up again and again from parents who are new to all this. Is my child even allowed to sit the 11+? It sounds like it should have an obvious answer. It mostly does. But there are enough little catches worth getting straight first. You don't want to spend a year preparing for an exam your child can't register for the way you assumed.
So here's the honest version. Who can sit the 11+, who can't, and the handful of situations that trip parents up.
The short answer: almost any child can sit it
Let's start with the good news. The 11+ is not an exam reserved for a certain type of child. There's no minimum ability bar to get through the door, no requirement that your child be flagged as gifted, and no need for a teacher to nominate them. If you want your child to sit it, you register them. That's the headline.
It doesn't matter whether your child is at a state primary or a private prep school. Both can sit the test. It doesn't matter whether you've used a tutor or done all the prep at the kitchen table yourself. The exam doesn't ask how your child prepared. And it doesn't matter what your household income is, because the state grammar school test is free to register for in every region that runs one.
The thing that actually decides eligibility isn't your child. It's usually where you live.
Residency and catchment: the real gatekeeper
Here's where parents get caught out. The test itself is open to almost anyone. Whether your child can take up a place if they pass is a separate question. That part comes down to each school's admissions rules.
Some grammar schools admit purely on score, wherever you live. These are the super-selective schools. A child in Reading can in theory win a place the other side of London if their score is high enough. Other grammars give priority to children inside a defined catchment area. There, a brilliant score from outside the boundary can still lose out to a lower score from a local family.
This matters because you can sit the exam without living anywhere near the school. Plenty of families do exactly that, registering across more than one region to widen the net. What you can't do is assume a pass guarantees a place. Read each school's admissions policy before you build a plan around it. Kent and Buckinghamshire, for example, work very differently from the scattered super-selectives in Berkshire or Birmingham.
State school children sit it just the same
There's an odd myth that the 11+ is somehow a private school thing, or that children at state primaries are at a disadvantage when they register. Neither is true. The state grammar school 11+ exists precisely so that children from ordinary state primaries can compete for selective places without paying school fees.
What is true is that most state primaries don't teach to the 11+. Verbal and non-verbal reasoning barely feature in the national curriculum, so if your child is at a state school, the reasoning prep falls to you. That's a preparation gap, not an eligibility gap. Your child is every bit as entitled to sit the test as a child at a prep school that drills it daily.
Private and prep school children
Children at independent prep schools can sit the state 11+ too, and many do, often using a grammar school as a free alternative to continuing in fee-paying education. There's no rule stopping them.
Worth knowing: the entrance exams that private senior schools set are a different animal from the state 11+. The ISEB Pre-Test and Common Entrance run on their own timetables and their own content. A child can sit both the state 11+ and private entrance exams in the same year, and some families deliberately keep both routes open. Just don't assume one set of preparation covers the other, because the formats and the boards differ.
What about EAL children and summer-born children?
If English is an additional language at home, your child can still sit the 11+. There's no language eligibility test to clear first. The honest caveat is that the English and verbal reasoning papers lean heavily on vocabulary and idiom, so a child still building their English will find those sections harder. That's worth factoring into your timeline, but it changes nothing about their right to register.
Summer-born children sometimes worry parents too. A child born in late August sits the same test as one born the previous September, despite being nearly a year younger. Most boards handle this with age standardisation, adjusting scores to account for the age gap so younger children aren't penalised simply for being young. It isn't a free pass, and it doesn't fully erase the gap, but the system does try to level it.
Children with SEN or a disability
This is the part I'd most want a worried parent to read. A special educational need or a disability does not bar your child from the 11+. Schools and test providers offer access arrangements, the same principle that applies in GCSEs and SATs, so that the exam measures ability rather than the barrier.
Depending on the need and the evidence, that can mean extra time, a reader, a scribe, rest breaks, coloured overlays, or a separate room. What you'll need is documentation, usually from the school or an educational psychologist, and you have to apply well before the test date. Each region sets its own deadline and its own evidence requirements. Contact the admissions office or the testing body early rather than assuming it'll be sorted on the day. Leave it late and the arrangement might not be approved in time. Have you checked what your region asks for?
So is there anyone who genuinely can't sit it?
Realistically, the barriers are practical rather than about your child. If you've missed the registration window, your child can't sit that year's test, and most regions are strict about the deadline. If you live too far to take up a place and the school admits on catchment, sitting it may be pointless. And a child has to be the right age for the cohort, which for almost everyone means sitting in the September of Year 6.
Beyond that, the door is wide open. The 11+ is one of the few selective processes in this country that genuinely lets any child have a go, regardless of background or school. Whether it's the right move for your child is a different question, and one only you can answer.
Frequently asked questions
Do you have to be nominated or recommended to sit the 11+? No. You register your child yourself through the local admissions authority or the school. No teacher recommendation or gifted flag is needed. The decision is the parent's.
Can my child sit the 11+ in more than one county? Yes, as long as the test dates don't clash and you meet each region's registration rules. Families near borders often sit in two areas to widen their options, though you'll need to check whether each school admits on score or catchment.
Does my child need to attend a particular primary school to be eligible? No. State primary, private prep, home-educated, it makes no difference to eligibility. The test is open regardless of where your child is taught.
My child has dyslexia. Can they still sit the 11+? Yes. Apply for access arrangements such as extra time well ahead of the deadline, with supporting evidence from the school or an educational psychologist. The aim is to remove the barrier, not to lower the bar.
If you're still working out whether the 11+ is a realistic target for your child, a free, honest benchmark helps more than guesswork. readyfor11.co.uk shows you where your child currently stands across the skills the test measures, with no subscription and no sales pitch. Use it to decide with evidence rather than worry.