Barnet grammar schools 11+ guide

Thinking about a grammar school in the London Borough of Barnet for your child? This guide walks you through how the system works, key dates for entry, and how to support your child through the 11+.

In this guide, you'll find:

• How the Barnet grammar school system works
• Key 11+ dates and deadlines for 2027 entry
• Which schools use the 11+ in Barnet
• What your child will be tested on
• How the exam is scored and how places are allocated
• Practical ways to support your child's 11+ preparation

Barnet grammar schools

There are three grammar schools in the London Borough of Barnet:

• Queen Elizabeth's School (boys)
• St Michael's Catholic Grammar School (girls)
• The Henrietta Barnett School (girls)

Each school runs its own entrance exam with its own registration process and exam format. If you are considering more than one school, you will need to register separately for each.

Key dates for 2027 entry

• Wednesday 1st April 2026: The Henrietta Barnett School test registration opens
• Tuesday 14th April 2026: St Michael's Catholic Grammar School test registration opens
• Tuesday 30th June 2026: The Henrietta Barnett School open day (Year 5 students and parents only — booking required)
• Wednesday 1st July 2026: The Henrietta Barnett School test registration closes
• Tuesday 7th July 2026: St Michael's Catholic Grammar School test registration closes (4pm deadline)
• Early September 2026: The Henrietta Barnett School first round exam
• Friday 11th September 2026: St Michael's Catholic Grammar School entrance test day
• Late September 2026: The Henrietta Barnett School first round results released
• Early October 2026: The Henrietta Barnett School second round exam (by invitation)
• Mid-October 2026: parents receive St Michael's Catholic Grammar School test results
• Saturday 31st October 2026: deadline to apply for secondary school places
• Monday 1st March 2027: secondary school national offers day

Please note: Queen Elizabeth's School key dates for 2027 entry have not yet been released. We will update this page as soon as they are published. In the meantime, check the school's website for the latest information.

Dates may be subject to change. Always check with your target school for the latest information.

What is the 11 plus?

The 11+ is an academic entrance test used by grammar schools to assess children for Year 7 entry. Children who pass the test or meet a qualifying standard are eligible to apply for a place.

The test is taken in September of Year 6. Children born between 1 September 2015 and 31 August 2016 will sit the 11+ in September 2026 for entry to Year 7 in September 2027.

All three Barnet grammar schools use GL Assessment papers, but each school tests different subjects and uses a different format. The Henrietta Barnett School also has a two-stage process, with a second round exam set internally by the school. It is important to check the specific requirements of each school you are applying to.

What's on the 11 plus in Barnet?

Queen Elizabeth's School

Boys applying to Queen Elizabeth's School take two papers provided by GL Assessment, each lasting approximately 50 minutes:

• English: questions based on the Key Stage 2 national curriculum, often including a reading comprehension task
• Maths: questions based on Key Stage 2 maths content taught up to the start of Year 6, covering number, measurement, geometry and statistics

All questions are multiple-choice. Your child will have a question booklet and separate answer sheets.

St Michael's Catholic Grammar School

Girls applying to St Michael's Catholic Grammar School take four papers provided by GL Assessment on exam day:

• Verbal reasoning: assesses your daughter's ability to reason with written information such as words, letters, numbers and symbols
• Non-verbal reasoning: tests your daughter's ability to solve problems using visual information such as shapes, diagrams and patterns
• Maths: questions based on the Key Stage 2 national curriculum
• English: a written paper in which your daughter writes her answers directly, rather than selecting from multiple-choice options

The verbal reasoning, non-verbal reasoning and maths papers are all multiple-choice, with a question booklet and separate answer sheets. The English paper is written.

The Henrietta Barnett School

Entry to The Henrietta Barnett School consists of two rounds of exams.

First round exam (early September 2026)

The first round is provided by GL Assessment. All questions are multiple-choice. Your daughter will have a question booklet and separate answer sheets. The exam covers:

• English: questions based on national curriculum content, often including a reading comprehension task
• Verbal reasoning: assesses your daughter's ability to analyse and solve problems with written information
• Non-verbal reasoning: tests your daughter's ability to solve problems with visual information such as shapes and diagrams

Second round exam (early October 2026, by invitation)

Children ranked within the top 300 in the first round are invited to take the second round exam. 

This consists of two papers created internally by school staff, covering English (comprehension and creative writing) and maths. These papers are not multiple-choice and are likely to draw on both Year 5 and Year 6 national curriculum content.

How is the 11+ scored?

All papers across the three schools are marked using Optical Mark Recognition (OMR) technology, which scans answer sheets to detect the marks your child has made. Your child's raw scores are then age-standardised, which means younger children are not disadvantaged. The standardised age score (SAS) is the final score schools use to rank candidates.

For The Henrietta Barnett School, the results from both the first and second round exams are standardised and combined to produce a final overall score.

What's the pass mark for the 11+ in Barnet?

There is no single fixed pass mark for the Barnet 11+. Instead, all children's age-standardised scores are ranked and each school sets its own qualifying standard. 

Grammar schools in Barnet are competitive and frequently oversubscribed with qualified candidates, so passing the test does not guarantee a place. Where a school receives more applications than places available, it will allocate places using its oversubscription criteria.

Some priority groups, including looked after children and children eligible for Pupil Premium, may qualify with a lower score. We always recommend reviewing your target school's admissions policy carefully before applying, as each school applies its own criteria when allocating places.

How to apply to Barnet grammar schools

1. Register for the 11+

Each school has its own registration process and deadline. Registration forms are available on each school's website. 

Key registration dates for 2027 entry:

• The Henrietta Barnett School: registration opens Wednesday 1st April 2026 and closes Wednesday 1st July 2026
• St Michael's Catholic Grammar School: registration opens Tuesday 14th April 2026 and closes Tuesday 7th July 2026 (4pm deadline)
• Queen Elizabeth's School: registration dates to be confirmed. Check the school's website for updates

2. Apply for school places

Results are released in October 2026. If your child meets the qualifying standard for a school, you can list it on your secondary school common application form (CAF), which must be submitted to your home local authority by Saturday 31st October 2026.

Before listing a school on your form, check its admissions policy and make sure your child is eligible.

3. National school offers day

On Monday 1st March 2027, you'll be informed which secondary school your child has been allocated.

If your preferred school isn't offered, your child will receive another local school place, and you'll be given information about how to appeal.

How can I help my child prepare for the 11+?

The 11+ can feel like a big milestone, but preparation doesn't have to be stressful.

Here are some practical ways to support your child in a calm, structured way.

Stay on track with a clear 11+ revision plan

One of the hardest parts of 11+ preparation isn't motivation – it's knowing what to work on, when, and how to stay consistent without it taking over family life.

A clear plan helps your child build skills in the right order and avoid last-minute cramming.

With Atom's Exam Plan, you enter your child's exam date and target schools, and Atom builds a personalised weekly plan based on the key skills they'll be tested on. It adapts as they improve and shows them exactly what to focus on each week.

That means less guesswork for you, less stress for them, and a clearer path to exam day.

Build 11+ exam technique with realistic practice papers

Once your child feels secure with the main topics, paper practice tests help them feel more confident with the exam format.

Atom's 11+ practice papers are designed to reflect real test conditions. Parents simply photograph their child's answer sheets and upload them to Atom for instant marking.

You'll get:

• a Standardised Age Score (SAS)
• clear insight into strengths and areas for improvement
• a comparison with other children applying to the same schools

The papers are unlimited, meaning your child can practise again and again with new questions each time.

Encourage regular reading for 11+ English success

Strong reading skills underpin almost every part of the 11+.

Encourage your child to read for 10–15 minutes a day, focusing on variety – fiction, non-fiction, different genres and authors.

This helps build:

• vocabulary
• comprehension and inference
• confidence with unfamiliar texts

If you're looking for ideas, Atom's recommended reading lists for Years 3–6 include a wide range of age-appropriate books.

Celebrate progress, not just 11+ scores

When you're supporting your child through 11+ preparation, what really matters is knowing they're moving in the right direction.

Atom's progress tracking gives you a clear, simple view of how your child is doing across topics and how their performance is developing over time.

That makes it easier to give meaningful encouragement, keep motivation steady and focus on consistent improvement – not just one-off test results.