Barnet grammar schools 11+ guide

Are you considering a grammar school in the London Borough of Barnet for your child? We’ve collated everything you need to know about admissions in 2025–2026. Keep reading to:

• Find out more about grammar schools in Barnet

• Learn about each school’s entrance exam

• Discover which subjects your child will be tested on

• Plus, get exclusive resources to help your child prepare!

Which schools in Barnet use the 11 plus?

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

Dates for your diary

• Tuesday 1st April 2025: The Henrietta Barnett School 11+ registration opens
• Wednesday 23rd April 2025: St Michael's Catholic Grammar School 11+ registration opens
• Thursday 1st May 2025: Queen Elizabeth’s School 11+ registration opens
• Tuesday 8th July 2025: St Michael’s Catholic Grammar School 11+ registration closes
• Friday 11th July 2025: Queen Elizabeth's School and The Henrietta Barnett School 11+ registration closes
• Early September 2025: first round exams at The Henrietta Barnett School
• Friday 12th September 2025: 11+ exam at St Michael's Catholic Grammar School
• Wednesday 17th – Thursday 18th September 2025: 11+ exam at Queen Elizabeth's School
• Late September 2025: parents receive results for first round tests at The Henrietta Barnett School
• Early October 2025: second round exam at The Henrietta Barnett School, and parents receive Queen Elizabeth's School exam results
• Mid-October 2025: parents receive St Michael's Catholic Grammar School exam results
• Friday 31st October 2025: secondary school common application deadline
• Monday 2nd March 2026: national school offers day

What is the 11 plus?

The 11 plus is an academic test. Grammar schools use the results of the test to decide whether to offer a child a place at the school. Children who are working in the top 25% of their year group are generally more likely to do well in the 11 plus exam.

Children can only take the test once per academic year, in September while they are in Year 6.

You might also be considering grammar schools in other local authorities. These schools have different exams and admission processes:

• South West Herts Consortium academic tests (Watford)
• The Latymer School (Enfield)

What's on the 11 plus in Barnet?

The three Barnet grammar schools all use GL Assessment 11 plus papers, but in different formats. The Henrietta Barnett also sets internally-created papers for the second stage exam.

GL Assessment 11 plus papers are multiple-choice. Your child will have a question booklet and separate answer sheets. These are marked electronically.

Queen Elizabeth’s School

Boys applying for Year 7 entry to Queen Elizabeth’s School take two 50-minute papers. One is an English paper and the other is a maths paper. Both are based on the Key Stage 2 national curriculum content your child will be learning at school.

Find out more about the Queen Elizabeth’s School 11 plus exam.

St Michael’s Catholic Grammar School

Girls applying for Year 7 entry to St Michael’s Catholic Grammar School will be tested on English, maths, verbal reasoning and non-verbal reasoning.

English and maths questions are based on the Key Stage 2 national curriculum. Verbal reasoning and non-verbal reasoning are not taught at school. These assess your child’s ability to use logic and solve problems with written information (verbal reasoning) and visual information (non-verbal reasoning).

Learn more about the St Michael’s Catholic Grammar School 11 plus exam.

The Henrietta Barnett School

Girls applying for Year 7 entry to The Henrietta Barnett School have a two-stage process:

• First round: GL Assessment 11 plus papers in English, verbal reasoning and non-verbal reasoning
• Second round: internally-created written papers in English and maths

Find out more about The Henrietta Barnett School 11 plus exam.

How is the 11 plus marked?

After the test, your child’s papers will be sent to GL Assessment for marking. The papers are marked using a process called Optical Mark Recognition (OMR). This scans the answer papers to detect the marks your child has made to indicate which answer or answers they think are correct.

The sum of these marks is then added together to provide a ‘raw’ score. This is the sum of your child's marks for correct answers.

Next, each raw score is age-standardised based on your child's age in years and months at the time of taking the test. This is to ensure that younger children aren't disadvantaged. Standardised age scores range from 60 to 142, where a score of 100 represents the average for the year group. Grammar schools are normally looking for children whose scores place them above average.

After the tests are standardised, children are usually ranked in order from highest score to lowest score.

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

Each school has its own factors for deciding which children are eligible for a place at the school.

Boys applying to Queen Elizabeth’s School need to achieve a combined score of 220 or higher to be eligible for a place at the school. This is the combined standardised score from both the English and maths papers. Places are then offered to the 180 highest-scoring children.

Girls applying to St Michael’s Catholic Grammar School are offered places at the school based on their ranked score. Catholic children are prioritised.

Girls applying to The Henrietta Barnett School are also offered places based on their ranked score. The final score is calculated by combining the results from the first round and second round tests.

How to apply to Barnet grammar schools

If you're considering a Barnet grammar school for your child, it's a good idea to speak to your child's teacher first.

Grammar schools are academically-selective and select children working towards the top of their year group. Your child's teacher will be able to indicate whether they think your child will be able to keep up with the pace in a grammar school.

1. Register for the school’s entrance exam

To apply to a grammar school, you need to complete a registration form – sometimes known as a Supplementary Information Form (SIF). This will be available on your target school’s website.

Barnet grammar schools open their 11 plus registration in the summer term in Year 5. The deadline varies for each school, but is usually in July.

11 plus exams then take place in September in Year 7. Girls who are applying to The Henrietta Barnett School and are invited to the second stage will take the second stage test in October 2025.

If you are considering grammar schools outside Barnet, remember to register for their exams too.

2. Apply for school places

You will be sent your child's results in October 2025.

You can use the results to decide which schools to include on your secondary school common application form. Before listing a school on your form, check its admissions policy and make sure your child is eligible.

The application form must be submitted to your home local council by 31st October 2025.

3. National school offer day

On Monday 2nd March 2026, will find out which school your child has been allocated a place at. They will be allocated a place at your highest-preferred school for which they meet the entry criteria and which has places available.

If your child was not allocated a place at your first-choice school, you have the right to appeal the decision. You should contact your child’s headteacher to discuss whether a request for a review can or should be made.

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

The 11 plus is designed to be challenging. Here are our top tips to help your child prepare for the exam in September 2025.

Bitesize learning

It’s important to build a good knowledge base before the 11 plus. Using a ‘little and often’ approach when learning is key – our brains encode new information more effectively when dealing with smaller ‘chunks’ of information. For children aged 10–11, child psychologists recommend regular study sessions of 20–30 minutes.

Atom Home makes learning a more enjoyable process for your child. They'll explore exciting worlds full of interactive questions, earning coins to spend in the Atom shop. Atom adapts to your child, showing them questions at just the right level of difficulty to keep them motivated.

Read widely

11 plus exams test your child’s ability to analyse and interpret written information. Regular reading is a great way to help your child build these skills.

Encourage them to read books from different genres and by a diverse range of authors. Increasing the variety of your child’s reading will help them understand different styles, tones and purposes. Meanwhile, reading a little every day will help widen their vocabulary, sharpen their analytical thinking, and enhance their imagination.

Refine exam technique

When your child feels confident with the topics they’ve learnt in Year 5, they’ll be ready to put their knowledge to the test.

Practice tests can help your child develop problem-solving skills and build confidence working under test conditions. They’re also a great way to consolidate learning and highlight knowledge gaps for further improvement.

With Atom Home, you'll unlock online mock tests and printable practice papers. Enjoy automatic marking and progress tracking with the online tests, and help your child get familiar with the real exam experience with printable practice papers.

Celebrate progress

Setting regular, achievable goals and celebrating your child’s progress – no matter how big or small – will help keep their motivation high.

Make sure to encourage a growth mindset. This means celebrating effort, as well as achievement! When your child makes mistakes or struggles to understand a particular topic, help them understand that they’ll improve through practice. Regular praise will help your child improve their resilience when tackling new and challenging topics.