How our 11+ score checker works, and its limits

What does the checker compare?

It compares the score you enter with the qualifying rule in your area's own published admissions information. Areas report results in different ways, so the checker follows each area's method:

• One standardised score for the whole test, checked against one qualifying score.
• A total of several scores, where each test's score is added up first (or, in some areas, averaged).
• A weighted total, where some sections count more than others.
• Separate minimums, where an area also requires a minimum score in each test.

For each area, the page below the checker shows how results are reported, the score range, the qualifying score and any priority score, the weightings, and past years' figures where we have them. These come from facts we have checked against archived official sources, and each card shows its source and the date we checked it. Our data verification process explains those checks.

Where does it not give an answer?

If an area has not yet published its qualifying score for the coming entry year, the checker says so and uses the most recent published year, clearly labelled with that year. If no qualifying score has been published, or we have not been able to verify one, it shows "not published" instead of a number. It never fills a gap with a guess.

Some areas have no published qualifying score at all: some rank children, and some leave it to each school. For these areas the page lists the area and links to its guide, rather than offering a comparison that would mislead.

Why does it never convert raw marks or percentages?

The 11+ uses standardised scores. A child's raw mark is adjusted for their age and compared with every other child who sat the same test. The tables that turn raw marks into standardised scores are not published by test providers or councils, and they depend on the group of children who sat that test.

That means nobody outside the testing organisation can turn a raw mark, a percentage or a practice-paper score into an accurate standardised score. A converter that claims to do so is estimating. We would rather show nothing than a precise-looking number that could be wrong. Our guide to standardised scores and is 70% enough to pass? explain why.

What does a result from the checker mean?

• Reaching the qualifying score usually makes a child eligible for a grammar school place. It is not an offer. Places then follow each school's admission rules, such as distance or catchment, when more children qualify than there are places.
• Falling below it does not always end the road. Some areas have review processes, and families who are refused a place can usually appeal. See if your child does not pass.
• The checker never says whether a child will or will not get a place, and its result uses neutral colours, with no red or green.

What happens to the scores you type in?

Nothing leaves your device. The check runs in your browser. The scores are not sent to us, not stored, and not recorded in our analytics. If you close or refresh the page, they are gone.

How do we keep it accurate?

The qualifying scores and scales in the checker are the same verified facts that appear on our area pages. When an area publishes a new figure, it is checked twice against the official source before it appears, and every page that uses it updates. If you think a figure is wrong, please tell us about an error. We aim to correct factual errors within 48 hours and log every correction on our corrections page.

Related pages

• 11+ score checker
• How we verify school and admissions data
• Standardised scores explained
• What is a good standardised score?
• Age standardisation explained