Once the preference form goes in at the end of October, there is genuinely nothing to do until March. That is hard to hear and it is better than pretending otherwise.
The part worth preparing for is what happens after March, because that is where the long wait actually is.
The fortnight that matters
Results arrive in mid October. The local authority preference form is due by 31 October. In that fortnight you turn a score into a ranked list, and the list you submit is the one used.
Birmingham City Council allows six preferences, and they may include schools outside Birmingham. Use all six. An unused slot helps nobody, and if your child has a grammar school result you must still list the grammar school for it to count.
One wasted-slot warning: if your child already attends an all-through school that continues into secondary, listing it uses a preference for a place they would get anyway.
See our guide to ranking preferences.
Then nothing, until March
From the start of November to National Offer Day on 1 March, nothing happens that you can influence. There is no further submission, no interview, no reassessment.
That is four months of silence after an intense autumn, and families fill it with worry. Let Year 6 be Year 6. The work is done.
March is not the end
Here is the part nobody warns you about, and it is the reason this article exists.
For families who get the offer they wanted, March is the end. For families on a waiting list, March is the beginning. Those lists clear slowly, through spring and into summer, as other families accept places elsewhere.
I have had students waiting from March right through to August, four or five months, before a place came up. That is not a sign anything has gone wrong. It is how the system behaves, and knowing it in advance makes it survivable.
| When | What is happening |
|---|---|
| November to February | Nothing you can act on |
| 1 March | Offers issued |
| Within about two weeks | Accept your offer. It never costs you a list place |
| March to July | Waiting lists clear as families accept elsewhere |
| Into August | Places still come up. This is normal |
Being offered a school you never listed
If none of your six preferences can offer a place, the authority allocates one wherever a place remains. That can be a school you did not list and had not considered.
It is a real outcome and it is worth planning against rather than being blindsided by:
- Use all six preferences.
- Include at least one realistic non-selective school you would genuinely accept. A form of only grammar schools is how this happens.
- Accept whatever you are given, then stay on the lists. Accepting removes you from none of them.
See our guide to accepting an offer.
What to actually do in the wait
- Stop preparing. The test is done and there is nothing to revise for.
- Keep reading. It helps secondary school whichever one they attend.
- Visit your non-selective options properly, so a March offer is not a stranger.
- Say out loud that it is finished. Children carry the waiting too, and often think they are still being judged.
- Diarise March. Know the accept deadline and the appeal deadline before they arrive.
See where your child stands today
Timed sections in the GL Assessment format, marked instantly, with a topic-by-topic breakdown. No sign-up to start.
The waiting after March is the part nobody mentions
Once the results are out in October, families have until the end of the month to nominate their six choices, including any grammar school choices. After that is submitted to the council, between October and March, there is really nothing to do until a decision has been made.
Some will be at the bottom of the list and will not get the place. The real stress normally comes for those on waiting lists after March. We have had students in the past who had to wait from March all the way to August, somewhere around four or five months, before they got a place. So it is perfectly normal to be waiting that long, or to be in limbo without a confirmed place.
And in March they have to make a decision. If they do not get the grammar school place they wanted, they are given one of their six options, and sometimes I have had students given a school they did not even put down as one of their six choices. Then they have to decide whether to take it and keep waiting on the waiting list for the grammar school.
Mushtaque Ahmed, Founder of GrammarPath and Bright Mentors
Frequently asked questions
What happens between the 11+ result and March?
Nothing you can influence. Results arrive in mid October, the preference form is due by 31 October, and from then until National Offer Day on 1 March there is no further submission, interview or reassessment.
How many school preferences can I list in Birmingham?
Six, and they may include schools outside Birmingham. Use all of them, since an unused slot helps nobody, and remember that a grammar school must be listed for a result to count towards a place there.
How long can a waiting list take?
Months. Lists clear through spring and into summer as families accept places elsewhere, and children have waited from March right through to August before a place came up. That is normal rather than a sign anything has gone wrong.
Can I be offered a school I did not apply for?
Yes. If none of your six preferences can offer a place, the authority allocates one wherever a place remains, which may be a school you never listed. Including at least one realistic non-selective school you would accept is the way to avoid it.
Should my child keep practising after the test?
No. The test is sat and there is nothing further to revise for. Keep reading, because it helps at secondary school whichever one they attend, and tell your child plainly that the process is finished.