There is no published evidence that private primary children do better in this test, and the mechanics of it are designed to be neutral about schooling.
What does catch these families out is not the test. It is the admissions process, which works nothing like the one they are used to.
Do they have an advantage?
The honest answer is that nobody publishes the data, so anyone telling you yes or no with confidence is guessing.
What can be said:
- Smaller classes and more teacher time plausibly help, as they help with anything.
- The 11+ question types are not on any primary curriculum. Verbal reasoning, non-verbal reasoning and spatial work are specific to this kind of test, and most Year 5 children arrive with no knowledge of them whichever school they attend.
- Some prep schools prepare for entrance exams and some explicitly do not, so "private primary" is not one thing.
- A prep school preparing for its own senior school's exam is not necessarily preparing for this one, which is a different test with different question types.
So the useful conclusion is not about the sector. A child who has practised these specific question types has an advantage over a child who has not, and that can happen at any school or at the kitchen table.
What the test does not care about
Two features of the process are worth knowing, because they surprise people.
It is age-standardised. Scores are adjusted for the month a child was born in, around a median of 200. The adjustment is for age and nothing else, so no allowance is made for school type in either direction.
Admission does not consider your current school. Oversubscription criteria turn on the score, catchment and distance, pupil premium status and sibling links, depending on the school. Attending a fee-paying primary is neither a help nor a hindrance in the criteria, and nor is attending a state primary.
See our guide to the standardised score and our catchment guide.
What is genuinely different
These are the differences that matter, and none of them is academic.
| At a private primary | In the grammar school process |
|---|---|
| The school guides you through entry | You run it yourself, to a public deadline |
| Registration handled or prompted | You register in May or June of Year 5, or you miss it |
| Reference and report count | They count for nothing |
| An interview, sometimes | None. Two papers, one morning |
| Places negotiable at the margin | A score and a criterion, not a conversation |
| Fees signal commitment | Nothing you pay affects a place |
| Class sizes small | Larger, and the pace assumes a selected cohort |
The second row is the one that does real damage. Registration closes in late June of Year 5, with access arrangements earlier still, and nobody chases you. A family used to a school handling admissions can simply miss it. See our registration guide.
What these families get wrong
- Assuming someone will remind them. Nobody will. The deadline is yours to meet.
- Expecting the school's report to matter. It does not. Only the score and the criteria.
- Treating it as a formality because their child is top of a small class. Top of twenty at a prep school is not the same as above the bar in a partnership-wide cohort.
- Skipping the reasoning practice. A strong maths and English child can still be lost in non-verbal, which is a quarter of the marks.
- Not checking catchment. It is often decisive and cannot be changed in October.
- Listing only grammar schools on the preference form, with no realistic state alternative, having assumed one would not be needed.
- Confusing the two exams. King Edward's School in Edgbaston runs its own separate entrance test. Preparing for that is not preparing for the partnership test.
The free place, and the other option
If you are moving from a fee-paying primary, you are weighing a free selective place against continuing to pay, so it is worth having both numbers.
A grammar school place costs nothing in fees. Birmingham independent senior school fees run to over £22,000 a year, and King Edward's offers means-tested assisted places with an income threshold. There are no scholarships at the grammar schools, because there are no fees to reduce.
See our guide to independent school fees and bursaries and our comparison of grammar and independent.
Preparing well
- Ask the school directly whether they prepare for this test, and for which exams. Do not assume.
- Sit a free mock early, to see where your child is against this test rather than against their class.
- Prioritise the reasoning papers, which are the least likely to be covered anywhere.
- Diarise May and June of Year 5 yourself, today.
- Check catchment before you choose schools, not after the score arrives.
- Prepare your child for a bigger cohort, where everyone cleared the same bar.
See our guide to what Year 7 is actually like.
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.
Nobody is going to remind you to register
I would not assume an advantage either way. The question types in this test, the verbal reasoning, the non-verbal, the spatial work, are not on any primary curriculum, and most Year 5 students I have taught start with zero knowledge of them whichever school they come from. What helps is having practised these specific questions, and that can happen anywhere.
The thing that actually catches these families is the process. At a private primary the school tends to guide you through entry, and here nobody does. Registration is in May or June of Year 5 and if you miss it there is no test, and no report or reference counts for anything. It is the score and the criteria.
And be careful about which exam you are preparing for. In Birmingham you have many independent schools, and the most well known under the King Edward's name is King Edward's in Edgbaston, which has its own separate entrance test. That is not the same test as the grammar school partnership one.
Mushtaque Ahmed, Founder of GrammarPath and Bright Mentors
Frequently asked questions
Do private primary children have an advantage in the 11+?
Nobody publishes the data, so anyone answering confidently is guessing. The question types are not on any primary curriculum, so most children arrive knowing none of them, and some prep schools prepare for entrance exams while others do not.
Does the grammar school admissions process consider my child's current school?
No. Oversubscription criteria turn on the score, catchment and distance, pupil premium status and sibling links. Attending a fee-paying primary is neither a help nor a hindrance, and the score itself is adjusted only for the child's age.
What do private primary families get wrong about the 11+?
Assuming someone will remind them to register, when the deadline is theirs to meet in May or June of Year 5. Expecting a school report or reference to count, when neither does. And treating it as a formality because their child is top of a small class.
Is King Edward's School the same exam as the grammar schools?
No. King Edward's School in Edgbaston runs its own separate entrance test, so preparing for that is not preparing for the West Midlands partnership test, which has different question types.
What should a prep school child focus on for the 11+?
The reasoning papers, verbal and non-verbal, which are the least likely to be covered anywhere and together carry a large share of the marks. A strong maths and English child can still be lost in non-verbal, which is a quarter of the total.
Is a grammar school place cheaper than independent school?
Much. A grammar school place costs nothing in fees, while Birmingham independent senior school fees run to over £22,000 a year. There are no scholarships at the grammar schools because there are no fees to reduce.