Where the current cycle stands
Registration for September 2027 entry closed at 4pm on 26 June 2026, according to the partnership's registration page. The next window, for September 2028 entry, opens around May 2027 and closes in late June.
The process below is the one that has run for several cycles. Read it now and the ten minutes in May will be genuinely ten minutes.
Have these ready before you start
The form itself is short. What slows families down is stopping halfway to find something.
- Your child's full name and date of birth, exactly as the school holds them
- Your home postcode, which determines the test centre you are allocated
- The name of the school your child currently attends
- Your own details as parent or guardian, and an email address you actually check
- A photograph of your child, taken on a phone (see below)
- If eligible, a Pupil Premium form, printed and stamped by the school (see below)
The registration itself
- Go to the West Midlands grammar schools website and start the registration.
- Select whether you are registering a boy or a girl. This determines which schools your child can be considered for, since most of the partnership schools are single sex.
- Enter your home postcode. This is what allocates your test centre.
- Create the account with your email address and the basic details, exactly as you would on any website.
- Log in to the parent portal.
- Work through the tabs: your child's name and date of birth, your details as parent or guardian, and the school they attend.
- Upload the photograph.
- Upload the Pupil Premium form if it applies to you.
- Submit, and keep the confirmation email.
The photograph, which is where most people get stuck
You need to upload a photograph of your child. A phone picture is fine: it needs to capture the face and upper body clearly, and the portal gives guidance on exactly how to frame it.
This is the single most common sticking point I deal with, and it has nothing to do with the photograph itself. It is the uploading. Parents who are less confident with technology get as far as this step and stall, and because the rest of the form is straightforward they often assume they have finished.
Two practical points. Take the photo before you sit down to register, so it is already on the phone you are holding. And if you are registering on a laptop with the picture on a phone, either email it to yourself first or do the whole registration on the phone.
Pupil Premium: the change that catches people out
If your child is eligible for Pupil Premium, which in practice means they receive free school meals, this is the part to read twice.
The process changed. It used to be that the Pupil Premium form was submitted to the grammar school authority after results and offers came out. That is no longer how it works. The form now has to be downloaded from the website, printed, taken to your child's school to be stamped and signed, and then uploaded to the portal as part of the registration itself.
If a parent misses that step, it creates a great deal of trouble further down the line, because by the time it matters the registration window has closed.
What I do for families in my own centre is simply hand them the printout, tell them to get it signed at school, and check they have uploaded it. If you are doing this alone, put it on a list. It is the one part of registration that requires another organisation to act, so it is the one part you cannot do at eleven o'clock the night before the deadline.
Separately, and worth knowing: the partnership has arranged free familiarisation support through Atom Learning for children eligible for Pupil Premium, with a registration link on Preparing for the Test. It is under-publicised and costs nothing.
The mistakes I see every year
| Mistake | What happens |
|---|---|
| Leaving it until late June | No late entry exists. The child does not sit the test |
| Stalling on the photo upload | Registration is left incomplete, often unknowingly |
| Missing the Pupil Premium form | Cannot be fixed after the window closes |
| A name that does not match school records | Query later, when there is less time to resolve it |
| An email address nobody checks | Confirmation and test details missed |
| Assuming this applies for a school place | It does not. That is a separate form, due 31 October |
After you register
Keep the confirmation email. Your allocated test centre writes to your home address in September with the arrangements for the day, so watch the post, not just your inbox.
And note the last row of that table, because it is the one that costs families most: registering for the test is not applying for a school. The local authority preference form is a separate application with a separate deadline of 31 October. See our timeline and key dates for how the two fit together.
Papers are coming
GrammarPath practice papers for the West Midlands test are on the way, written to the real two-paper format. Join the list and we will email you the moment they launch.
Two uploads decide whether a registration is actually finished
Registering for the West Midlands 11+ is very straightforward. You go on the West Midlands grammar website, choose whether it is a boy or a girl, put in the postcode of your home address, and register like you would for any website with your email address and essential information. Once you have the login you go to the portal, which asks for essential information: the child's name, date of birth, your details as the parent or guardian, and the school they attend.
There are two caveats that are important. The first is that you have to take a simple picture on a smartphone, just capturing the face and the upper body portion, and it tells you exactly how to take that picture, and it has to be uploaded. This is one of the issues for parents who are not adept with technology, so I normally give a short video explainer on how to do it.
The one that always sticks out, and the one I get the most questions on, is Pupil Premium. If your child is eligible, meaning they are having free school meals, it used to be that you submitted the Pupil Premium form to the grammar authority after they received their results and offer. Since 2023 they have changed it, because of the extensive amount of applications. The form now has to be downloaded from their website, printed, and then you get the school to stamp it, and you upload it yourself onto the portal.
If a parent misses this it just creates a lot of chaos down the line. So I make sure to advise every family who is eligible for free school meals to get that Pupil Premium form signed by the school and uploaded accordingly.
Mushtaque Ahmed, Founder of GrammarPath and Bright Mentors
Frequently asked questions
How do I register for the West Midlands 11+?
Go to the West Midlands grammar schools website, select whether you are registering a boy or a girl, enter your home postcode, and create an account with your email address. You then log in to the parent portal and complete tabs covering your child's name and date of birth, your details as parent or guardian, and the school they attend, before uploading a photograph and submitting.
When does registration open and close?
The window runs roughly six weeks, from about the first week of May to the last week of June in Year 5. Registration for September 2027 entry closed at 4pm on 26 June 2026, so the next window opens around May 2027. There is no late entry.
What do I need before I start registering?
Your child's full name and date of birth as the school holds them, your home postcode, the name of their current school, your own contact details, a phone photograph of your child, and, if eligible, a Pupil Premium form printed and stamped by the school.
What photo do I need for 11+ registration?
A photograph capturing your child's face and upper body clearly. A phone picture is fine, and the portal explains how to frame it. Take it before you sit down to register, and if the picture is on a phone while you register on a laptop, email it to yourself first or do the whole thing on the phone.
How does Pupil Premium work for 11+ registration?
The form must now be downloaded from the website, printed, stamped and signed by your child's school, and uploaded to the portal during registration. It used to be submitted after results and offers, which is what catches families out. Because it needs the school to act, it cannot be done the night before the deadline.
Does registering for the test apply for a school place?
No, and this is the most expensive misunderstanding in the process. Registering with the partnership enters your child for the test. Applying for a place is a separate form submitted to your local authority by 31 October. Families who do only the first sit the test and then discover they have not applied anywhere.