The short answer
Year 4. That gives roughly twenty-four months of preparation before the test, and in twenty years of teaching this I have not found a better runway.
The arithmetic is simple once you know when the test falls. Children sit the West Midlands entrance test at the very start of Year 6, in September. Counting back two full school years from that morning lands you in September of Year 4. That is not a coincidence, it is why Year 4 works.
| Start point | Runway to the test | My honest view |
|---|---|---|
| Year 3 | About 36 months | Good, but for foundations only, not test technique |
| Year 4 | About 24 months | The optimum. Enough time to teach everything without rushing |
| Year 5 | About 12 months | Possible, but you are shortening the odds |
| Year 6 | Weeks | Too late to build anything, familiarisation only |
What Year 3 is actually for
Plenty of parents contact me in Year 3 and ask whether it is too early. It is not, but it is easy to spend that year on the wrong things.
At that age I am not teaching the test. I am building three things: mental arithmetic, times tables, and reading fluency. Verbal and non-verbal reasoning are not introduced at all in Year 3, because a child who cannot yet read a passage comfortably has no chance of reasoning about one under time pressure.
If you are reading this with a Year 3 child, the useful work this year is reading every day and getting quick and confident with number. Nothing else.
Why Year 4 is the optimum start
Year 4 is where formal preparation earns its place. Two years is enough to introduce every question type, let a child struggle with the hard ones, come back to them a term later, and still leave a summer for consolidation. One year is not.
It also matters because of what the test actually is. According to the partnership's entrance test page, children sit two papers, each around 50 to 60 minutes, covering English comprehension, verbal reasoning, mathematics, and non-verbal and spatial reasoning. The marks are weighted 50% to English and verbal reasoning, 25% to non-verbal reasoning, and 25% to mathematics.
That is four distinct disciplines, two of which (verbal and non-verbal reasoning) are not taught in primary school at all. Twenty-four months to cover four subjects, two of them from scratch, is not a generous timetable. It is a sensible one.
Is Year 5 too late?
I will be straight with you, because parents deserve better than reassurance here. One year is not sufficient to grasp most of the concepts properly. It does not mean a child starting in Year 5 will not pass. It means they are minimising their chances, and they are doing it against a cohort where many started earlier.
If Year 5 is where you are, do not despair and do not double the hours to compensate. Cover the reasoning question types first, because they are the ones nobody has taught your child, and protect the reading.
What "ready to start" actually looks like
Age is a rough proxy. What I really assess when a child joins is whether the foundations are in place, because preparation built on shaky ground collapses in the summer term.
- Reading fluency. Can they read a passage above their age band aloud, comfortably, and tell you what it meant? This is the single strongest predictor I see.
- Mental arithmetic. Quick recall, not method. The test gives no calculator and the maths section is individually timed.
- Times tables. Secure to twelve, without counting up.
- Stamina. Can they concentrate for forty minutes without a prompt?
What the test itself demands
One detail from the partnership's entrance test page changes how you should prepare, and most families never read it. Each paper is divided into smaller, individually timed sections. Children are told how long they have for each one, and they cannot revisit a previous section or move on to the next until told to do so.
That removes the single most common exam strategy children are taught at school: skipping a hard question and coming back at the end. Here there is no coming back. If a child freezes for four minutes on one non-verbal question, those marks are gone.
The other rules worth knowing early, because they shape how you practise at home:
- Two HB pencils, an eraser and a sharpener, in a clear pencil case or a clear zip-lock bag. No rulers and no highlighters.
- No watches, timers or stop clocks. There is a clock in the room.
- Instructions and timings come from an audio track, with a five-minute warning in sections lasting longer than five minutes.
- Working out goes in the question booklet. There is no scrap paper, and only the separate answer sheet is marked.
Practising with a ruler on the table, a phone timer running, and permission to skip back is practising a different exam.
Where you are in the cycle right now
Registration for September 2027 entry closed at 4pm on 26 June 2026, according to the partnership's registration page. If you missed it, your child's next opportunity is the following cycle, which registers around May and June 2027.
That gap is worth using rather than mourning. A family that registers in May 2027 and starts proper preparation now has more runway than most of the children who will sit alongside them.
For how the marks are converted once the test is sat, see our guide to the standardised score, and for the section nobody prepares for, our guide to spatial reasoning.
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.
Start earlier than you think, and spend the first year on nothing but foundations
I get this question more than any other, and my answer has not changed in twenty years: earlier is better. Parents contact me in Year 3 and ask if it is too soon. It is not. But what we do in that year is mental arithmetic, times tables, and getting reading up to scratch with real fluency. We do not introduce verbal or non-verbal reasoning at all in Year 3, because there is no point reasoning about a passage a child cannot yet read comfortably.
Most students come to us in Year 4, and that is ideal. Two years, twenty-four months, is perfect for this test. It gives us room to teach every question type, let a child find the hard ones difficult, and come back to them properly rather than papering over it.
Year 5 I consider too late. One year is not sufficient to grasp most of the concepts. That is not to say they will not pass, and I have had children do it. But they are minimising their chances, and I would rather tell a parent that plainly in Year 5 than have them find out in September of Year 6.
Mushtaque Ahmed, Founder of GrammarPath and Bright Mentors
Frequently asked questions
When should my child start preparing for the 11+?
Year 4 is the optimum starting point. Children sit the West Midlands entrance test at the start of Year 6, so beginning in Year 4 gives roughly twenty-four months. That is enough time to cover all four sections of the test, including verbal and non-verbal reasoning which are not taught in primary school, without rushing.
Is Year 3 too early to start 11+ preparation?
No, but Year 3 should be spent on foundations rather than test technique. Mental arithmetic, times tables and daily reading are the priorities. Verbal and non-verbal reasoning are best left until Year 4, because a child needs comfortable reading fluency before they can reason about a passage under time pressure.
Is Year 5 too late to start preparing for the 11+?
It is not impossible, but one year is not really sufficient to cover the material properly, and it means competing against children who started earlier. A child beginning in Year 5 should prioritise the reasoning question types, since those are the ones no school will have taught them, while protecting daily reading.
How long does 11+ preparation take?
About two years for most children. The test covers English comprehension, verbal reasoning, mathematics and non-verbal and spatial reasoning across two papers of roughly 50 to 60 minutes each. Two of those four disciplines are not taught in primary school, which is what makes the timeline longer than parents expect.
Can my child skip a hard question and come back to it?
No. The partnership states that each paper is divided into individually timed sections, and candidates cannot revisit a previous section or move on to the next until told to do so. The usual school strategy of leaving a hard question until the end does not work in this test, which is why timed section practice matters.
What should we practise at home?
Practise under the real conditions: no ruler, no highlighter, no watch or phone timer, working out in the booklet rather than on scrap paper, and answers transferred to a separate answer sheet as you go. Reading every day matters more than any workbook, particularly for the English and verbal reasoning half of the marks.