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Super-Selective Grammar Schools: The Hardest 11+ (2027 Entry)

📖 11 min read 👪 For parents considering a national-competition school 📊 Fact-checked against school admissions pages and local authority information 📅 Updated September 2026

Most grammar schools take the highest scorers who live nearby. A super-selective ranks by test score first — so the academic bar is set against a national field, the applicant-to-place ratio runs to 12, 14, even 15 to one, and the tests are often bespoke and multi-stage rather than a shared regional paper. But "super-selective" does not always mean "no catchment": most of the best-known ones still apply a designated or priority area within that ranking, and a few can only admit local children at all. This guide explains how super-selective admissions actually work, walks through the best-known schools — including where geography still bites — and sets out what a realistic preparation plan looks like.

Written through four expert lenses. Like the rest of our regional 11+ series, this guide reflects four perspectives with 20+ years each: a former grammar school admissions lead and consortium examiner; a head of 11+ at a national tuition provider; an educational assessment specialist who has built reasoning tests and standardisation models at a major exam board; and an independent-school registrar. Every date and figure below is checked against individual school admissions arrangements and local authority admissions information for 2027 entry. Arrangements change each year, so confirm the current detail with the official source before you rely on it.

What "super-selective" means

RankingBy 11+ test score first — the academic bar is national, not local

The fieldNational: strong candidates travel and sit from across the country

Typical ratioAround 10–15 applicants per place at the best-known schools

TestsOften the school's own paper, and frequently two stages (a sift, then a harder round)

RegistrationDirectly with the school, months before the October council application

Geography still countsMost still apply a designated or priority area; only a handful (e.g. Queen Elizabeth's, Barnet) rank on score alone; The Latymer School admits only children inside its inner area

You still apply via the councilName the school on your home local authority's Common Application Form by 31 October 2026

If a super-selective is on your list:

Find each school's own registration deadline now — several fall in May or June, long before the council form.
Read the school's oversubscription criteria in full: many "super-selectives" still fill most places from a designated or priority area, and one or two admit only local children.
Look at three years of the school's lowest offered score or last distance offered before deciding it is realistic.

Why the ratios are so severe

At a catchment grammar, a child is really competing with other qualifying children in the local area. At a super-selective, the competition is every ambitious, well-prepared child within travelling distance — which, for a famous school, means a very wide radius. Families sit these tests as "insurance" alongside a local grammar, which inflates application numbers further.

The result: schools such as The Henrietta Barnett School report around 15 applications per place, Tiffin School and The Tiffin Girls' School around 14, and Queen Elizabeth's School, Barnet roughly 12. A child can score well above a normal grammar threshold and still not be offered a place.

The best-known super-selectives

Queen Elizabeth's School, Barnet (boys)

The clearest true score-only super-selective. Own entrance test, sat in mid-September (16–17 September 2026 for 2027 entry). Around 180 places. No catchment — offers go to the highest scorers, with distance used only to separate boys on an identical score (and even then a random ballot may settle it). QE has published a qualifying standard of a combined score of 225 for 2027 entry, but meeting it does not guarantee a place — a boy still has to rank high enough.

The Henrietta Barnett School, Hampstead Garden Suburb (girls)

A two-stage own test: a first-round paper in early September 2026, with roughly the top 300 girls invited to a second-round paper in early October, and around 120 places — the smallest intake of the big names, which is part of why the ratio is the highest. Score-led, with no formal catchment, but a published local-priority category for girls living within three miles of the school; equal scores are separated by straight-line distance to the main entrance.

Tiffin School and The Tiffin Girls' School, Kingston

A two-stage academic process — a Stage 1 sift (multiple-choice, GL-style) on 1–2 October 2026, registration closing at noon on 1 September 2026, then a harder Stage 2 paper in Maths and English for the top scorers in November. But geography matters here: Tiffin School (boys) applies a priority area of roughly a 10 km straight-line radius, and The Tiffin Girls' School a designated area of 44 postcode districts — and in recent years effectively all Tiffin Girls' places have gone to in-area applicants. A high Stage 2 score from well outside the area is a long shot.

The Latymer School, Edmonton (co-educational)

GL-set Maths and Verbal Reasoning (multiple choice) plus a school-set English paper, sat in early September (3–5 September 2026). Register via the school's online Supplementary Information Form by 2 June 2026. Latymer operates a defined inner area: only children living within it can be admitted at all, so it rewards a high score and the right address.

Reading School (boys) and Kendrick School (girls), Reading

Two of the country's strongest results, in one town, on two completely different tests. Reading School uses a test set by FSCE (Future Stories Community Enterprise — a not-for-profit board that is itself a subsidiary of Reading School), covering the Key Stage 2 curriculum plus a section on creativity; it runs a principal entrance test in the summer term for in-catchment and boarding applicants and a separate day sitting in September for out-of-catchment applicants, with registration closing in mid-May 2026. Kendrick School uses GL Assessment papers, sat on 18 September 2026, with registration open from 1 May to 1 July 2026. Confirm both schools' exact dates and catchment rules on their own admissions pages.

How super-selective admissions actually run

Register with the school directly, by its own deadline — often May or June of Year 5's summer term.
Sit the test (or Stage 1) in September or early October of Year 6.
Stage 2, where it exists, follows for the top scorers a few weeks later.
Name the school on your home local authority's Common Application Form by 31 October 2026 — the test result alone is not an application.
Offers on 1 March 2027, in strict score order within the school's admission criteria. Refused applicants can appeal and join a waiting list ranked the same way.

The registration trap. Because each super-selective runs its own early registration, a family focused on the October council deadline can miss the test entirely. If your child is not registered with the school by its own closing date, they usually cannot sit — and there is rarely a late window.

Is a super-selective realistic for your child?

Look at the numbers, not the name. Most of these schools publish the lowest score offered, or the last distance offered, for recent years. If your child is not comfortably inside that range in practice tests a year out, treat the school as an ambitious extra choice, not a plan.

Have a genuine local option. The strongest position on offer day is a place you're happy with, plus one or two super-selective long shots — not three national-competition schools and nothing else.

Weigh the travel. A daily commute of an hour each way is a real cost across five years. Factor it in before you commit a year of preparation.

Frequently asked questions

What is a super-selective grammar school?

One that ranks applicants first by 11+ test score rather than by where they live, so the academic bar is set against a national field. Applicant-to-place ratios at the best-known schools run to roughly 10–15 to one. "Super-selective" does not always mean "no catchment", though: many still apply a designated or priority area within that score ranking, and a few can only admit local children at all.

Which are the main super-selective grammar schools?

Well-known examples include Queen Elizabeth's School, Barnet; The Henrietta Barnett School; Tiffin School and The Tiffin Girls' School in Kingston; The Latymer School in Edmonton; and Reading School and Kendrick School in Reading. Several Sutton schools also operate on a super-selective basis after the Sutton eligibility test.

How hard is it to get into a super-selective grammar school?

Very. Schools such as The Henrietta Barnett School report around 15 applications per place, and Tiffin and Queen Elizabeth's Barnet around 12–14. A child can score well above a typical catchment-grammar threshold and still miss out, because offers go strictly in score order to a national field.

Do super-selective grammar schools have a catchment area?

It varies, and the name is misleading. A few rank purely on score with no area at all — Queen Elizabeth's School, Barnet is the clearest, using distance only to separate identical scores. But most of the best-known ones still apply a designated or priority area: The Tiffin Girls' School fills almost all places from its 44-postcode designated area, Tiffin School uses a roughly 10 km priority area, The Henrietta Barnett School gives priority within three miles, and The Latymer School can only admit children inside its inner area at all. Always read the specific school's oversubscription criteria.

When do you register for a super-selective grammar school test?

Directly with the school, by its own deadline — often in May or June of Year 5's summer term, months before the 31 October council application. Reading School's registration closed on 17 May 2026 and The Latymer School's on 2 June 2026 for 2027 entry, for example. Miss the school's own deadline and your child usually cannot sit the test.

Do I still apply through my local council?

Yes. The entrance test result is separate from the school application. You must name each super-selective school as a preference on your home local authority's secondary Common Application Form, due by 31 October 2026, in genuine order of preference.

Related SharpY Mind resources

A national field rewards depth, not tricks

Super-selective papers go beyond the standard 11+. SharpY Mind builds genuine English, maths and reasoning depth through short daily sessions — the kind that holds up under a two-stage test.

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