Most children sit their 11+ paper in September of Year 6, mark their answers nervously at home, and then wait for a number that looks nothing like the percentage they expected. Understanding what that number means — and what it does not mean — removes a lot of parental anxiety and helps you read results honestly.
From raw score to standardised age score
After your child sits the test, their papers are marked to produce a raw score: the simple count of correct answers. A raw score on its own is not very useful for comparing children, because different papers have different numbers of questions, different levels of difficulty, and — crucially — the children sitting them range from almost exactly ten years old to nearly eleven.
GL Assessment (the provider used in most grammar school areas in England) converts that raw score into a standardised age score (SAS). The conversion does two things:
- Adjusts for the test itself — so that a harder paper does not produce artificially low scores compared to an easier one.
- Adjusts for your child’s exact age in years and months — so that a child born in August (the youngest possible in their year group) is compared against other children of the same age, rather than against classmates who may be nearly a year older.
The result is a number on a scale where 100 represents the average performance for the child’s age group — GL Assessment’s own guidance confirms this mean of 100. Because scores are standardised, most pupils cluster near 100 — typically around two-thirds fall within roughly 15 points either side, and the large majority within about 30 points — though the exact spread is not published per test.
Note: some other 11+ tests — including bespoke consortium papers and the former CEM assessments (whose successor, Cambridge Select Insight, is used mainly by independent schools) — use different scoring methods. This guide focuses on GL Assessment, which is now used in the large majority of selective-school areas.
How age standardisation works in practice
Within a single school year, the gap between the oldest and youngest child can be nearly twelve months — a significant developmental difference at age ten. Without adjustment, September-born children would have a systematic advantage simply by virtue of being older.
GL Assessment’s age standardisation works by comparing each child against a national reference sample of pupils who sat the same test at the same age. A child who scores 28 out of 40 in raw marks will receive a higher standardised score if they are younger (because fewer same-aged children would be expected to achieve that), and a slightly lower one if they are older (because that score is closer to typical for their age group). Importantly, older children are never penalised — they cannot receive a score lower than their raw performance would otherwise warrant. Only younger children receive upward adjustments.
Qualifying marks: why there is no national pass mark
Once standardised scores have been calculated, each local authority or grammar school sets a qualifying mark — the minimum score that allows a child to be considered for a place. This is where parents often get confused, because:
- There is no national qualifying mark. A score that passes in one area may not pass in another.
- Qualifying marks are set after the tests are marked, relative to the cohort and the number of available places, so they can shift year on year.
- Meeting the qualifying mark does not guarantee a place — it means your child can be offered a place if there are spaces available and the application is submitted correctly. In oversubscribed areas, the effective bar is wherever the last offered place falls, which is often considerably above the stated qualifying threshold.
As a rough orientation (these are illustrative; always check current figures for your target school):
- In areas with many grammar schools and relatively more places — such as parts of Kent and Lincolnshire — qualifying scores can sit in the low-to-mid 100s on the GL scale.
- In more competitive areas with fewer places, schools commonly require scores in the 120s.
- At superselective schools — which admit only from the very top of the applicant pool — pupils typically need a high score, often around 130–135 or above.
What to do with a result
A score above 100 tells you your child performed above average for their age. Whether that is enough depends entirely on the schools you are applying to and how many children scored higher in the same sitting. If the result is close to the qualifying mark for your preferred school, it is worth calling the admissions team to understand where your child sits on the waiting list and what recent years’ competitive scores have looked like.
A tutor can help you understand the target score range for specific schools and plan the remaining preparation time accordingly. Tell us the schools you have in mind and your child’s year group, and we will match you with an 11+ specialist who knows the local area.