Before any revision plan matters, East London parents face a question most 11+ guides skip entirely: which 11+ are you actually preparing for? The answer depends heavily on which side of a borough boundary you live on, and getting it wrong wastes months of preparation aimed at the wrong test.
Newham, home to our Forest Gate and Plaistow branches, has no grammar schools of its own. Families there pursuing a selective place are, by definition, applying out of area, most commonly to Redbridge's grammar schools, which sit just across the borough boundary. Families in Ilford, inside Redbridge itself, are applying to their local catchment area directly. That distinction changes which registration process, which test provider, and which deadlines actually apply to your child, so it is worth confirming before preparation begins, not after.
For Redbridge's two grammar schools, Ilford County High School for Boys and Woodford County High School for Girls, the council's own published process for the current admissions cycle requires registration by 5pm on Monday 15 June 2026, with the test itself sitting on Friday 18 September 2026. The exam, administered by GL Assessment, consists of two papers: English and Verbal Reasoning, and Maths and Non-Verbal Reasoning. Results are released by email in mid-October. Families must also confirm their child lives within Redbridge's defined catchment area before registering, since living outside it affects eligibility.
Families considering Essex's selective schools sit a separate exam altogether, run by the Consortium of Selective Schools in Essex (CSSE), with its own registration process independent of Redbridge's. Essex County Council's own guidance directs families to the CSSE directly for exact registration deadlines and test dates each year, so rather than repeat a figure that changes annually and is easy to get wrong, we recommend checking CSSE's official site directly once your child enters Year 5, since missing this deadline is not recoverable the way a late homework submission is.
Families who prepared an older sibling for the 11+ several years ago may remember a different exam style, CEM, run by Durham University. CEM stopped offering paper-based 11+ tests in 2023, and most former CEM areas have since moved to GL Assessment or developed their own bespoke tests. In practice, this means fewer East London families now need to prepare for two meaningfully different exam styles than was the case a few years ago, since GL Assessment is now the more common format across the region. Our 11+ tutor's perspective on preparing for the exam covers what the GL Assessment format actually asks of a child in more depth.
Results land in mid-October, but the formal offer itself does not arrive until Secondary National Offer Day, which falls on Monday 1 March 2027 for this admissions cycle, when all secondary school offers, grammar and non-selective alike, are released together. If your child's outcome is not what you were hoping for, it is worth knowing the appeals route exists, though it is genuinely competitive: our guide to choosing a tuition centre sets out the most recent local appeals data for context on how difficult that route typically is.
Does Newham have any grammar schools?
No. Newham is a non-selective borough, so Newham families pursuing the 11+ route are applying to grammar schools outside the borough, most commonly in neighbouring Redbridge.
What test format do Redbridge grammar schools use?
GL Assessment, across two papers, English and Verbal Reasoning, and Maths and Non-Verbal Reasoning, sat in September of Year 6 for entry the following September.
When is the Redbridge 11+ registration deadline?
For the current cycle, registration closed at 5pm on Monday 15 June 2026, with the test itself on Friday 18 September 2026. Families should treat this deadline as fixed and non-negotiable, and register as soon as their child enters Year 6.
When do families find out if their child has a grammar school place?
Redbridge test results arrive by email in mid-October, but the official secondary school offer itself, confirming the actual place, is released on Secondary National Offer Day, 1 March 2027 for this cycle.
Sources:
Recent Posts
Categories
Tags
Updated 18-September-2026
