The FSCE 11 plus

Who uses it

About ten grammar schools, for example Reading School, Chelmsford County High School for Girls, Crossley Heath and North Halifax in Calderdale, and Skipton Girls' High and Ermysted's in Skipton

Coming next

Gloucestershire's grammar schools (test in July 2027) and the Trafford consortium switch to FSCE for entry in September 2028

When

September of Year 6, after registering in the summer of Year 5

Subjects

Maths and English; at some schools also the wider curriculum up to the end of Year 5, and a creative writing paper

Format

Mostly multiple-choice papers, marked by computer; it varies by school and can change each year

What is FSCE?

FSCE is a newer 11+ test provider. It writes a test for each school or group of schools, so the format at one school can be quite different from another's.

Formats can also change from one year to the next, so read the information your school publishes for the current year rather than relying on older papers.

What the papers can include

Maths and English

Every FSCE school tests maths and English: arithmetic and problem solving, reading comprehension, vocabulary, spelling, punctuation and grammar. Most questions are multiple choice.

The wider curriculum

At some schools, such as Reading School and Chelmsford County High School for Girls, questions can come from any primary subject taught up to the end of Year 5: science, history, geography, computing, design and technology, art, music, languages and PE as well as maths and English. The questions often test reasoning with a piece of information, not only remembered facts.

Creative writing

Some schools include a creative writing paper, a longer handwritten piece in response to a prompt. At some, it is only marked for children who reach the qualifying score on the other papers. Other FSCE schools, including the Skipton schools, have no writing paper at all.

How to prepare for the FSCE test

• Find out exactly which papers your school uses this year: the school's admissions page is the only reliable source.
• Keep maths and English at the centre of practice, as they are tested everywhere.
• If the wider curriculum is tested, review the main ideas from each Key Stage 2 subject up to Year 5, and practise reading a short text or diagram and reasoning from it.
• If there is a writing paper, practise planning and writing a short story or description to a time limit.
• Treat any practice paper labelled FSCE as a warm-up rather than a copy of the real thing, because the format changes.

Other 11+ tests

• GL AssessmentMost of EnglandEnglish, maths, verbal and non-verbal reasoning on paper.
• Quest AssessmentsGrowing; Kent from 2028Paper multiple-choice tests; Kent, Slough and Dorset switch to it for 2028 entry.
• FSCEAbout ten schoolsMaths, English and, at some schools, the wider curriculum and creative writing.
• CSSEEssexWritten maths and English papers, including a writing task.
• SEAGNorthern IrelandThe transfer test: two papers of English and maths in November.
• ISEB Pre-TestIndependent schoolsAn adaptive on-screen test, sat once a year.
• CEMSome independent schoolsShort timed sections. No longer used by grammar schools.

Read the full 11+ guide for parents