Grammar Schools in Cumbria

To register for the Cumbria 11 Plus, parents complete a registration form online. The registration period opens in May and closes in July. Please note that this period of registration is when your child is in Year 5. They will then take the entrance test in the September of Year 6. Parents must also complete a local authority registration for secondary school, which in Cumbria is referred to as an SA3.

The Cumbria 11 Plus is used by one school only, Queen Elizabeth Grammar School, Penrith. The school allocates 20% of places based on academic ability alone. There are then other oversubscription criteria which are applied. The school is currently consulting for changes to its admissions process for 2026, as it is heavily oversubscribed. Currently there are 160 places available for Year 7 entry.

Only one school uses the Cumbria 11 Plus as there is only one grammar school in Cumbria. Queen Elizabeth Grammar School is a co-educational grammar school which was founded in 1564 and is based in the centre of Penrith in Cumbria. It has over one thousand pupils.

The results of the Cumbria 11 Plus are released in October when children are in Year 6. Specific school places are released on National Secondary Schools Offer Day which is in March. Following the results, parents can apply to Queen Elizabeth Grammar School if their child has been assessed as of grammar school standard.

The Cumbria 11 Plus test is in September, usually on the second weekend. The exact date may vary from year to year but will be made available to those parents who have registered their child for the test.

The Cumbria 11 Plus exam for Queen Elizabeth Grammar School in Penrith typically lasts for around two hours. The test consists of two papers and there will be a break in between. Both papers are taken on one morning in mid-September when the children are in Year 6.

The Cumbria 11 Plus test assesses pupils in four subjects: English, Mathematics, Non-Verbal Reasoning and Verbal Reasoning. There are differing skillsets required for each of these subjects. Whilst English and Maths are taught at school, Reasoning is not often covered, so extra preparation will be needed for this.

The Cumbria 11 Plus test is written by GL Assessment, who provide many of the 11 Plus tests nationwide. These do vary slightly in terms of content so it is important to practice tests for the Cumbria 11 Plus which mix up the four subjects in two papers.

The number of questions in the Cumbria 11 Plus varies but what is important is the length of the test and therefore the length of time to be spent on each question. Generally the test will allow one minute for each Maths or English question and around 45 seconds for each Reasoning question. The tests are around one hour each, so children can expect between 50 and 75 question in each paper.

If you are unhappy with the results of the Cumbria 11 Plus and still wish your child to attend Queen Elizabeth Grammar School in Penrith, you will need to wait until after National Secondary Schools Offer Day in March. At this stage you will find out which school your child has been offered and can appeal the place. It is important to note that remarking of the papers is not possible, because they are marked by computer and so have a very high accuracy rate.

The pass mark for the Cumbria 11 Plus, for Queen Elizabeth Grammar School Penrith, is set every year by the school, and 20% of places are awarded purely on the basis of academic ability. The school is currently consulting on some minor changes to its admissions policy and this will mean that a score is set based on these new changes for 2026.

The difficulty of the Cumbria 11 Plus test will depend on your child’s ability in English, Maths and Reasoning. As Reasoning is not taught in schools, it is advisable to prepare for these sections separately. GL Assessment run the test, and familiarisation materials are available on their website. There are also other 11 Plus papers which may be useful to determine your child’s ability and whether they will do well in the test.

A good Cumbria 11 Plus test score will be that which places children in the top 20% of ability level in the area. It is therefore a good idea to aim for around 80% in practice tests, as this will mean that your child is near the top of their peer group.

As there is currently only one school which uses this exam, Queen Elizabeth Grammar School Penrith, there is no difference in pass mark between any schools.