Redbridge 11+ Results 2026: What Your Child's Score Means

The Redbridge results email is short. Annoyingly short, really, because the number in it doesn't explain itself. Is 108 good? Is 104 a pass? Well, it depends, and not just on the score. Ilford County High and Woodford County High rank every eligible child against each other, so what matters is how your child's number compares with everyone else's, and whether your house sits inside the catchment line. We've put the lot below: what the score means, how places get shared out, six years of past cut-offs, last year's full score breakdown and a plan for the 31 October deadline.

When are Redbridge 11+ results released in 2026?

Mid-October. That's genuinely all Redbridge will say.

So keep checking the inbox you registered with (and the junk folder, because these emails do go astray). For the record, the test was on Friday 18 September, according to the Council's Redbridge 11 plus page. If the middle of the month has come and gone and you've still got nothing, ring or email the admissions team.

Got another area on the go as well? We've written full guides to Kent Test results and Buckinghamshire 11+ results, and the Essex dates are in our wider 11+ results day guide.

Redbridge 11+ pass mark: how to read your child's score

Quick bit of background first. GL Assessment writes the test, and your child sat two papers: English with verbal reasoning, then maths with non-verbal. You get one number back, the "total standardised score". It's been adjusted for age and squashed onto a common scale, which is why it looks so odd. It isn't a percentage. And please don't ignore the decimals, because children really are separated by hundredths of a point (108.47 and 108.52 are not the same result, as far as the ranking's concerned).

What does 104 mean?

It's the minimum, written into Redbridge's 2027-28 admission arrangements. Under 104 and your child isn't ranked at all, and can't go on either grammar's waiting list. On 104 or more, they're in the running.

That's it, though. In the running. For 2026 entry, 820 children got to 104 and there were 360 places, going by the Council's test data. We'd describe 104 as getting into the queue. It isn't getting through the door.

Qualifying score vs cut-off score

Parents mix these up all the time, and fair enough, they sound alike. The qualifying score is fixed: 104, every year. The cut-off isn't fixed at all. It's simply the point where offers happened to run out in a particular year, for a particular group of children. Plenty of kids clear the first and miss the second. That isn't failing. There just weren't enough seats.

And before anyone asks about a recount: there isn't one. Redbridge doesn't have a review stage, and its earlier 11 plus guidance said GL papers aren't remarked. If you're unhappy with the result, the 2027-28 arrangements send you to your child's primary head first, then (formally) to an appeal.

What to do once the result arrives

1. Jot the score down, decimals and all. Keep the email.
2. Make sure you're inside the catchment area (how to check is further down).
3. Pupil Premium might apply? Ask what proof the Council wants.
4. Hold the score up against the past offer figures below.
5. Start sketching out your six schools, grammar and non-grammar.

Then get the form in before 31 October. Don't leave it to the last night.

How are Redbridge grammar school places allocated?

Good news here, for once: Redbridge is simpler than most 11+ areas. The Council runs admissions for both schools. One test, one rulebook, 180 children into Year 7 at each.

How competitive is it, year by year?

Fewer children have sat the test each year lately, and fewer have hit 104:

Sources: Redbridge Council's "pupils who sat the test" reports for 2024, 2025 and 2026 entry.

You'd think that would mean an easier ride. Not necessarily. Ilford County High's line actually went up for 2025, then dropped to 106.02 for 2026 (the year with the smallest field). So the numbers don't move in a neat straight line.

Step 1: Reach the 104 threshold

No 104, no ranking. Simple as that. At 104 or above, the priority order below takes over.

Step 2: The priority order

The 2027-28 arrangements take eligible children in this order, highest score first inside each group:

1. Looked-after and previously looked-after children.
2. Up to 45 children at each school who are entitled to Pupil Premium.
3. Other children living in the Common Catchment Area.
4. Children living outside it.

Two children on exactly the same score? Whoever has the shorter safe walking route to the school wins.

Here's the thing that catches a lot of families out, though. An older brother or sister already at the school counts for nothing. Neither grammar gives siblings (or staff children) any priority. The order you list schools in does matter, mind you, and we've covered that under choosing schools.

The Common Catchment Area: how to check your address

1. Open Redbridge Council's map.
2. Pick the "Education" category, then "11+ Common Catchment Area".
3. Type in your postcode and see whether your home falls inside the blue line.

Do this even if you're sure. We mean it. "We live in Redbridge" and "the school's five minutes away" aren't the same as being in the catchment area, because the line doesn't follow the borough boundary.

Being inside it won't get your child a place by itself (the score still decides that). Being outside it is a different story. Out-of-area children are only looked at after everyone inside has been placed, and the Council's own arrangements say only catchment-area children have been admitted for the last ten years.

What if you're close to the boundary?

Zoom right in. Your house, not your road. If it's still not obvious which side you're on, ask the admissions team before you apply rather than after. The address that counts is wherever your child normally lives on 31 October 2026; you'll need to prove it, and if you move after that, the Council has to be told.

Pupil Premium places

Each school holds back up to 45 places (a quarter of its intake) for children entitled to Pupil Premium. That covers any child who's had free school meals at some point in the past six years. The Council checks eligibility as it was when you applied, and the arrangements mention entitlement in Year 5; Woodford County High's own page describes these as places for catchment-area children.

It still isn't a guarantee, sadly. Inside that group it's a straight ranking by score, so if more eligible children apply than there are places, the higher scores get them. If this is you, apply under that criterion, ask the admissions team what evidence they need, and double-check your application actually shows it.

Redbridge 11+ cut-off scores: what do previous years tell you?

Every March, Redbridge publishes the score of the last catchment-area child offered a place on time. Here's six years of it, straight from the latest report:

Source: Redbridge Council's published allocation scores. Figures are for the last on-time catchment-area offer on National Offer Day; they don't cover Pupil Premium places or later waiting-list offers.

Can last year's cut-off predict this year's offer?

Not really. No.

Each figure is a snapshot of one year, and the line shifts because a different crowd of children applies each time, scoring differently and ranking the schools differently. Over these six years Ilford County High's line has wandered between 106.02 and 111.38. Woodford County High's has sat between 109.28 and 112.47, and it's been higher than Ilford's every single year.

How we'd read it, roughly: comfortably above the whole range is a good sign, though still not a promise. Somewhere in the middle of it, nobody can really say, and a fraction of a point either way tells you very little. Below all six figures? An on-time offer looks harder, but waiting lists do move. And if your child's in a priority group, like Pupil Premium, these numbers don't quite apply to them anyway.

Where would your child's score have ranked last year?

Redbridge also publishes every single score from the test, boys and girls separately. We counted through last year's list (September 2026 entry), and this is what it shows:

Source: Redbridge Council's published total scores for September 2026 entry. The Council notes this is a list of scores, not a ranked list.

Now, this is the bit that surprises people. The 180th-highest boy on that list scored 113.63, and the 180th-highest girl 114.06. Yet in March, offers went way further down than that, to 106.02 for Ilford's catchment-area boys and 110.62 for Woodford's girls.

Why the gap? Because that list is everyone who sat the test. Some of them never applied. Some put another school first. Some live outside the catchment area. So if your child's spot on the raw list looks a bit grim, don't panic just yet. It tells you where they sit among everyone who took the test, which isn't the same as their place in the queue.

How to choose schools after the Redbridge 11+

eAdmissions gives you six slots, and you can use them on schools in Redbridge or anywhere else. What you want is a list that says what you'd really like, but still leaves your child somewhere decent if the grammar falls through.

1. Does the order of your preferences matter?

Yes. More than people expect.

If your child could get into more than one school on your list, they're offered whichever one you put highest, and everything below it drops off. Anything above it keeps them on its waiting list. So picture this: grammar first, local comprehensive second, and only the comprehensive can take your child. Fine. They get the comprehensive and stay on the grammar's waiting list. Now flip those two round. The comprehensive's offer would wipe the grammar off your list completely. Moral of the story: rank by what you want, not by what feels safe. (The Council's guide to how offers and waiting lists work has the full detail.)

2. Include non-grammar schools you'd be happy with

Think about the journey on a wet Monday, the pastoral side, the clubs, and whether your child would actually like it there. The Council suggests including schools close to home, since they're likelier to have room. If none of your six can take your child, they'll be given the nearest school that can, and that might not be one you'd ever have chosen.

3. Check every school's rules

Most comprehensives go on catchment and distance. Faith schools might want a Supplementary Information Form by 31 October. Read the small print for each one before you commit.

4. Apply on time

The deadline is 31 October 2026. Save the confirmation email and the reference number, and get your proof of address sorted early: the Council's application guidance wants a council tax reference plus one other document, like a tenancy agreement or a recent utility bill.

A worked example. Take a girl who lives inside the catchment area and scores 110.30. That would have got her into Woodford County High in 2021 and 2022, but not in the other four years. So: a maybe. Her family puts Woodford first, then their favourite comprehensive, then a couple of other local schools. If no Woodford offer turns up on 1 March, she's on its waiting list in score order, and she's already got a decent school lined up nearby.

One more thing. If your child also sat another area's test (Essex CSSE, say), each result only counts for that area's schools. You'll still only get one offer, and every school goes on the same eAdmissions form.

Ilford County High vs Woodford County High: what's the difference?

On the admissions side? Hardly anything. Same rules for both. The real difference is that Ilford County High takes boys and Woodford County High takes girls.

Children sit the test at one of the two schools. If you want a feel for whether either would actually suit your child, things like the curriculum, the clubs, the pastoral care and the daily trip there and back, go to the open events and dig around the school websites. They'll tell you far more than a table of scores ever will.

What to do if the score is below 104, or below past cut-offs

It's rotten when the number isn't the one you'd hoped for. Especially after months of practice papers and Saturday mornings spent on verbal reasoning.

Try to keep it in proportion, though. This is how your child did on two papers, on one day, in September. It's not a judgement on who they are. Give everyone the weekend before you decide anything.

If your child scored below 104

They won't be ranked, and they can't go on a grammar waiting list for September 2027. Honestly, the most useful thing you can do now is put your energy into six schools your child would be happy at. It might also be worth asking the primary school where they're flying and where they could use a bit more support.

Thinking of appealing? Read the guidance properly first, because the odds are long. Redbridge's appeals page says 4 out of 129 secondary appeals succeeded in the last academic year, and that's across every secondary school in the borough, not just the grammars.

What if illness or something else affected the test?

Talk to the primary head, and get in touch with Redbridge Council to ask what (if anything) can be taken into account. Explain what happened and ask whether a doctor's letter or something similar would help. In the meantime, carry on with your other school choices as normal.

If your child scored above 104 but below past cut-offs

That's a maybe, not a no. Your child's still on the ranked list. If the grammar's the one you want, put it down, but make sure the other five would hold up fine without it.

Other ways in later on

March isn't the last chance, either. The same arrangements say both grammars keep waiting lists for Years 7, 8 and 9 in case places come up, ranking children who've reached the threshold by score and then distance. Neither takes new pupils into Years 10 or 11. And then there's sixth form: that document gives Year 12 admission numbers of 40 at Ilford County High and 23 at Woodford County High, with entry based on each school's own requirements. If either route might suit your child down the line, ask the Council or the school how in-year applications work.

After you apply: offers, waiting lists and appeals

Before 31 October 2026

Submit on eAdmissions, give your six schools one last look, upload proof of address and save the confirmation. Move before the deadline and you just update the application. Move after it and you'll need the Council's change of address form.

On 1 March 2027

Offers come through by email in the evening. The Council's guidance gives you two weeks to accept, but go by whatever deadline is in your own email.

If there's no grammar offer

Accept the place you've been given. Seriously, do this first. The Council recommends it before any appeal so your child has a school whatever happens.

Grammar waiting lists go in score order, not first come, first served, and only children on 104 or more can be on them. Places free up when other families turn them down, but nobody can tell you how far a list will move. Positions usually go online at the end of March, and for this intake the lists should run until 31 December 2027, after which you'd need to reapply.

If you're considering an appeal

Year 7 appeals have to be in by Friday 2 April 2027. Read the school's arrangements and the Council's appeal guidance, gather whatever evidence you've got, and keep all the paperwork together in one place.

Redbridge application checklist

Deadline: Saturday 31 October 2026. Tick things off as you go. Nothing's saved, so it'll reset when you leave the page.

After the 11+: help your child prepare for Year 6 SATs

The 11+ might be done and dusted. Year 6 isn't. KS2 SATs are on 10 to 13 May 2027 and cover reading, grammar, punctuation, spelling and maths, with teachers assessing writing and science separately. Whatever the email said, October's a good moment to take stock of what's going well and what could do with a bit more practice. If you'd like a hand, our KS2 SATs support is built for exactly this part of the year, and if there's a younger brother or sister just starting out, there's our 11+ grammar exam course.

Redbridge 11+ jargon, explained

The forms and emails are full of terms nobody bothers to explain. Here's a quick translation.

Redbridge 11+ results 2026: FAQs