Part of Fairer Schools: Three Asks for Andy Burnham: three practical reforms to make school admissions fairer and move England closer to a truly comprehensive education system.
Commission an independent review of the 11-plus and children’s wellbeing
What we’re asking the government to do
Commission an independent review of how the 11-plus affects children’s wellbeing in England. The review should hear from experts, and also put children’s experiences at its heart. It should look at the whole process from preparation to results and beyond, and publish its findings and recommendations in full.
It should examine:
- the age at which preparation and testing begin
- the amount and intensity of private tutoring
- children’s experiences of passing, not qualifying, or choosing not to sit
- the experiences of disadvantaged pupils and children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND)
- multiple tests and long journeys to selective schools
Why it matters
Most children in England never sit an 11-plus. In selective areas, children can face months of practice and tutoring, worry about the result, and wonder whether they’ll go to the same school as their friends. Some children now sit the test at nine, as a growing number of grammar schools move testing into Year 5.
On the 11-plus Anonymous website, parents and children have shared accounts of sleepless nights, tears and children being sick on test day, as well as disappointment that can linger long after results day. This is anecdotal, but it is consistent, and it is what we are hearing.
There has never been a national investigation into how the 11-plus affects children’s wellbeing. Children’s voices are almost absent from the debate. A review should hear from children who pass, children who don’t qualify and children who don’t sit the test. All of them grow up in communities where selection can shape how children see themselves and one another.
What the evidence tells us
There is very little research on the 11-plus and wellbeing in England. A 2026 Queen’s University Belfast study found that many children and families in Northern Ireland reported stress and anxiety around transfer testing. Northern Ireland’s system differs from England’s, and England has no equivalent study.
That gap is the reason a review is needed. We need to understand both the pressures children experience at the time and whether those effects last, and whose experiences are being missed, including those of disadvantaged children and children with SEND.
Read our round-up of research on the 11-plus and wellbeing.
Support for this proposal
“As a patron of Comprehensive Future, I hear much anecdotal testimony about the damage the 11-plus does, to pupils, both those who ‘pass’ and those who don’t, and to the cultivation of a cramming culture that scars young people’s lives. To ask the government to commission an independent review into its operation and effects is a commonsense measure when we know how unhappy and unhealthy our young people are.”
— Natalie Bennett, Green peer and patron of Comprehensive Future
“An independent review of the 11-plus and children’s wellbeing is long overdue. We know that it divides families, friend groups and local communities. Coming from Lincolnshire, I have seen its impact in dividing towns and defining how children, both those who pass and those who fail, perceive and treat themselves from the age of ten. We need this review urgently to look after the next generation of young people.”
— Jack Deasley, doctoral student, Comprehensive Future steering group
What we’re doing
We’re bringing together research and first-hand accounts to make the case for a review, and we’ll be asking the Children’s Commissioner, the Education Select Committee and the Schools Minister to back it. If you’re a parent, teacher or someone who has been through the 11-plus and would like to share your experience, please get in touch.