11+ guide · Last reviewed 16 September 2026
11+ standardised scores, explained
What the number on a results letter means, why age matters, why a good score depends on where you live - and why we show a readiness band instead of predicting one.
What a standardised score is
A raw score is simply how many marks a child got on a paper. A standardised score is that raw score converted onto a common scale, so that results from different papers, different years and children of different ages can be compared fairly. Most 11+ results letters report a standardised score for each subject and a combined total, rather than the raw marks.
The scale is usually set so that the average child in the group tested lands on a fixed midpoint, with scores spread either side of it. How the subject scores are combined into the total - and whether some subjects carry more weight than others - is decided by the admissions authority for that area, not by the test provider alone. Two areas using the same provider's papers can combine them differently.
Age standardisation
Children in one school year can be almost twelve months apart in age, and on average the older ones score a little higher on the same paper. Age standardisation corrects for that: the conversion from raw to standardised score takes the child's age in months at the time of the test into account, so a child born in August is not disadvantaged against a classmate born the previous September.
The practical effect is that two children with exactly the same raw marks can receive different standardised scores if their ages differ. That is intended, not an error. It also means a child's score on a practice paper marked out of a number cannot simply be read across to a standardised score - the conversion needs the real test, the real cohort and the real age tables.
Why the pass mark is area-specific
There is no national 11+ pass mark. Each admissions authority - a council, a consortium or an individual school - sets its own rule. Some publish a qualifying score that a child must reach; some rank every candidate and offer places in order until the school is full; some do both, with a qualifying score for eligibility and a rank order for allocation. Super-selective schools may effectively require a much higher score than the same area's other grammar schools.
Thresholds also move from year to year with the size and strength of the cohort and with how the scores are standardised, so a figure quoted for one intake is not a promise for the next. The honest answer to “what is a good 11+ score” is therefore: it depends on the area and the school. The only reliable source is the published admissions arrangements for the school or council your child is applying to; if they are not clear, ask the admissions office. We do not quote area thresholds on this site, because we have not yet verified them and they change.
Why BrightEleven shows a readiness band, not a predicted score
A genuine standardised score needs three things BrightEleven does not have: the real paper, the real cohort of children who sat it, and the provider's age tables. Without them, any “standardised score” produced by a practice app is an invented number wearing a real number's clothes. We would rather not show one at all than show one that could mislead you.
What a parent sees instead
After a mock, the parent dashboard shows the raw mock result and a per-topic breakdown, so you can see which topics went well and which need attention. The same dashboard carries a readiness band: one of three plain bands, each with a next step, built from how much of the topic map your child has covered and how accurately they answer at the harder levels - not from any one mock. It is labelled as a guide, because that is what it is.
What a child sees
A child's results screen shows that they finished, what to work on next and encouragement. No score, no marks out of fifty, no pass or fail. The number is for the adults.
What is not on this page
There is no calculator here, on purpose. A box that takes a practice score and returns a “predicted standardised score” would be exactly the invented number described above, and a child's preparation should not be steered by it. If a page elsewhere offers one, treat its output as a rough illustration at most.
What to do with a practice result
- Read the topic breakdown before the total. A middling total made of one weak topic and several strong ones is a different picture from an even spread, and the first one is the easier to act on.
- Watch the direction over several mocks rather than any single result. One paper on a tired afternoon tells you very little.
- Look up the admissions arrangements for your area early, so you know whether it uses a qualifying score, a rank order or both - and which subjects count.
- Check that the test is GL-style at all. Our guide to which exam board your school uses explains the four families and who BrightEleven is not built for.
For what the mocks and the readiness band look like in practice, see how BrightEleven works.