What Is a Good 11+ Score in 2026? SAS Explained for Every Exam Board
Here's the fact that surprises most parents the first time they see it: a score of 100 is not a good 11+ score. It's the national average, and it's built to be the average — by design, not by coincidence. Roughly half of all children who sit a Standardised Age Score exam will score above 100, and half below, every single year, regardless of how the questions change.
Once that clicks, the real question becomes much more useful: what score is actually competitive, and does that number even mean the same thing across different exam boards? It doesn't — and mixing them up is one of the most common, avoidable sources of confusion for families juggling more than one board.
Quick summary
Quick tips:
- Never compare a GL SAS number directly to a Cambridge Insight percentage — they're not the same scale.
- Treat any score range as a competitive guide, not a guaranteed pass mark — the real bar moves every year.
- Check your specific target school's own published guidance, not just a generic national figure.
What a Standardised Age Score actually is
A Standardised Age Score (SAS) takes a child's raw exam mark and adjusts it for two things: their exact age on the day of the test (so a child born in September isn't penalised against a child born the following August), and how the entire cohort performed that year. The result is a number engineered so that 100 always equals the national average for that age group — whether that year's paper was unusually hard or unusually easy.
Most GL Assessment standardised scores fall between roughly 70 and 140, with a standard deviation of about 15 points. That spread is what makes the score comparable and meaningful year to year, even though the underlying questions change every sitting.
What counts as "good" — by board
| Exam board | Scoring approach | Roughly competitive target |
|---|---|---|
| GL Assessment | Standardised Age Score, mean 100, most scores 70-140 | ~110-121 for many grammar schools; 121+ ≈ top 10% nationally; 130+ ≈ top 5%; some London super-selectives require well into the 130s |
| Cambridge Insight (formerly CEM) | Computer-based, non-adaptive, six timed sections — commonly discussed in module percentages rather than a single published SAS | Guidance commonly points to roughly 50%+ per module as a target for 11+ entry; exact school thresholds are rarely published |
| CSSE (Essex consortium) | Own written-response papers with a distinct marking approach — see our full CSSE guide for format detail | No single published national figure; check each CSSE school's own admissions guidance directly |
| ISEB Common Pre-Test | Adaptive, computer-based, used widely by independent schools | Results are typically sent to schools rather than shared in detail with parents; each school sets its own threshold, often not disclosed publicly |
The pattern across every board is the same: there is no single, fixed, universal "good score." What's competitive depends on the specific board, the specific school, and how strong that year's applicant pool happens to be.
Why schools rarely publish one fixed pass mark
Most grammar schools rank every applicant by score and offer places top-down until their places are full, rather than applying a fixed pass/fail line like a driving test. That means the score that actually secures a place shifts a little every year, based on how competitive that specific year's cohort is — which is exactly why schools tend to describe "typical" or "recent" ranges rather than committing to one permanent number.
Common scoring mistakes families make
- Comparing scores across boards directly. A GL SAS of 115 and a Cambridge Insight module percentage of 65% are not directly comparable numbers — they're built on entirely different scales and methods.
- Treating 100 as "on track." Since 100 is the average by design, a child aiming for a competitive grammar school place needs to be meaningfully above it, not just at it.
- Assuming last year's threshold guarantees this year's. Published "typical" score ranges are historical guides, not promises — cohort strength changes yearly.
- Ignoring age standardisation. Two children with the same raw mark but different birth months can receive different standardised scores — this is intentional and fair, not an error.
Parent advice
Use score ranges as a planning tool, not a verdict. A mock score of 108 in Year 5 isn't a prediction of failure — it's information about where to focus the next few months of practice.
Ask your target school directly what they can tell you. Many schools and consortia publish a "typical" or "recent" score range in admissions reports even where they don't commit to a fixed pass mark — this is far more useful than any general guide, including this one.
Don't share raw numbers with an anxious child without context. A ten-year-old hearing "you need 121" without understanding what that means relative to the average can experience it as far more pressure than intended.
Student tips
Scores and averages aren't something to carry into the exam room — on the day, focus on your own paper, not what number you think you need. In practice sessions, though, tracking your own mock scores over time is genuinely useful: it shows you whether your revision is working, and which specific topics are still holding your overall score down.
Tutor notes
- Explain standardisation explicitly, early. Many families don't understand why 100 isn't "average and fine" until it's explained plainly — doing this early prevents a lot of avoidable panic later.
- Track by board, not by a single blended number. A student preparing for both a GL-based and a Cambridge Insight-based school needs separate diagnostic tracking, not one averaged score.
- Contextualise every mock score against the target school's actual published range, not a generic national figure — the difference materially changes how urgent a gap looks.
Frequently asked questions
What is a Standardised Age Score (SAS) in the 11+?
A Standardised Age Score converts a child's raw exam mark into a number that adjusts for their exact age on the test date and how the whole cohort performed that year. It's designed so that 100 always represents the national average for that age group, regardless of how hard or easy that year's paper was.
What score is needed to pass the 11+ on GL Assessment?
There's no single national pass mark, but as a general guide a standardised score of around 110-121 is commonly needed for many grammar schools, a score of 121 or higher places a child in roughly the top 10% nationally, and a score around 130 places them in the top 5%. The most oversubscribed super-selective schools, particularly in London, often require scores well into the 130s.
How is Cambridge Insight (formerly CEM) scored differently to GL Assessment?
Cambridge Insight (the rebranded CEM Select assessment) is a computer-based, non-adaptive test split into six timed sections. Rather than a single published standardised score comparable to GL's SAS, guidance for the assessment commonly points to scoring roughly 50%+ in each module as a target for 11+ entry, though the exact threshold a school applies isn't usually published in the same way as GL's SAS bands.
Is a score of 100 good enough to get into a grammar school?
Not usually. A score of 100 is the national average by mathematical design, meaning roughly half of all children score above it and half below. Because grammar schools rank applicants and only offer places to the highest scorers, a competitive score for most grammar schools sits meaningfully above 100 — commonly in the 110-130+ range depending on the school.
Why doesn't every exam board publish a clear pass mark?
Most grammar schools and consortia rank all applicants by score and offer places top-down until seats are full, rather than applying a fixed pass/fail threshold. This means the effective "pass mark" shifts every year depending on how strong that year's applicant pool is, so schools generally avoid publishing one fixed number as if it were permanent.
So what should you actually do with this?
Look up your target school's own published guidance, and use it — not this article, not a national average — as the number to plan against. Then track your child's own mock scores over time by subject and question type, so you can see exactly which topics are holding the overall number down.
Chasing a specific score works best as a byproduct of a habit, not a goal in itself: short, regular, well-marked practice steadily lifts a standardised score far more reliably than occasional long sessions aimed at a target number. It also does something a raw score can't measure — it builds a child's familiarity with exam-style questions until they stop feeling unusual, which is exactly what keeps nerves manageable when the real exam finally arrives.
Related SharpY Mind resources
Where to go from here
Chasing a competitive score starts with knowing exactly which topics are costing marks. SharpY Mind tracks performance by subject and question type, with instant marking and a worked explanation for every mistake — building steady, exam-ready confidence alongside the number.
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