Ebdon lost in the first round of the first two ranking events of the year, the Australian Goldfields Open and the Shanghai Masters, to make a low key start to the season and as a result drop out of the top 16 at the first cut-off in October, meaning he now had to win a qualifying match to reach the main draw of the ranking events. He lost his first qualifying match in an attempt to reach the 2011 UK Championship as he was defeated 3–6 by Robert Milkins. The result meant that Ebdon would not play in the tournament since his first year as a professional in 1991. He also missed the Masters for the first time since 1992 due to being ranked outside of the top 16, but did manage to qualify for the German Masters and the Welsh Open, losing in the first round upon reaching the venue in both events.