In the United Kingdom and the Federal Republic of Germany, examination is generally employed to transfer pupils from primary schools to secondary school. In the United Kingdom, the procedure and method to allocate pupils to secondary schools, such as grammar, technical and modern schools are up to each local education agency. There is, however, some criticism that the age of eleven is too early to allocate pupils definitively to different forms of secondary schools. A few local education authorities have modified the time to give the examination later than at present provided, and the London county council and other local education authorities have set up comprehensive secondary schools for the admission of all pupils. Taking a week of Auslehseunterricht for entrance to Gymnasium for instance, two teachers from basic primary schools and Gymnasium take charge of teaching alternatively, without consulting with the school records of pupils from basic primary schools during the first three days, and for the next four days with them.
Emphasis is put on the test of imagination and thinking rather than on the test of knowledge.
Admittance to secondary schools generally is based on the results of pupil's performances in the Auslehseunterricht.