The 11+ in Gloucestershire

The seven grammar schools

One Entrance Test, sat on the same day, covers all seven Gloucestershire grammar schools:

• Pate's Grammar School, Cheltenham (mixed)
• Denmark Road High School, Gloucester (girls, mixed sixth form)
• Ribston Hall High School, Gloucester (girls, mixed sixth form)
• Sir Thomas Rich's School, Gloucester (boys, mixed sixth form)
• The Crypt School, Gloucester (mixed)
• Marling School, Stroud (boys, mixed sixth form)
• Stroud High School, Stroud (girls, mixed sixth form)

Registering, and sharing the result

Registration for this round ran from 12 noon on Monday 18 May to 12 noon on Friday 26 June 2026, through a link on any of the grammar schools' websites. It is run by the schools, not by the council. Children were expected to be born between 1 September 2015 and 31 August 2016.

You register once, and on the form you choose which schools receive your child's result. You must share the result with every school you are interested in. The school where your child sits the test makes no difference to their chances, provided the result is shared.

• No late registrations or shares were accepted after 26 June 2026.
• If your child missed registration, the schools run a Late Entrance Test, expected in late January 2027. A child who sits the late test cannot be offered a grammar place on Allocation Day; the late test only lets them join the waiting list.
• Pupil Premium eligibility had to be declared on the registration form for the schools to take it into account.

What is in the papers

For 2027 entry the test is provided by GL Assessment. There are two papers, sat on the same day with a short break between them. Every question is multiple choice, with answers on a separate sheet that is marked electronically.

Paper 1

Verbal skills: comprehension, vocabulary and verbal reasoning.

Paper 2

Non-verbal reasoning, and mathematical knowledge, skills and understanding.

Length

About 45 to 50 minutes of testing per paper, plus time for instructions and some worked examples, so around an hour each.

Scoring

Results are standardised for age, by year, month and day of birth.

Practice

Familiarisation material is linked from each grammar school's website. Pate's notes that GL's free materials are generic and may differ from the real test.

Results, and why there is no single pass mark

Results are emailed in mid-October, before the 31 October application deadline. You receive a separate result from each school you shared with, because each school sets its own qualifying standard in its own admissions policy.

The schools we checked base it on rank, not on a fixed score. Pate's Grammar School's 2027 policy defines its qualifying group as the highest-ranking 250 candidates, with minimum standards in each part of the test, for 150 places. Marling School likewise talks about a "qualifying rank".

• Answer sheets cannot be obtained by schools or parents.
• Meeting a school's qualifying standard is not an offer of a place. It tells you which grammar schools are realistic to name on your application.

Things that catch families out

• Forgetting to share the result with a school. Sharing is chosen at registration and could not be added after 26 June 2026.
• Applying late. Gloucestershire's own guidance is that a late application is offered the nearest school with space, which may be none of your choices.
• Treating the late test as a second chance at Allocation Day. It is a route onto the waiting list only.
• Each school's policy is different. Pate's, for instance, says sibling links are not considered and that SATs, CATs and other areas' 11+ results cannot be used: entry rests on the Entrance Test.
• For entry in September 2028, the test is on Saturday 3 July 2027, at the end of Year 5, with a different provider and different papers. See the dates for that round below.