Gloucestershire Grammar Schools 11 Plus Guide 2026

Gloucestershire has 7 state grammar schools forming the Gloucestershire Grammar Schools Consortium. All seven schools use a single common entrance test, the Gloucestershire Grammar Schools Entrance Test, provided by GL Assessment. Children sit two papers on the same day — Saturday 12 September 2026 for September 2027 entry — and can share their score with any or all of the consortium schools. Each school offers approximately 150 Year 7 places, giving a combined consortium intake of around 1,050 selective places per year across Cheltenham, Gloucester and Stroud. With Pate's Grammar School ranking as one of the highest-performing co-educational state schools in England and three of the seven schools rated Outstanding by Ofsted, competition across the consortium is strong and well-structured preparation starting from Year 4 or Year 5 is the most reliable route to a successful outcome.

What Are the Key Facts and Dates for Gloucestershire 11+ Entry 2026?

The table below sets out the key admissions facts and dates for the Gloucestershire Grammar Schools Entrance Test for September 2027 entry, based on information published by Gloucestershire County Council and the consortium schools.

Registration is completed directly through the individual grammar schools' websites — not through Gloucestershire County Council's general admissions portal. The official Gloucestershire County Council grammar schools admissions page provides the definitive list of consortium schools and confirms current test dates. Once registered, your child sits the test once on 12 September 2026 and you may then request that their score is shared with any of the seven consortium schools you wish to be considered for. You must also complete the Gloucestershire County Council Common Application Form for secondary school preferences by 31 October 2026. Failing to list a grammar school on the CAF means your child will not receive an offer from that school even if they achieve a qualifying score.

Which Schools Are in the Gloucestershire Grammar Schools Consortium?

The seven schools span three areas of Gloucestershire — Cheltenham, Gloucester (four schools) and Stroud — with a mix of selective boys, girls and co-educational provision. The consortium structure means a child who achieves a qualifying score can be considered for any or all of the schools in a single test sitting.

Three of the seven schools — Denmark Road High School, Ribston Hall High School and Stroud High School — are girls-only for Years 7 to 11 with co-educational sixth forms. Two schools — Sir Thomas Rich's School and Marling School — are boys-only for Years 7 to 11 with co-educational sixth forms. Pate's Grammar School and The Crypt School are fully co-educational from Year 7. Families with children of different genders or with preferences for single-sex education in the secondary years should factor this structure into their school preference choices. Three of the seven schools — Pate's, The Crypt and Stroud High — currently offer full 11–18 provision including sixth form; the others have sixth forms that operate with a mixed intake from partner schools.

The Crypt School holds the distinction of being the oldest of the Gloucestershire grammar schools, founded in 1539 from a bequest by Joan Cooke. Sir Thomas Rich's School was founded in 1666, Marling School in 1887 and Stroud High School in 1904. Ribston Hall became a grammar school in 1944 following its founding in 1921.

What Does the Gloucestershire 11+ Test Involve?

The Gloucestershire Grammar Schools Entrance Test is delivered by GL Assessment and consists of two papers, each lasting approximately 45 to 50 minutes plus time for instructions. Both papers are taken on the same day — Saturday 12 September 2026 for September 2027 entry. All questions are multiple-choice and the papers are electronically marked, with scores then age-standardised to account for the difference in age between the oldest and youngest pupils in the year cohort. There is no written composition, no extended writing and no verbal component with spoken questions.

Paper 1 assesses English comprehension, vocabulary and verbal reasoning. The English comprehension section tests reading accuracy, inference and the ability to understand both explicit and implicit meaning in passages of text. The vocabulary section tests word meaning, synonyms, antonyms and word relationships. The verbal reasoning section tests logical word patterns, analogies and coded sequences expressed through language. Paper 2 assesses mathematics and non-verbal and spatial reasoning. The mathematics section covers KS2 curriculum content up to the start of Year 6, including number and calculation, measurement, geometry and statistics. Non-verbal and spatial reasoning tests visual pattern sequences, shape relationships, codes and three-dimensional spatial thinking.

Critically, this test is used identically by all seven consortium schools. A child who registers and sits the test on 12 September 2026 can, in principle, share that single result with all seven schools simultaneously. Each school then applies its own admissions criteria and oversubscription rules to determine which qualifying pupils receive an offer. The test papers themselves do not vary between schools, but the effective competitive threshold does vary considerably — Pate's Grammar School requires a substantially higher score than the other six.

Families should note that Gloucestershire's grammar schools have confirmed they will move to a new test provider, FSCE, from September 2028 entry onwards. The arrangements above — GL Assessment, two papers, the same consortium registration process — apply unchanged to the 2026 test for September 2027 entry. Parents of children currently in Year 4 who will sit the test in September 2027 should begin monitoring communications from the consortium schools for further details about the FSCE format as they are published during 2026 and 2027.

How Competitive Are the Gloucestershire Grammar Schools to Get Into?

There is no pre-set pass mark for the Gloucestershire Grammar Schools Entrance Test. After the test is marked and age-standardised, the qualifying standard is set based on approximately the top 25% of the cohort who sat the test in a given year. Historically, a standardised score of around 210 to 220 has been consistent with achieving qualifying status for the six non-Pate's consortium schools. Families preparing for the 11+ should not treat this as a fixed target — the actual threshold in any given year depends on the ability distribution of that year's cohort and can shift up or down.

The key distinction in the Gloucestershire system is between Pate's Grammar School in Cheltenham and the remaining six schools. Pate's is significantly more competitive. While achieving 75% or above consistently in GL Assessment-style practice papers is the generally accepted benchmark for the other six consortium schools, families targeting Pate's should be aiming for consistent scores of 85% or above in practice papers. This difference reflects Pate's exceptional national reputation — it was named Sunday Times State Secondary School of the Year in 2012 and again in 2020 — and the very high number of applicants who are specifically targeting Pate's from across Gloucestershire and beyond.

For the six other consortium schools, competition is still meaningful. These are high-achieving grammar schools operating in a county with an educated and academically motivated population, and all seven schools are consistently oversubscribed. Once a child achieves the qualifying score, individual school admissions criteria determine which pupils receive offers. These criteria vary between schools and typically prioritise looked-after children and previously looked-after children first, then Pupil Premium pupils (some schools prioritise specific local postcodes for Pupil Premium applicants), then remaining qualifying pupils in rank order of standardised score, with distance used as a tiebreaker.

Pate's achieved 91.9% grades 9 to 7 at GCSE in 2024 and 92.3% A*-B at A Level in 2024, placing it consistently in national school performance rankings. Stroud High School was rated Outstanding by Ofsted in November 2023. The Crypt School was rated Outstanding by Ofsted in March 2024 alongside Pate's. The breadth of high-quality provision across the consortium means that families who achieve a qualifying score and apply thoughtfully to multiple schools stand a good chance of a place at one of Gloucestershire's selective schools even if Pate's is oversubscribed relative to their score.

How Do I Register My Child for the Gloucestershire 11+?

Registration for the Gloucestershire Grammar Schools Entrance Test is carried out directly by the grammar schools themselves, not by Gloucestershire County Council. This means that to register, you must go to the admissions page of one of the seven consortium schools and complete the registration form there. The registration window for September 2027 entry opens at noon on 18 May 2026 and closes at noon on 26 June 2026. Both of these deadlines are firm — late registrations are not accepted after the window closes.

Each consortium school manages its own registration portal, but because the test is shared, registering via one school's website does not automatically register your child with the other schools. You register once for the test itself, and then separately indicate which schools you would like to receive your child's score after the results are released. This is a distinctive feature of the Gloucestershire system that parents sometimes misunderstand: you are registering to sit the test, not applying to a specific school at the registration stage.

After the test on 12 September 2026, results are sent to families in mid-October 2026. At this point, you will know whether your child has achieved a qualifying score. You must then list your preferred Gloucestershire grammar schools on the Gloucestershire County Council Common Application Form by 31 October 2026. If you also wish to apply to grammar schools in neighbouring counties — for example, schools in Worcestershire or Warwickshire — you must check those counties' own 11+ registration requirements separately, as they operate different tests and registration processes.

Families who miss the June 2026 registration deadline for the September 2026 test will not be able to sit the test at the standard sitting. It may be possible to sit a late test, depending on circumstances, but families should not rely on this and should treat the 26 June 2026 registration deadline as an absolute deadline. Set a calendar reminder well in advance of the opening date on 18 May 2026 and register promptly rather than leaving it to the final days.

How Should My Child Prepare for the Gloucestershire 11+?

Effective preparation for the Gloucestershire Grammar Schools Entrance Test requires consistent, structured work over an extended period — not an intensive sprint in the final weeks before September. The test measures developed reasoning ability and depth of vocabulary alongside mathematical fluency, and these qualities take time to build. Familiarisation with GL Assessment question types helps performance, but genuine competence in the underlying skills — reading widely, understanding mathematical structures, recognising patterns in reasoning questions — is what separates the most confident candidates from those who are merely practised at surface-level question formats.

Year 4 (Early Start — recommended for Pate's-targeting families): In Year 4, the focus should be entirely on building genuine enjoyment and fluency rather than exam-format drilling. Read widely — fiction, non-fiction, newspapers, quality magazines — to develop vocabulary depth. Vocabulary is the single most important predictor of performance in both the English comprehension and verbal reasoning components of the Gloucestershire test. Explore maths puzzles, mental arithmetic and problem-solving games. Introduce occasional age-appropriate non-verbal reasoning activities. Do not use timed test materials at this stage — the goal is building real capability, not exam familiarity.

Year 5, September onwards (Standard Start Point): Year 5 September is the right starting point for most families. Begin systematic, structured preparation covering all four test areas: English comprehension, verbal reasoning, mathematics and non-verbal reasoning. In the first term, work through each subject area methodically rather than jumping directly to timed practice tests. Understand why answers are correct — particularly in verbal and non-verbal reasoning, where understanding the underlying principle of each question type is far more valuable than drilling answers without comprehension.

Year 5, January onwards: Introduce section-by-section timed practice. Work at increasing difficulty levels across all four areas. Track your child's performance to identify specific weak points — it is much more efficient to spend preparation time strengthening genuine weaknesses than repeating practice in areas of existing strength. Begin working on GL Assessment-style materials specifically (not just generic 11+ resources), as the Gloucestershire test format has specific characteristics that are best practised on GL-aligned materials.

Year 6, September to June: The final phase. Run full timed mock papers under realistic exam conditions at least monthly. The experience of sitting two consecutive timed papers with minimal breaks is itself a skill, and children who have rehearsed this experience perform more consistently in the actual test than those who have only ever practised individual sections. Confirm your registration well before the 26 June 2026 deadline. The test is on Saturday 12 September 2026 — just days after the start of the school year — so your child must be fully prepared before the summer begins, not after it ends.

The summer before the test: Maintain a light two-to-three session per week schedule through the summer. Avoid overloading in the final four to six weeks — test fatigue and burnout are real risks that can undermine months of effective preparation. The goal by early August is confident, relaxed readiness, not frenetic last-minute drilling.

See our general 11+ School Guides hub for resources across all grammar school regions, and our guide to Buckinghamshire Grammar Schools if your family is also considering neighbouring counties. Our 11+ Tuition page explains how our specialist tutors structure Gloucestershire consortium preparation from Year 4 onwards.

Frequently Asked Questions About Gloucestershire Grammar School 11+ Entry