Ripon Grammar School 11+ Guide 2026

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Ripon Grammar School offers 117 Year 7 places each September — 103 day places and 14 boarding places — through the North Yorkshire Council selective admissions process. For 2027 entry, children sit the GL Assessment 11+ test on Saturday 12 September 2026, comprising two papers: Paper 1 (Verbal Skills) and Paper 2 (Non-Verbal Reasoning with Mathematics). Registration with North Yorkshire Council is open from 30 April to 30 June 2026 — applications are made during Year 5, before the test in early Year 6. As the only state boarding grammar school in the North Yorkshire selective cluster, Ripon Grammar School attracts applicants from families across the country alongside day pupils from the Ripon catchment area, making it one of the most distinctive selective schools in the north of England. This guide covers the test format, key dates, boarding provision, catchment area, pass mark history, and how to prepare — all sourced from the school and North Yorkshire Council directly.

What Is the Ripon Grammar School 11+ Test Format for 2026?

The Ripon Grammar School 11+ is administered by GL Assessment and set by North Yorkshire Council, which coordinates selective admissions across the North Yorkshire grammar cluster. From September 2026, the test consists of two papers, both entirely multiple choice. The test is designed to assess academic potential and aptitude for learning alongside the Key Stage 2 curriculum — it is not simply a curriculum knowledge test, and verbal reasoning and non-verbal reasoning questions test underlying aptitude rather than taught content alone.

Paper 1 — Verbal Skills: This paper combines English and verbal reasoning. The English section includes a reading comprehension passage followed by spelling and grammar exercises (approximately 25 questions). The verbal reasoning section follows, comprising approximately 32 questions covering a range of GL Assessment verbal reasoning question types — including word relationships, code-breaking, analogy completion, and sentence completion. The paper is timed and all questions are multiple choice with no negative marking.

Paper 2 — Non-Verbal Reasoning with Mathematics: This paper combines non-verbal reasoning and Key Stage 2 mathematics. It is structured in three sections: two non-verbal reasoning sections of 20 questions each (instructions and brief practice questions are provided at the start of each NVR section) and one mathematics section of approximately 25 questions testing Key Stage 2 standard maths — number, calculation, fractions, decimals, percentages, measurement, and basic algebra. The NVR questions test pattern recognition, spatial reasoning, and series completion using shapes and symbols rather than words or numbers. All questions are multiple choice.

Official familiarisation materials for the North Yorkshire 11+ are published by North Yorkshire Council and provide children with an accurate impression of the format, timing, and question types they will encounter on test day. These are available to download from the NYC website and should form part of any preparation plan. The test provider, GL Assessment, publishes guidance on question types that can also help children understand what to expect.

How Are Places Allocated at Ripon Grammar School?

After the test, both papers are marked and then age-standardised. Age-standardisation is standard practice in 11+ assessment and ensures that children born later in the academic year are not systematically disadvantaged compared to older children in the same cohort. The standardised scores from Paper 1 and Paper 2 are added together to give each child a total combined score. All scores are then placed in rank order.

The admissions process at Ripon Grammar School uses a threshold model rather than a fixed pass mark. The results are used to identify the highest-scoring 28% (or as close as possible) of Year 6 children living in the Ripon area. This means the qualifying score varies from year to year depending on how the cohort performs overall. In recent years, the combined standardised score needed to qualify has been as follows: 203 for 2026 entry, 196 for 2025 entry, and 195 for 2024 entry. The increase in 2026 reflects a stronger-performing cohort — the same level of performance would have comfortably cleared the bar in 2024 and 2025.

Passing the test — reaching the qualifying threshold — does not automatically guarantee a school place. If more children qualify than there are day places available, the school applies oversubscription criteria. Priority is given in this order: (1) looked-after and previously looked-after children; (2) children with special social or medical reasons for admission supported by professional evidence; (3) children who live within the catchment area; (4) children of Ripon Grammar School staff employed for more than two years or recruited to fill a skills shortage; (5) children who live outside the catchment area. Within any priority group, a sibling tie-break applies first, followed by proximity to the school measured by road distance using North Yorkshire Council's mapping system.

There are 103 day places and 14 boarding places. The boarding places are allocated separately within the same admissions framework — boarders must reach the same qualifying standard as day pupils, but the 14 boarding places are considered alongside the day allocation rather than competing directly with it. If you are applying for a boarding place, contact the school's admissions office directly to understand the boarding-specific process and to arrange a boarding tour.

For a broader overview of how the 11+ exam works across England, including how age-standardisation functions and what the process involves from start to finish, our explainer guide covers the key concepts clearly. For updated test dates across grammar and independent schools, see our 11+ exam dates guide.

Boarding at Ripon Grammar School: What Makes It Unique?

Ripon Grammar School is the only state boarding grammar school in the North Yorkshire selective cluster. This is a genuinely distinctive feature: it means families can access highly selective state secondary education with full residential provision, without paying independent school tuition fees. Families pay boarding fees — which cover accommodation, meals, and boarding pastoral care — but there are no school fees on top of that. For comparison, boarding at a fee-paying grammar or independent school can cost considerably more, making Ripon Grammar School an attractive proposition for families who want boarding but want to avoid independent sector tuition costs.

The school offers fourteen Year 7 boarding places each September, and boarders come from across England and occasionally from internationally. Both weekly boarding (returning home at weekends) and full boarding options are available. Boarders live in dedicated boarding houses on or near the school site. The boarding environment means children who live at a distance from Ripon — whether from other parts of Yorkshire, other parts of England, or from overseas — can attend the school on exactly the same academic footing as day pupils from the local area.

Because boarding places are limited to 14 in Year 7, families considering boarding should register early with North Yorkshire Council and contact the school admissions team directly. The admissions officer for boarding enquiries is Mrs Pip Drummond (admissions@ripongrammar.com). Tours of the boarding houses can be arranged on individual appointment dates for families travelling from a distance, and overseas families can also arrange separate visits. The school held its most recent in-person Open Evening on Thursday 18 June 2026 — watch the school's website for future open event dates for the 2028 entry cycle.

What Is the Ripon Grammar School Catchment Area?

Ripon Grammar School has a defined catchment area covering Ripon itself and its surrounding villages. The catchment area includes Grewelthorpe, Laverton, Galphay, Winksley, and Aldfield, among other nearby settlements. Children living within this catchment area who pass the 11+ test receive priority over children living outside the catchment when places are allocated. In practice, this means that a child living in the Ripon catchment area who qualifies by reaching the 28% threshold is very likely to be offered a day place — while a child living outside the catchment who qualifies may only be offered a place if unallocated spots remain after in-catchment demand is met.

However, the school does regularly take out-of-catchment children, and families from outside the defined catchment area should not be deterred from registering and sitting the test. In years where fewer catchment children qualify, or where the school has additional capacity, out-of-catchment places can be available. The key distinction is the order of priority — catchment is step three in the oversubscription criteria, while out-of-catchment is step five. A strong score helps, because a child who qualifies comfortably above the threshold is more likely to be offered a place regardless of catchment status, particularly in a year where overall qualifying numbers are lower.

Boarding places are assessed differently — boarding applicants are not subject to the catchment area priority in the same way as day places, because the nature of boarding is that children live at school rather than commuting from a local address. This is one reason why boarding at Ripon Grammar School is an accessible option for families from further afield: the geographic constraint that limits day place availability to the Ripon area does not apply in the same way to boarding places.

Families outside the catchment who are considering Ripon Grammar School as a day school option — for example, from Harrogate, Knaresborough, Masham, or other parts of North Yorkshire — should speak to North Yorkshire Council's School Admissions team (schooladmissions@northyorks.gov.uk, 01609 533679) for up-to-date guidance on whether out-of-catchment places have been available in recent years and what the practical prospects are.

How to Register and Apply for the Ripon Grammar School 11+

Registration for the Ripon Grammar School 11+ is coordinated by North Yorkshire Council, not by the school directly. Families register with NYC when their child is in Year 5, ahead of the test in early Year 6. For 2027 entry, registration opened on Thursday 30 April 2026 and closes on Monday 30 June 2026. If registration has closed by the time you are reading this, contact North Yorkshire Council directly to check whether late registration is possible — in some circumstances late entries are considered, though this is at the discretion of the council.

The test itself takes place on Saturday 12 September 2026. Results are communicated to parents in mid-October 2026 in writing. You do not need to have already submitted your secondary school application to sit the test — the testing process and the school preferences application run on separate timelines. Your secondary school preferences must be submitted to North Yorkshire Council by Saturday 31 October 2026 (the standard NYC secondary applications deadline). Even if your child has qualified, you must still name Ripon Grammar School as one of your preferred schools on the NYC application form — qualification alone does not constitute an application for a place.

Offers are made on National Offers Day, Monday 1 March 2027, when all secondary school place offers across England are issued simultaneously. If your child is offered a place, you will typically have a short window to accept or decline. For in-year admissions — children who wish to transfer to Ripon Grammar School in Years 7 to 11 — separate testing applies, and applications should be made to the NYC School Admissions team in Harrogate. The in-year testing process includes papers in mathematics, English, and science at an age-appropriate standard.

What Standard Do Children Need to Reach for the Ripon Grammar School 11+?

The pass mark at Ripon Grammar School is not published as a fixed threshold — instead, the qualifying score is set after each test sitting to identify the highest-scoring 28% of Year 6 children in the Ripon area. This means the specific score required varies from year to year. Based on recent years, the combined standardised score required to qualify has been: 203 for 2026 entry, 196 for 2025 entry, and 195 for 2024 entry. The jump from 195–196 to 203 in the 2026 cycle reflects a year where the overall cohort performed more strongly — the bar moved up without the absolute difficulty of the papers changing significantly.

To put this in context: on GL Assessment standardised tests, a score of 100 represents the average for a child of that age. The combined score from two papers means the combined average would be approximately 200. A qualifying score of around 195–203 therefore represents children who are performing consistently above the age-adjusted average across both papers. This is a competitive but not an extreme standard — children who are working solidly at the top of KS2 in English, maths, and who have developed their verbal and non-verbal reasoning skills systematically are well positioned to qualify.

For comparison with other Northern grammar schools: the standard at Ripon Grammar School is broadly comparable to other GL Assessment schools outside London and the Southeast, where pass marks typically sit in the 190–210 range depending on cohort size and year. It is less competitive than the most oversubscribed London grammar schools (where standardised scores of 220+ are sometimes required), but more selective than non-selective state schools in the area. Children applying to Ripon Grammar School alongside other North Yorkshire selective schools — Skipton Girls' High School, Ermysted's Grammar School, or Crossley Heath — will be sitting a common North Yorkshire test, so preparation for one is preparation for all.

Our specialist tutors work with children at the level needed to reach this standard — building the verbal reasoning, non-verbal reasoning, and maths skills needed for the GL Assessment format, alongside the comprehension, spelling, and grammar skills tested in the Verbal Skills paper. See our full 11+ tuition service for more information on how we structure preparation. Our 11+ school guides also cover the other major selective schools across England if your family is considering multiple schools.

How Should Children Prepare for the Ripon Grammar School 11+?

Preparation for the Ripon Grammar School 11+ should address all four components of the two papers: English comprehension and language (Paper 1), verbal reasoning (Paper 1), non-verbal reasoning (Paper 2), and KS2 mathematics (Paper 2). Because the test provider is GL Assessment, the question formats are well-documented and consistent — there is a large pool of past and practice papers available, and preparation resources from reputable providers closely mirror the actual test experience.

Starting point and timeline: Most families begin structured 11+ preparation 9 to 12 months before the test. For the September 2026 test, that means starting preparation in autumn 2025 or at the latest January 2026. Children who begin earlier — in Year 4 or early Year 5 — have more time to develop skills gradually, which reduces pressure and allows for more targeted work on specific areas of weakness. Children who begin in spring or summer of Year 5 can still prepare effectively, but the preparation will need to be more intensive and focused.

Verbal reasoning: GL Assessment verbal reasoning tests use approximately 20 question types, including find the word, move a letter, hidden words, related words, analogy, and code-breaking formats. Children who have not encountered these question types before can find them unfamiliar even if they are strong readers — the reasoning formats require specific technique that improves significantly with practice. A child should be able to work through GL Assessment VR questions at a pace of roughly 60–75 seconds per question to complete Paper 1 comfortably within the allotted time.

Non-verbal reasoning: NVR tests spatial reasoning and pattern recognition using shapes, sequences, and visual relationships rather than words. Many children find NVR more learnable than verbal reasoning because it is genuinely unfamiliar to most children at first — there is no prior advantage from reading widely or knowing vocabulary. Consistent practice with NVR question types builds both speed and accuracy. Children should aim to work through the NVR sections comfortably within the time allowed, including the brief familiarisation questions provided at the start of each NVR section.

KS2 mathematics: The mathematics section tests standard KS2 content — number and place value, operations and calculation, fractions, decimals and percentages, ratio and proportion, algebra, measurement, geometry, and statistics. Children should be secure across all of these areas before the September test. The maths is not significantly harder than Year 6 school curriculum expectations, but it is timed, multiple choice, and includes some applied and problem-solving questions rather than pure calculation. Children who are working confidently at curriculum expectations for Year 6 are well placed — those who have gaps in any of the KS2 topic areas should address these with targeted work.

English comprehension and language: The English section of Paper 1 involves reading a comprehension passage and answering questions on it, followed by spelling and grammar exercises. This section rewards children who read widely and have a strong vocabulary. Regular reading of challenging texts — fiction and non-fiction — is the single most effective long-term preparation for the comprehension section. Spelling and grammar can be practised specifically using GL Assessment-style exercises. Children should also practise working at pace — the comprehension passage and questions are part of a timed paper also containing the verbal reasoning section.

Practice papers and mock tests: Timed practice under test conditions is essential in the final 8 to 12 weeks before the test. Children should work through complete papers under time pressure, not just question-by-question practice. Full timed mocks allow children to develop pacing, identify where they are losing time or making errors, and build the stamina to sustain focus through both papers. Official North Yorkshire familiarisation materials should be used first, followed by GL Assessment practice materials, and supplemented with past papers from other GL Assessment schools.

Related guides: Ermysted's Grammar School 11+ Guide 2026 and Skipton Girls' High School 11+ Guide 2026.

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