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 sat 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 ran from 30 April to 30 June 2026 — applications are made during Year 5, before the test in early Year 6. Ripon Grammar School is a selective, co-educational state boarding school for pupils with families based in the UK or overseas, with day pupils alongside its boarders. This guide covers the test format, key dates, boarding provision, catchment area, cut-off marks, and how to prepare.

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

The Ripon Grammar School 11+ entrance test is organised by North Yorkshire Council, which says it is only responsible for organising entrance tests for Ripon Grammar School, and the test papers are produced, marked and standardised by GL Assessment. From September 2026, the test consists of two papers, both entirely multiple choice. The school says all questions are multiple choice and designed to assess academic potential, the Key Stage 2 curriculum and aptitude for learning.

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 (26 questions in 25 minutes, with content up to the end of Year 5 of the national curriculum). The verbal reasoning section follows, with 32 questions in 20 minutes. The paper is timed and all questions are multiple choice.

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, with 10 minutes per section (instructions are given with practice questions before the timed sections), and one mathematics section of approximately 25 questions in 25 minutes, with no practice questions, testing Key Stage 2 standard maths with content up to the end of Year 5 of the national curriculum. All questions are multiple choice.

GL Assessment has produced familiarisation booklets with examples to indicate the range of skills required, and the school says familiarisation materials are available on the North Yorkshire Council website. The council notes that the booklets are not definitive and that including a question type does not guarantee it will appear in the actual test. They should still form part of any preparation plan. GL Assessment also offers free practice material on its website.

How Are Places Allocated at Ripon Grammar School?

After the test, both papers are marked and then age-standardised. The council says that, once the marks have been standardised to take into account each child's age, the verbal skills, non-verbal reasoning and mathematics scores are added together to give a total score. The total score is then used to determine whether the child has reached the cut-off mark.

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.

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 council's oversubscription criteria apply. 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 a priority group, priority goes first to children with a sibling at the school at the time of admission and then to those living nearest the school, measured by the nearest route using footpaths and roads on the council's electronic mapping system; if that does not separate applicants, a random allocation is used.

There are 103 day places and 14 boarding places. Boarding and day places are considered as separate preferences, boarders must reach the same qualifying standard as day pupils, and allocation of a boarding place also depends on the child being deemed suitable for boarding. If fewer than 14 boarding applications are received, the remaining places are allocated as day places, and a boarding place cannot be converted into a day place. 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 a selective, co-educational state boarding school, and the school says it is one of only 38 state boarding schools. The school's boarding admissions page says boarders only pay boarding fees, with no tuition fees, and that all boarders pay a bond of £1,750 on acceptance of a place, which is refundable at the end of their academic education there.

The school reserves fourteen Year 7 places for boarders each September and describes itself as a state boarding school for pupils with families based in the UK or overseas. According to the council's boarding admissions policy, boarders must hold a British or Irish passport (or, for EEA and Hong Kong BN(O) passport holders, be dependent children of a parent who is permanently resident in the UK or in the UK on a work or study visa), and boarders whose home is outside the UK, or whose parents work abroad, must have a named guardian in the UK. The school offers weekly boarding, where students return home on Fridays and return to school on Sunday night or Monday morning, and full boarding, where students are resident for the full term excluding half-term holidays; the council refers to weekly and termly boarding. Boarders live in one of two boarding houses, Johnson House for girls and School House for boys, each accommodating 50 boarders. The boarding environment means children who live at a distance from Ripon can attend the school on exactly the same academic footing as day pupils from the local area.

Because there are up to 14 boarding places in Year 7, families considering boarding should contact the school admissions team directly, name the school on their home local authority application form, and complete the suitability for boarding form. The admissions officer for boarding enquiries is Mrs Pip Drummond (admissions@ripongrammar.com). Tours of the school can be arranged on alternative dates for families who live overseas or a long distance away, and individual tours of the boarding houses can also be arranged. The school's admissions page lists an in-person Open Evening on Thursday 24 June 2027, from 5.30pm to 8.30pm, for families of children in Year 5 in the 2026/27 school year, who would join Year 7 in September 2028.

What Is the Ripon Grammar School Catchment Area?

Ripon Grammar School has a defined catchment area, and North Yorkshire Council says its catchment area maps and details are on its finding a school page. 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, a child living in the catchment area who reaches the cut-off mark is in priority group three, ahead of a child living outside the catchment in group five, and the school says any unallocated places are then offered to children who live out of catchment and have attained the required standard.

However, families from outside the defined catchment area can still register their child for the test, and the school says unallocated places are offered to out-of-catchment children who have attained the required standard. The key distinction is the order of priority — catchment is step three in the oversubscription criteria, while out-of-catchment is step five. To be considered for a place, a child needs to have completed the selection tests and met the required standard; the oversubscription criteria and tie break then set the order in which places are offered.

Boarding places have their own oversubscription criteria: looked-after and previously looked-after children come first, then children of UK Armed Forces members who qualify for Ministry of Defence financial assistance with boarding fees, then children with a boarding need, then applications for termly boarding and then weekly boarding. Within a group, priority goes first to children with a sibling at the school, then to those living furthest from the school, and then to random allocation.

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 closed on 30 June 2026. The council says that if you missed the deadline and would like your child to sit the entrance test for entry into Year 7 in September 2027, you should contact it. Late tests take place on designated dates in April, June and August 2027, with a January date for children moving into the Ripon area or where the local authority agrees there is a genuine reason, and a child whose application is late cannot sit the test before National Offer Day.

The test itself took place on Saturday 12 September 2026 at Ripon Grammar School. Results are due in writing in mid-October 2026: the council's selective schools page says no later than 16 October 2026, and its secondary timetable gives 19 October 2026 as the latest date for notifying parents. The council says it cannot give results by telephone or email. Registering for and sitting the entrance test is not an application for a place: registration closed on 30 June 2026, and the secondary application round opened on 12 September 2026. Even if your child has qualified, you must name Ripon Grammar School on your secondary school application, which goes to your home local authority by the closing date of Saturday 31 October 2026 for North Yorkshire applications.

Offers are made on National Offer Day, Monday 1 March 2027. 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 school's admissions page lists in-year tests in mathematics, English and science at an appropriate age-related standard, and the council's changing-schools section also lists proficiency in a modern foreign language.

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

The cut-off mark at Ripon Grammar School is not a fixed threshold — instead, it is set from the test results 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. The council's table gives the cut-off marks for the last three years of entry: 203 for 2026 entry, 196 for 2025 entry, and 195 for 2024 entry.

Ermysted's Grammar School and Skipton Girls' High School arrange and run their own selection tests, and their application processes, timescales and deadlines differ from those of Ripon Grammar School, so families should contact those schools directly.

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). GL Assessment has produced familiarisation booklets and offers free practice material on its website. The council states that coaching for the tests is not required, and that the standardised marks from 'off the shelf' tests available in some shops are not comparable with the marks achieved in the tests designed for North Yorkshire.

Starting point and timeline: The school says students sit the entrance test in early September during Year 6, with applications made in Year 5, and the council says a child can only sit the entrance test once per school year. Children in Year 5 in the 2026/27 school year would join Year 7 in September 2028, so they would sit the test in early Year 6. 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: The verbal reasoning section has 32 questions in 20 minutes. Children who have not encountered verbal reasoning question types before can find them unfamiliar even if they are strong readers — the reasoning formats require specific technique that improves significantly with practice. The verbal reasoning section gives 20 minutes for 32 questions, which works out at about 37.5 seconds per question (1,200 seconds divided by 32), so children should practise working at that pace.

Non-verbal reasoning: Consistent practice with NVR question types builds both speed and accuracy. Each NVR section has 20 questions in 10 minutes, about 30 seconds per question (600 seconds divided by 20), so children should practise working at that pace; the practice questions are given before the timed sections.

KS2 mathematics: The school describes the mathematics as Key Stage Two standard, and the council says the content goes up to the end of Year 5 of the national curriculum. The section has approximately 25 questions in 25 minutes and no practice questions, so children should be secure across the Key Stage 2 topic areas before sitting it. Children who are working confidently at curriculum expectations for Year 5 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 useful 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: The council says it is essential that children attempt to complete all the questions within the time allowed, and that the time element is part of 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. GL Assessment's familiarisation booklets and free practice material are a sensible starting point, and children should treat scores from off-the-shelf tests with caution, because the council says their standardised marks are not comparable with the North Yorkshire tests.

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

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Reviewed September 2026: dates, figures and rules checked against North Yorkshire Council's selective schools and starting secondary school pages, its 2027 to 2028 secondary timetable and Ripon Grammar School boarding admissions policy, and Ripon Grammar School's main admissions, boarding admissions and boarding fees pages.

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