Grammar Schools in Greater Manchester

Registration opens at the end of April when children are still in Year 5. They will then take the examination right at the start of Year 6. Registration is typically open for two months but it is important to check the dates on the consortium website, or on the websites of the schools to which you are interested in applying, to ensure you do not miss the deadline for registration. During registration you will need key information to hand, such as permanent address and any SEN requirements.

There are five schools which use the examination. These schools are: Altrincham Grammar School for Boys, Altrincham Grammar School for Girls, Stretford Grammar School, Urmston Grammar School, and Sale Grammar School. The latter three schools are co-educational. There are two grammar schools in the same area which don’t use the consortium test: Saint Ambrose College and Loreto Grammar School.

Five schools use this examination so that pupils applying to one of these schools only have to sit one examination. This standardises the entry requirements across these five schools. As the examination is provided by GL Assessment and marked by computer, it is unlikely that schools will consider it to have been marked incorrectly. This also standardises the marking process and provides reassurance to parents and children.

The Trafford Grammar Schools Consortium 11 Plus Entrance Examination takes place in mid September of Year 6. The exact date is published on the consortium website well in advance and also emailed to parents who have registered for the test. It is important to also complete a CAF (Common Application Form) and submit it to your local council. This names the specific schools for which you would like your child to be considered.

The results are made available to parents in mid-October, around one month after the examination takes place. This speed is made possible due to the fact that the test is marked by computer. Offers of places are not made until March, along with all other state secondary schools in England. This means that although a child may be considered to be of grammar school standard, they will not receive an actual offer from a school for many months after the results.

There are two papers in the Trafford Grammar Schools Consortium 11 Plus Entrance Examination, and three subjects. The subjects covered are Maths, Verbal Reasoning and Non-Verbal Reasoning. The two papers last one hour each with s short break in between them. You can therefore expect the entire examination to last just over two hours. During the exams, there will be time for the invigilator to explain the process and to ensure that the practice questions have been completed.

The Trafford Grammar Schools Consortium 11 Plus Entrance Examination covers Maths, Verbal Reasoning and Non-Verbal Reasoning. The three subjects are not split up into three separate papers, but are rather combined in two. Whilst your child will have covered Mathematics in their Key Stage 2 work, they are unlikely to have covered Verbal or Non-Verbal Reasoning. These subjects will need careful preparation.

The Trafford Grammar Schools Consortium 11 Plus Entrance Examination is run by GL Assessment. GL Assessment run many of the other 11 Plus examinations in the United Kingdom and mark the papers themselves, meaning the schools themselves are not directly involved in the marking of these papers. Practice papers are available on the GL Assessment website, but it should be noted that these are not specifically for the Trafford Grammar Schools Consortium 11 Plus Entrance Examination, but are designed to help with 11 Plus familiarisation for parents and children.

It is likely that there will be around 50 questions in each paper, as this allows time for explanation from the invigilator and for the children to complete practice questions. It is very important to practice timed sections of Reasoning and Maths so that children find the ‘one minute per question’ rule easy to follow. However, with some questions taking longer than one minute, it is best to aim for 45 seconds per question if at all possible. This is particularly important for reasoning.

School places are offered in March, on secondary school offer day, which is common across English state schools. If at this stage the school at which you were hoping to gain a place does not offer you one, you can appeal to each school individually. You will need to show evidence that your child has passed the Trafford Grammar Schools Consortium 11 Plus Entrance Examination, but that the oversubscription criteria have not been correctly applied. Remember that the catchment for each school is very important, so make sure you have read the admissions policy carefully.

The Trafford Grammar Schools Consortium score is age-weighted and standardised, so the pass mark does vary from year to year. However, historically, between 324 and 334 has been around the mark above which children are considered eligible for a grammar school place at one of the five schools in the Trafford Grammar Schools Consortium

There are two papers in the Trafford Grammar Schools Consortium 11 Plus exam, and three subjects, Maths, Verbal Reasoning and Non-Verbal Reasoning. There is no English paper. Therefore, how hard the child finds the exam will depend on their aptitude in the subjects tested. An aptitude for English may help with the Verbal Reasoning questions, but a child will need to be strong in Maths and Non-Verbal Reasoning as well.

The Trafford Grammar Schools Consortium 11 Plus exam is a competitive exam which requires a high score, above 334 historically. These schools are oversubscribed and therefore it is essential to aim for as high a score as possible. They are responsible for their own admissions and whilst the 11 Plus examination is a part of that, there are also other factors to take into account.

Yes, because some schools are more oversubscribed than others, and so may requires higher marks before they will consider offering a place to a child. There are also defined geographical areas in which the child must live, and other criteria such as the allocation of some places to Pupil Premium children, or looked after children. Each school in the Trafford Grammar Schools Consortium publishes its own Admissions Policy, which must be read carefully prior to application.

Specific entrance exam scores are not made publicly available, but Altrincham Grammar School for Boys and Altrincham Grammar School for Girls are usually considered to be the most competitive to enter in the Trafford consortium, and to therefore have the highest required scores. Other factors like catchment area size and oversubscription criteria also play a significant role in the selection process.

As above, although specific pass scores are not generally made available, Stretford Grammar and Urmston Grammar are usually considered to have lower required scores than the other three schools in the Trafford consortium. Do note that qualifying scores will vary annually, and that the best place to get this information is to contact schools directly.