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Thinking about applying to Bournemouth School? Find out everything you need to know about admissions in 2025–2026 and how to prepare your child for success in the 11 plus entrance exam.
Key information for Bournemouth School
Address: Bournemouth School, East Way, Bournemouth, Dorset, BH8 9PY
Number of pupils: 1,100+
Admissions contact: [email protected]
Number of places in Year 7: 180
11+ exam: Dorset Consortium 11 plus exam
Catchment area: yes
Dates for your diary
Tuesday 22nd April 2025: Dorset 11 plus registration opens
Friday 5th September 2025: Dorset 11 plus registration closes
Saturday 20th September 2025: Dorset 11 plus exam day
Friday 10th October 2025: parents receive Dorset 11 plus results
Friday 31st October 2025: national deadline to apply for school places
Monday 2nd March 2026: national offers day
About Bournemouth School
Bournemouth School is a boys' grammar school with a mixed sixth form, founded in 1901. It's rated 'outstanding' by Ofsted.
The school has an excellent local reputation. This is partly due to its high academic standards and expectations of students. There is a strong sense of community and students have respect for themselves and others. Many students take on leadership roles and responsibilities as they progress through the school.
Beyond the curriculum, Bournemouth School offers an extensive extracurricular programme. Sports include representative teams and house sports, as well as activities such as surfing, fencing and martial arts. The school is also one of few maintained schools in the UK that has a Combined Cadet Force.
How to apply to Bournemouth School
Bournemouth School is a selective state school. Your child will need to take the 11 plus exam to be eligible for a place in Year 7.
Bournemouth School is a member of the Dorset Consortium. There are four grammar schools in the Consortium and they share the same entrance test. This means that your child will only need to take the test once, even if you’re applying to more than one school in the Consortium.
Registration for the Dorset 11 plus opens on the school websites on Tuesday 22nd April 2025 and closes on Friday 5th September. Your child will take the Dorset 11 plus entrance test on Saturday 20th September 2025* and you’ll receive their results on Friday 5th October 2025.
To apply to Bournemouth School, you’ll need to name the school as one of your preferred schools on the secondary school common application form. This will be available on your home council website from early September and must be submitted by 31st October 2025.
Remember – passing the 11 plus doesn’t guarantee that your child will be allocated a place at your preferred school. Many grammar schools are often oversubscribed with qualified children. Schools and their admissions authorities work through admissions criteria to prioritise children for places. We’ve included the admissions criteria for Bournemouth School below.
What subjects are on the entrance exam?
Bournemouth School uses the Dorset Consortium 11 plus entrance exam. This consists of three test papers:
Maths: 50 minutes
English: 45 minutes
Verbal reasoning: 50 minutes
All of the questions in the Dorset 11 plus are multiple-choice. Your child will have separate answer sheets which they will use to mark their answers. These are marked electronically.
Guide to the Dorset Consortium 11 plus entrance test
Find out everything you need to know in our complete guide to the Dorset Consortium 11 plus entrance test. Plus, get access to free 11 plus resources to help your child feel confident for their exam!
How does place allocation work at Bournemouth School?
Your child’s marks in the Dorset 11 plus are age-standardised to ensure that younger children aren’t disadvantaged. All children’s standardised scores are then placed in rank order from highest to lowest. Bournemouth School will then set a qualifying score based on this ranked list.
If the number of children who achieve the qualifying score exceeds the 180 places available, Bournemouth School applies oversubscription criteria. Children who achieved the qualifying score are prioritised for places in this order:
Looked after and looked after children
Children eligible for Pupil Premium
Children who live within the Priority Area
Sons of current members of Bournemouth School staff (employed for at least two years)
Remaining applicants
In each of the above categories, places are allocated based on rank order of the child’s 11+ score. If two or more children have the same test score and ranking, places are prioritised based on how close the child lives to the school.
What is the catchment area for Bournemouth School?
Bournemouth School’s catchment area is known as a ‘Priority Area’. This covers the following postcodes:
BH1, BH2, BH3, BH4, BH5, BH6, BH7, BH8, BH9, BH10, BH11 BH12 5 BH23 1, BH23 2, BH23 3
Atom’s top tips for 11 plus preparation
The Dorset 11 plus is designed to select the most academically able children in Bournemouth and Poole and the surrounding area. Here are our top tips to help you and your child feel confident for exam day!
Bitesize learning
It’s important to build a good knowledge base before the 11 plus. Using a ‘little and often’ approach when learning is key – our brains encode new information more effectively when dealing with smaller ‘chunks’ of information. For children aged 10–11, child psychologists recommend regular study sessions of 20–30 minutes.
Atom Home makes learning a more enjoyable process for your child. They'll explore exciting worlds full of interactive questions, earning coins to spend in the Atom shop. Atom adapts to your child, showing them questions at just the right level of difficulty to keep them motivated.
Read widely
11 plus exams test your child’s ability to analyse and interpret written information. Regular reading is a great way to help your child build these skills.
Encourage them to read books from different genres and by a diverse range of authors. Increasing the variety of your child’s reading will help them understand different styles, tones and purposes. Meanwhile, reading a little every day will help widen their vocabulary, sharpen their analytical thinking, and enhance their imagination.
Refine exam technique
When your child feels confident with the topics they’ve learnt in Year 5, they’ll be ready to put their knowledge to the test.
Practice tests can help your child develop problem-solving skills and build confidence working under test conditions. They’re also a great way to consolidate learning and highlight knowledge gaps for further improvement.
With Atom Home, you'll unlock online mock tests and printable practice papers for the Dorset 11 plus. Enjoy automatic marking and progress tracking with the online tests, and help your child get familiar with the real exam experience with printable practice papers.
Celebrate progress
Setting regular, achievable goals and celebrating your child’s progress – no matter how big or small – will help keep their motivation high.
Make sure to encourage a growth mindset. This means celebrating effort, as well as achievement! When your child makes mistakes or struggles to understand a particular topic, help them understand that they’ll improve through practice. Regular praise will help your child improve their resilience when tackling new and challenging topics.
Dorset 11 plus practice papers and online learning
Preparing for the Dorset 11 plus can feel daunting — knowing what to cover, keeping your child motivated, and making sure you’re on the right track. With Atom Home, you’ll have everything you need to guide your child with confidence. No tutor required.
Get a personalised exam plan each week, so your child covers every topic in manageable steps
Download unlimited Dorset 11+ practice papers, then upload a photo of their answers for instant, stress-free results
Take unlimited Dorset 11+ mock tests that replicate the real exam, building confidence under timed conditions
Track their performance with SAS scores and comparisons against other children applying to Dorset grammar schools
Everything you need for 11+ success
Join 100,000+ families who trust Atom to help their children excel in Key Stage 2 and entrance exams. Endorsed by grammar schools, loved by parents.
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