How to apply to Bournemouth School
Bournemouth School is selective, so your child needs to sit the 11+ test to be considered for a place.
You register your child for the consortium tests by completing a registration form with a consortium school; one set of tests counts for all four schools. Registration for 2028 entry hasn't opened yet.
Once you have your child's result, you apply by naming Bournemouth School on your common application form, which goes to your home local authority. For September 2028 entry the deadline is Sunday 31 October 2027. As it falls on a Sunday, you may find it easier to submit your form in the days before.
Reaching the qualifying score makes your child eligible, but it doesn't guarantee a place. If more qualifying children apply than there are places, the school uses its oversubscription criteria, set out further down this page.
What will my child be tested on?
The test is changing for 2028 entry
Bournemouth School has used GL Assessment for its entrance test in recent years. From the September 2027 test, the one that decides September 2028 entry, the Dorset consortium's test is provided by Quest Assessments.
The Quest grammar school tests are paper-based and non-adaptive, in a similar format to the GL tests used previously. Familiarisation materials for parents have been published, and the school will confirm any remaining details before the test.
Qualifying score: not yet published for 2028 entry. Bournemouth School's test is provided by Quest Assessments from the September 2027 test onwards. Scores from previous years were set against the GL test and don't carry across to the new one. The school will publish a qualifying standard for the new test in its own time.
Bournemouth School is one of the grammar schools in the Dorset Consortium of Grammar Schools, which share one set of entrance tests, so your child only sits them once to be considered by more than one of the schools.
The assessment is three papers in maths, English and verbal reasoning, each lasting 40 minutes plus time for instructions. They're sat in one session with a short supervised break, and your child stays in the test room during the break. Expect around two to three hours in the test centre in total. Bournemouth School says no content beyond the Year 5 National Curriculum will be tested.
It's a paper test and every question is multiple choice, usually with five options (A to E). Your child doesn't write answers out: they draw a clear horizontal line through the box next to their chosen answer on an OMR (optical mark recognition) answer sheet. There's a question booklet and a separate answer sheet for each subject, and there may be a reading booklet too.
Quest Assessments doesn't answer enquiries from parents. Questions about registration, results, venues and access arrangements go to the school your child is applying to.
The official familiarisation materials for the Dorset consortium 11+ assessment are on the Quest Assessments parent guidance page. Read our guide to the Quest Admissions exam for what the test looks like and how it's marked.
The table below shows what each paper covers.
