Gloucestershire grammar schools 11 plus guide

Applying to a Gloucestershire grammar school for September 2028? This guide covers the entrance test, who sets it, the key dates, and how the seven schools allocate their places.

The test has changed. The Gloucestershire grammar schools now use the FSCE entrance test, set by Future Stories Community Enterprise. It replaces the Gloucestershire Grammar Schools Entrance Test, it is sat in the summer term of Year 5, and it contains no verbal or non-verbal reasoning.

Gloucestershire 11+ at a glance

• Schools: seven, sharing one test
• Provider: FSCE (Future Stories Community Enterprise)
• Test: three papers, 45 to 60 minutes each, sat in one session
• Test date: Saturday 3 July 2027, in Year 5
• Registration: 8 February to 19 March 2027
• Reasoning: none — no verbal and no non-verbal reasoning
• Qualifying score: set by each school, not yet published

Which schools use the Gloucestershire entrance test?

Seven grammar schools in Gloucestershire share one entrance test. Your child sits it once, even if you apply to more than one of them.

• Denmark Road High School (girls)
• Marling School (boys)
• Pate's Grammar School (mixed)
• Ribston Hall High School (girls)
• Sir Thomas Rich's School (boys)
• Stroud High School (girls)
• The Crypt School (mixed)

Key dates for September 2028 entry

Dates can vary slightly between schools and may be subject to change. Always check with your target schools.

What is the Gloucestershire entrance test?

It is the shared 11+ entrance test for the seven grammar schools above, set by Future Stories Community Enterprise (FSCE) — a not-for-profit organisation linked to Reading School.

The test is sat in the summer term of Year 5. Children born between 1 September 2016 and 31 August 2017 sit it on Saturday 3 July 2027 for entry to Year 7 in September 2028. Results follow in October 2027, before the common application deadline.

It assesses how confidently children apply the Key Stage 2 curriculum they have already been taught, up to the end of Year 5. Grammar schools offer places to children performing towards the top of the national ability range for their age.

Atom Learning is not an official or authorised source of information about FSCE assessments. This guide is based on information published by the Gloucestershire grammar schools. FSCE assessments are tailored to each school and can change from year to year. For definitive information, always use the familiarisation materials published by the school you are applying to.

What's in the test?

Three papers, sat in one session at one of the Gloucestershire grammar schools. They may be taken in any order, each typically lasts 45 to 60 minutes, and there are breaks between them.

What separates the papers is how your child answers, not the subject being tested.

There is no verbal or non-verbal reasoning. FSCE's position is that non-verbal reasoning is not part of the Key Stage 2 national curriculum, so it isn't a fair thing to assess. If you find older Gloucestershire practice material built around reasoning question types, it is preparing your child for a test that no longer exists.

There is also no Discovery paper — the fourth FSCE paper, used by some other schools — so there is no extended creative writing task. The English content in the Adventure and Beacon papers still rewards accurate spelling, punctuation and grammar.

The Compass paper is the unfamiliar one. It draws on a single Key Stage 2 subject from a list of eleven, which is why breadth across the curriculum matters more here than under the old test. Nothing in it goes beyond what your child will have been taught by the end of Year 5.

Each Gloucestershire grammar school publishes free familiarisation materials on its own website, showing the layout of the papers and the answer sheets. Reading them with your child is the single most useful thing you can do, because the format will then be familiar on the day.

For more on how FSCE assessments are built and marked across all the schools that use them, see our guide to the FSCE 11 plus.

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How is the test scored?

Answer sheets are marked using Optical Mark Recognition (OMR), with people checking anything inconsistent. Scores are then age-standardised, so younger children in the year group aren't disadvantaged.

Results are sent to parents in October 2027. If your child meets the qualifying standard for your target school, you then apply through your common application form.

What's the pass mark?

There is no single fixed pass mark, and none has been published for 2028 entry. Instead:

• Every child's age-standardised score is ranked
• Each school sets its own qualifying score
• Some priority groups, including Looked After Children and children eligible for Pupil Premium, may qualify with a lower score

Scores from the old test don't carry across. A qualifying score belongs to the test that produced it. If you find a Gloucestershire pass mark from an earlier year, it refers to a different test on a different scale and won't tell you what your child needs in July 2027. Each school will publish a new standard in its own time.

Meeting the qualifying score makes your child eligible. It doesn't guarantee a place — each school then applies its own oversubscription criteria.

How to apply

If you're considering a grammar school, it's worth speaking to your child's teacher first. Grammar schools select children working towards the top of their year group, and their teacher can tell you whether they think your child would keep up with the pace.

1. Register for the test

To be considered at any of the seven schools, register your child for the entrance test.

• Registration opens: 12 noon, Monday 8 February 2027
• Registration closes: 12 noon, Friday 19 March 2027

Register through the website of any participating school. Details of the test day follow.

2. Apply for school places

Results arrive in October 2027, telling you whether your child met the qualifying standard at your target schools. Use them to decide which schools to name on your common application form, checking each school's admissions policy before you list it.

The form goes to your home local authority by Sunday 31 October 2027. That date falls on a Sunday, so it's worth submitting before the weekend.

3. National offer day

On Wednesday 1 March 2028 you'll find out which school your child has been allocated. They'll get a place at your highest preference for which they meet the criteria and where places are available.

If none of your preferred schools has a place, your child will be offered one elsewhere in your area. You can appeal to an independent panel; your local authority sends information about appealing alongside the offer.

How can I help my child prepare?

There are no FSCE past papers, and the subjects and question styles change from year to year, so there is no pattern to learn. What the test rewards is a confident grasp of the Key Stage 2 curriculum applied to unfamiliar questions.

Build solid KS2 knowledge, across the curriculum

Because the test draws on what your child has already been taught — and because the Compass paper can reach into any of eleven subjects — breadth matters more here than it would for a reasoning-based 11+.

A 'little and often' approach works best; experts recommend study sessions of 20 to 30 minutes for 10-year-olds. With Atom Home, your child gets a personalised weekly plan tied to their target schools, adaptive questions pitched at the right level, and coverage of KS2 topics across the curriculum.

Encourage regular reading

Reading underpins the English content in both the Adventure and Beacon papers — comprehension, vocabulary and written accuracy. Aim for 10 to 15 minutes a day, with variety: fiction and non-fiction, different genres and authors.

Explore Atom's free reading and writing starter kit for age-appropriate suggestions.

Get comfortable with the format

Read the school's familiarisation guide with your child so the papers and answer sheets look familiar on the day. Beyond that, Atom's practice papers build the habit of working accurately under timed conditions and filling in an answer sheet correctly. Photograph the sheets and upload them for instant marking and a Standardised Age Score — the same age-standardised basis FSCE uses.

Celebrate progress, not just scores

Atom's progress tracking shows how your child is doing across topics and which way each one is heading, so you can keep encouragement specific and motivation steady.

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