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Thinking about applying to Marling School? Find out everything you need to know about admissions and how to prepare your child for success in the 11 plus.
Key information about Marling School
Address: Marling School, Cainscross Road, Stroud, Gloucestershire, GL5 4HE
Number of pupils: 1,200+
Admissions contact: [email protected]
Number of places in Year 7: 150
Catchment area: No
Dates for your diary
Monday 19th May 2025: Gloucestershire 11 plus registration opens at midday
Friday 27th June 2025: Gloucestershire 11 plus registration closes at midday
Saturday 13th September 2025: Gloucestershire Grammar Schools’ Entrance Test
Mid-October 2025: parents receive 11 plus results
Friday 31st October 2025: secondary school applications close at 5pm
Monday 2nd March 2026: secondary school national offers day
About Marling School
Marling School is a selective grammar school for boys aged 11 to 18, located in Stroud, Gloucestershire. It also offers a co-educational Sixth Form, welcoming both boys and girls. Founded in 1887 by Sir Samuel Marling, the school has a long history of academic excellence and personal development.
The school's motto, "Abeunt studia in mores", translates to "Studies form character", highlighting its commitment to nurturing well-rounded individuals. Marling School offers a broad curriculum, encouraging students to excel academically while developing essential life skills.
Students are assigned to one of five houses: Bennett, Carter, Elliott, Fuller, and Greenstreet. This house system fosters a sense of community, teamwork, and healthy competition through various inter-house events and activities.
The school boasts modern facilities, including a recently constructed West Block, which houses the Geography, Mathematics, and Religious Education departments, as well as a new dining hall overlooking the cricket pitch. Additionally, the Design and Technology block provides state-of-the-art resources for subjects like food technology, graphical products, resistant materials, and electronics.
How to apply to Marling School
Marling School is a selective school. This means that your child will need to take the 11 plus exam to be eligible for a place.
All seven grammar schools in Gloucestershire use the same 11 plus exam. This is known as the Gloucestershire Grammar Schools’ Entrance Test. Your child will only have to take the test once, regardless of how many grammar schools in the county you’re applying to.
Exam registration opens at midday on Monday 19th May 2025 and closes at midday on Friday 27th June 2025.
The Gloucestershire Grammar Schools’ Entrance Test will take place on Saturday 13th September 2025. Your child will take the test at one of the seven grammar schools – although this might not be the school you’re applying to.
You’ll be emailed your child’s result in mid-October. If your child has met the eligible score for Marling School, you can apply for it on your common application form. This must be submitted to your local authority by Friday 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 Marling School below.
What subjects are on the Gloucestershire Grammar Schools’ Entrance Test?
The Gloucestershire Grammar Schools’ Entrance Test consists of two one-hour papers. All of the questions in both papers are multiple-choice.
Paper 1 tests verbal skills. This includes reading comprehension, vocabulary, and verbal reasoning. Paper 2 tests non-verbal skills. This includes non-verbal reasoning and maths.
Take a look at our complete guide to the Gloucestershire Grammar Schools’ Entrance Test for more details about the exam.
Guide to the Gloucestershire 11 plus
Find out everything you need to know in our complete guide to the Gloucestershire Grammar Schools' 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 Marling School?
There is no pre-defined pass mark for the Gloucestershire 11 plus exam. The qualifying standard will only be set after the test is taken and the results are known. This varies from year to year but has historically been around 210-220 marks.
If the number of children who have met the qualifying standard for entry to the school exceeds the number of places available, Marling School applies oversubscription criteria. Children are prioritised for places in the following order:
'Looked After' and 'Previously Looked After' children
Children who are eligible for Pupil Premium (those who have been registered for free school meals at any point in the six years leading up to the test day)
All other children who have met the qualifying standard in test rank order
There is no catchment area for Marling School. Children from Gloucestershire and beyond can take the 11 plus exam; all children will be considered equally.
However, if there are a number of equally-ranked candidates, then Marling School will use the following criteria in order to allocate places:
Children who attended a primary school within the Cotswold Beacon Academy Trust at the time of registering for the entrance test, until at least the December break in Year 6. These schools are Berkeley Primary School and Cam Woodfield Junior School.
Children who live closest to the school (measured in a straight line distance from their home address)
Atom’s top tips for Gloucestershire 11 plus preparation
The Gloucestershire Grammar Schools’ Entrance Test is designed to select the most academically able children in the county. 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. 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.
Gloucestershire Grammar Schools 11+ practice papers and online learning
Wish you could give your child a roadmap to success in the Gloucestershire Grammar Schools' Entrance Test? You can. Atom Home has everything you need to get prepared, in one package.
You don't need a tutor to get into your top-choice grammar school. You just need Atom. We’ll create a tailored plan for your child and support them along their fun revision journey.
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Weekly learning plans for your child's target school
See your child's progress at a glance, including their standardised age score and performance in every topic!
Stress-free 11+ prep
91% of Atom users get a place at their top-choice school. Get started today and see why families love using Atom.
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