Newport Girls' High School 11+ guide

Key information for Newport Girls' High School

• Address: Wellington Road, Newport, TF10 7HL

• Number of pupils: 700+

• Admissions contact: [email protected]

• Number of places in Year 7: 120

• 11+ exam: West Midlands Grammar School Entrance Test

• Catchment area: Yes

What subjects are on the entrance exam?

Newport Girls' High School uses the West Midlands Grammar Schools Entrance Test.

The exam consists of two one-hour papers. These papers are divided into smaller, individually-timed sections which assess:

• English comprehension

• Maths

• Verbal reasoning

• Non-verbal reasoning

All of the questions in the West Midlands Grammar Schools’ Entrance Test are multiple-choice. Your child will have separate answer sheets which they will use to mark their answers. These are marked electronically.

How does place allocation work at Newport Girls' High School?

Your child’s marks in the West Midlands Grammar Schools Entrance Test are weighted for each section:

• English and verbal reasoning: 50%

• Non-verbal reasoning: 25%

• Maths: 25%

These weighted scores are age-standardised to ensure that younger children aren’t disadvantaged.

Newport Girls' High School will then set a qualifying score. This isn’t always decided until after the entrance test takes place.

If the number of children who have achieved the qualifying score exceeds the number of places available, Newport Girls' High School applies oversubscription criteria. Children are prioritised for places in the following order:

1. Looked After or previously Looked After Children who achieve 95% of the qualifying score or more.

2. Up to 15 girls who receive Pupil Premium, attend a primary school within Telford & Wrekin (see below for list of schools), and achieve 95% of the qualifying score or more. If there are more than 15 girls meeting these criteria, they are prioritised in order of their test scores. If there is a tie for 15th place, all girls with the 15th highest tied score are admitted.

3. All girls who live in the boundary area (see below) and achieve the qualifying score. If there are more girls in this category than there are places, they are prioritised in order of their test scores.

4. Girls living outside the boundary area, in order of their test scores. If there is a tie for 120th place, the place is offered to the girl who lives closest to the school.

Newport Girls' High School catchment area

Newport Girls' High School prioritises applicants who live within its boundary area. A map is available here.

Children who attend primary schools in the Telford & Wrekin authority are prioritised under criteria 2. These primary schools are:

Apley Wood Primary School, Aqueduct Primary School, Captain Webb Primary School, Coalbrookdale and Ironbridge CofE Primary School, Crudgington Primary School, Dawley Church of England Primary Academy, Donnington Wood CofE VC Junior School, Dothill Primary School, Grange Park Primary School, Hadley Learning Community, Haughton School, High Ercall Primary School, Hollinswood Primary School, Holmer Lake Primary School, John Fletcher of Madeley Primary School, John Randall Primary School, Ladygrove Primary School, Lawley Primary School, Lawley Village Academy, Lightmoor Village Primary School, Lilleshall Primary School, Meadows Primary School and Nursery, Millbrook Primary School, Moorfield Primary School, Muxton Primary School, Newdale Primary School, Newport CofE Voluntary Controlled Junior School, Old Park Primary School, Priorslee Academy, Queensway, Queenswood Primary School and Nursery, Randlay Primary School, Redhill Primary Academy, Short Wood Primary School, Sir Alexander Fleming Primary School, St George's Church of England Primary School, St Lawrence CofE VC Primary School, St Luke's Catholic Primary School, St Mary's Catholic Primary School, St Matthew's CofE Primary School, St Patrick's Catholic Primary School, St Peter and St Paul Catholic Primary School, St Peter's CofE Controlled Primary School, St Peter's CofE Controlled Primary School, Bratton, Teagues Bridge Primary School, The Bridge at HLC, Tibberton Church of England Primary School, William Reynolds Primary School, Windmill Primary School, Wombridge Primary School, Woodlands Primary School, Wrekin View Primary School, Wrockwardine Wood CofE Junior School.

Atom’s top tips for 11 plus preparation

The West Midlands Grammar Schools Entrance Test is designed to select the most academically able children in the 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 West Midlands Grammar Schools Entrance Test. 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.