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Thinking about applying to North Halifax Grammar 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 North Halifax Grammar School
Address: North Halifax Grammar School, Moorbottom Road, Illingworth, Halifax, West Yorkshire, HX2 9SU
Number of pupils: 1,200+
Admissions contact: [email protected]
Number of places in Year 7: 180
11+ exam: GL Assessment 11 plus
Catchment area: no
Dates for your diary
The 2025 exam dates haven’t been published yet. However, they are likely to be the same as 2024. Please use the dates below as a guide.
Friday 22nd March 2024: registration opens for the joint North Halifax Grammar School and The Crossley Heath School admissions tests
Thursday 27th June 2024: North Halifax Grammar School open evening
Friday 28th June 2024: registration deadline for the admissions tests
Saturday 21st September 2024: joint admissions tests at North Halifax Grammar School and The Crossley Heath School
Saturday 19th October 2024: parents will have received the results of the admissions tests by this date
Thursday 31st October 2024: secondary school applications close at 5pm
Monday 3rd March 2025: secondary school national offers day
About North Halifax Grammar School
North Halifax Grammar School is a mixed grammar school in Halifax, West Yorkshire. The school aims to develop the 'whole person' through its vision "Living to Learn and Learning to Live".
Ofsted describes NHGS as an "ambitious and caring school". It noted that students receive "high levels of academic and pastoral support". There is an effective programme of activities to challenge negative gender stereotypes. There is also an extensive range of co-curricular activities on offer. Some examples include the Duke of Edinburgh's Award, musical groups, and involvement in the Shakespeare Schools Festival.
How to apply to North Halifax Grammar School
North Halifax Grammar School is a selective state school. This means that your child will need to take the 11 plus exam to be eligible for a place in Year 7.
North Halifax Grammar School shares entrance tests with The Crossley Heath School. If you are considering both schools for your child, they will only need to take the exam once.
Registration for the admissions tests opens March 2025 and closes in June. You can register your child for the tests on the joint admissions website.
The tests will take place in September 2025 and you’ll receive information about your child’s result by mid-October. If your child has met the qualifying standard, they’ll be eligible for a place at either school.
To apply to North Halifax Grammar 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 Thursday 31st October 2024.
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 North Halifax Grammar School below.
What subjects are on the 11 plus?
The North Halifax Grammar School and The Crossley Heath School admissions test consists of papers by GL Assessment. This is one of the leading 11 plus providers in England.
All GL Assessment papers are multiple-choice. Your child will have separate answer sheets which they will use to mark their answers. These are marked electronically.
There are two papers in the North Halifax Grammar School and The Crossley Heath School admissions test.
One paper tests English and verbal reasoning. The English section contains a reading comprehension extracts and might include questions which assess spelling, punctuation and grammar. Verbal reasoning is not taught at school, but looks at how well your child can use logic and reasoning to solve problems with written information.
The other paper tests maths and non-verbal reasoning. The maths questions are based on the topics your child will have covered at school, such as number, measurement, geometry and statistics. Like verbal reasoning, non-verbal reasoning is not taught on the national curriculum. This assesses your child’s ability to use logic and reasoning to solve problems with visual information.
Guide to GL Assessment 11 plus exams
Find out everything you need to know in our complete guide to GL Assessment 11 plus entrance tests. Plus, get access to free 11 plus resources to help your child feel confident for their exam!
How does place allocation work at North Halifax Grammar School?
After the test, your child’s answer sheets are marked using Optical Mark Recognition (OMR). This technology picks up the marks your child has made to indicate which answers they think are correct. Your child receives a mark for every correct answer.
Each paper is then age-standardised. Age-standardisation is a common practice in 11 plus scoring and ensures younger children aren’t disadvantaged. Standardised age scores for each paper normally range from 60 at the lowest end, to 142 at the highest end. 100 is the average score for the year group. The standardised scores for each paper are added together to produce your child’s total mark. All children’s scores are placed in rank order from highest to lowest.
There is no fixed pass mark for the North Halifax Grammar School and The Crossley Heath School admissions test. Instead, children who are ranked within the top 510 based on their total score have met the ‘required standard’.
North Halifax Grammar School then allocates places to children who have met the required standard in this order:
Looked after and previously looked after children
Children who receive Pupil Premium, and children who have a parent currently in the UK Armed Forces
All other children who have met the required standard, in order of test score, until all places have been filled
If two or more children tie for the last place, priority is first given to a child who has a sibling attending North Halifax Grammar School. If a further tie-breaker is needed, priority is given to the child living closest to the school.
There is no catchment area for North Halifax Grammar School.
Atom’s top tips for 11 plus preparation
The 11 plus 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
Verbal reasoning tests 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 North Halifax Grammar School. 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.
Tailored preparation for the North Halifax Grammar School admissions test
Wish you could give your child a roadmap to success in the admissions 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.
11 plus practice tests for North Halifax Grammar School
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Start your free trial today. Our specialists will get to work on your child’s plan. Relax, 11 plus prep is sorted.
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