Guide to partially selective & bilateral schools

If you're beginning to think about your child's secondary education, you may have learnt about comprehensive, grammar, and independent schools. Partially selective and bilateral schools are not as common and can be more challenging to understand!

In this guide, we'll help you:

• Learn about the difference between partially selective and bilateral schools

• Discover which schools in the UK are partially selective or bilateral

• Understand the application process for selective schools

What is a partially selective school?

A partially selective school selects a certain number of children for entry based on a particular ability or aptitude. For example, it may reserve 25% of Year 7 places for children who can demonstrate excellence in sports or 15% for children who show strong academic potential. Children studying on a partially selective place may have access to extra resources and opportunities to support their talent – such as lectures, workshops and tuition.

To be offered a selective place, children will need to achieve the qualifying standard in an aptitude test – for example, an exam, sports assessment, or musical audition. Children applying for general ability places usually take the 11 plus exam or a similar test.

Partially selective schools are state-funded schools, so they're free to attend.

Which schools in the UK are partially selective?

There are no partially selective schools in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland. There are 31 partially selective schools in England:

Cambridgeshire

• The Kings School, Peterborough (mixed). 12 places are allocated on overall academic ability (assessed through English, maths and verbal reasoning) and 3 places are allocated on musical ability (assessed through an instrumental/voice audition and various aural tests).

Dorset

• Budmouth Academy, Weymouth (mixed). Up to 30 children are admitted based on successful performance in academic tests.
• Poole High School (mixed). 10% of places are on the 'Expressly Academic' route and are offered to children who perform well in English, maths and reasoning tests.

Essex

• Shoeburyness High School (mixed). 10% of places are awarded to children who pass the CSSE 11 plus.

Greater London

• Burntwood School, Wandsworth (girls). Up to 71 places are allocated to girls who score highly in the Wandsworth Year 6 Test, which consists of verbal and non-verbal reasoning papers set by GL Assessment.
• Chestnut Grove School, Wandsworth (mixed). Up to 30 places are allocated based on aptitude for art & design, assessed through practical tasks in a range of media. Up to 30 places are allocated based on aptitude for modern foreign languages, assessed through written and listening tests.
• Graveney School, Wandsworth (mixed). Up to 70 children with the highest scores in the Wandsworth Year 6 test will be offered places.
• Greenshaw High School, Sutton (mixed). Up to 60 places are reserved for children who perform well in the Sutton SET – an 11 plus exam with papers in English and maths.
• Mill Hill County High School, Barnet (mixed). Up to 24 places are allocated based on technological aptitude (assessed through verbal reasoning and abstract reasoning), 24 places based on musical aptitude, and 12 places based on dance aptitude (both assessed through a musical/dance audition).
• Shirley High School, Croydon (mixed). Up to 20 places are allocated to children who demonstrate an aptitude in performing arts (dance, music and/or drama), assessed through auditions.

Hertfordshire

South West Herts Consortium schools

• Parmiter's School (mixed). Up to 52 places are awarded based on academic ability and up to 10 based on musical aptitude (assessed through the South West Herts Consortium academic and music tests).
• Queens' School (mixed). Up to 94 places are awarded based on academic ability, up to 13 places for sport aptitude, and up to 13 places for music aptitude. Children applying for a selective place are assessed through the South West Herts Consortium academic, sport, and music tests.
• Rickmansworth School (mixed). Up to 60 places are awarded based on academic ability and up to 24 places for musical ability, assessed through the South West Herts Consortium academic and music tests.
• St Clement Danes School (mixed). 10% of the intake is selected for academic ability and another 10% for musical ability, assessed through the South West Herts Consortium academic and music tests.
• Watford Grammar School for Boys. 56 places are reserved for boys selected by academic ability and 22 places for boys selected on the basis of aptitude for music, assessed through the South West Herts Consortium academic and music tests.
• Watford Grammar School for Girls. 52 places are reserved for girls selected by academic ability and 21 places for girls selected on the basis of aptitude for music, assessed through the South West Herts Consortium academic and music tests.

Non-consortium schools

• Bishops Stortford High School (boys). Up to 9 places are allocated to children who show aptitude in sport, and a further 9 places to children who show aptitude in music, based on relevant assessments.
• Chancellors School (mixed). Up to 21 places are allocated to children who show musical aptitude based on a written musical test and performance.
• Dame Alice Owen's School (mixed). Up to 65 children are selected by academic ability (based on performance in verbal reasoning, English and maths tests) and up to 10 children are selected by musical ability (based on written and aural musical aptitude tests).
• Goffs Academy (mixed). Up to 24 children are selected based on language aptitude, based on tests designed to identify children's ability to recognise linguistic patterns and apply them in new contexts.
• Hertfordshire and Essex High School (girls). Up to 9 places are allocated to children who show aptitude in sport, and a further 9 places to children who show aptitude in music, based on relevant assessments.
• Hockerill Anglo-European College (mixed). 10% of places are allocated to children with the greatest aptitude for modern foreign languages and/or music, based on aptitude tests in these subjects.

Kent

• Homewood School, Tenterden (mixed). All applicants will be invited to take part in an academic assessment and 72 places will be prioritised for children who receive high scores.
• Westlands School, Sittingbourne (mixed). Up to 10% of the Year 7 intake will be prioritised places based on high scores in a maths aptitude test.

Liverpool

• King David High School (mixed). Up to 17 places are available for children who demonstrate an aptitude for music, assessed through an aural test and a video recording of an instrumental performance.

Nottingham

• Bluecoat Academy Aspley (mixed). Up to 18 places are offered to children on the basis of aptitude in technology subjects, assessed through a written test.

Surrey

• The Winston Churchill School, Woking (mixed). 26 places are reserved for children who pass the school's academic test (which assesses maths, verbal and non-verbal reasoning), and 15 places are reserved for children who succeed in the music test (consisting of an audition, an aural test, and a short presentation).

West Midlands

• Old Swinford Hospital, Stourbridge (mixed). 48 flexi-boarder places are awarded on academic ability and 16 flexi-boarder places are awarded on aptitude in music or sport.

What is a bilateral school?

A bilateral school teaches students on two 'streams' – one which follows a grammar (selective) education, and the other which is non-selective. Children applying for a place on the selective stream must achieve the qualifying standard in the 11 plus exam.

Bilateral schools are usually competing with neighbouring grammar schools (which are fully selective), so they are often undersubscribed. If not all of the selective places are filled, the school is required to fill the remaining places with non-selective applicants.

Like partially selective schools, bilateral schools are funded by the government, so you do not need to pay for your child to attend.

Which schools in the UK are bilateral?

There are bilateral schools in the following counties:

Berkshire

• Reading Girls' School, Reading (girls only). 42 places are reserved for girls who perform well on the Cambridge Select Insight exam (English, maths and reasoning).

Devon

• The Spires College, Torquay (mixed). Up to 60 places are available on the selective stream for children who form well in 11+ English and maths tests set by GL Assessment.

Essex

• St Bernard's High School, Westcliff-on-Sea (girls). 63 places are reserved for girls who perform well in the CSSE 11 plus.
• St Thomas More High School, Westcliff-on-Sea (boys). 30 places are reserved for boys who score highly in the CSSE 11 plus.

Lincolnshire

• King Edward VI Academy, Spilsby (mixed). 30 places are available on the selective stream for children who score highly in the Lincolnshire 11 plus.

Warwickshire

• Ashlawn School, Rugby (mixed). Up to 31 places are available on the selective stream for children who have reached a minimum academic standard in the Warwickshire 11 plus and up to 25 places are allocated to children who meet the required standard in the modern language aptitude test.

How to apply to partially-selective and bilateral schools

The admissions process for bilateral and partially selective schools is similar to most grammar schools in the UK.

Learn more: guide to grammar schools

1. Register for the assessment

If you would like your child to be considered for a place on the selective stream at a bilateral school, or for a selective place at a partially selective school, they will need to take an entrance exam or subject assessment to demonstrate their ability.

Check your target school's website for details about the exam and to find out how to apply. If your target school is a member of a consortium (e.g. the South West Herts Consortium), you can apply directly through the consortium website. Schools not linked to a consortium usually have their own registration process or application portal.

Children who are looked after or previously looked after, or eligible for the pupil premium, may be prioritised for places under the school's admission criteria. If your child falls into one of these categories, you may need to complete a supplementary information form (SIF) to indicate this. Check your target school's admissions policy to see if this applies.

2. Apply for a school place

The school will let you know whether your child has been successful in the assessment – usually in mid-October in Year 6. If they have achieved the pass mark or met a particular qualifying standard, they will then be eligible for a selective place.

You can then name the school as one of your preferred choices on your common application form. This needs to be submitted to your local authority by the 31st October when your child is in Year 6.

Before listing the school as a preference on your form, we recommend checking the admissions policy first. If the school is oversubscribed for selective places, certain groups of children will be prioritised within that criteria. Priority groups usually include looked after and previously looked after children, children eligible for the pupil premium, and children who live within a particular catchment area or distance from the school.