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Are you considering Ripon Grammar School for your child? We've collated all the information you need to know about 2024 entry to Year 7. Keep reading to learn about the grammar school admissions process in North Yorkshire and how to help your child excel in the 11 plus exam.
About Ripon Grammar School
Ripon Grammar School is a day and boarding school in North Yorkshire for both boys and girls. It has been named as the Sunday Times Parent Power’s top state school in the North for nine years in a row.
Ripon Grammar has served its community since the seventh century and following its re-founding in 1555. Unusually for a state school, it offers boarding options – for about a third of the typical fee for a private boarding school.
Rated Outstanding by Ofsted, the school’s academic results put it within the top 2% of state schools for Progress 8 (a measure of pupil progress from leaving primary school to the end of Year 11).
Address: Clotherholme Road, Ripon, HG4 2DG
Local authority: North Yorkshire County Council
School type: mixed grammar, day and boarding
Headteacher: Jonathan Webb
Number of pupils: 928
National rank (Sunday Times Parent Power): 72
A level results: 82.6% A*–B
GCSE results: 69.9% 9/8/7
Key info for Year 7 admissions
Admissions contact: [email protected]
Number of places in Year 7: 117 (14 of which are boarding places)
11 plus registration opens: 3rd April 2023
11 plus registration closes: 30th June 2023
Open day: June 2023. (Virtual tour here)
Exam date: 9th September 2023
Exam type: GL Assessment
Local authority application form deadline: 31st October 2023
National school offer day: 1st March 2024
Ripon Grammar School term dates
The 2023–2024 term dates at Ripon Grammar School are:
Autumn term: 5th September – 22nd December 2023
Half term: 30th October – 3rd November 2023
Spring term: 9th January – 21st March 2024
Half term: 12th–16th February 2024
Summer term: 9th April – 19th July 2024
Half term: 27th–31st May 2024
How to apply to Ripon Grammar School
1. Register for the 11 plus
Before registering, speak to your child’s teacher to see if the 11 plus and grammar school is right for them.
While your child is in Year 5, register them for the 11 plus test on the North Yorkshire County Council website. Registration opens on 3rd April and closes on 30th June 2023.
After you have registered, in late August the school will send you information about what to expect on test day.
2. Apply for school places
Once your child has taken the exam, the school will post out their results to you on 11th October 2023 (they should arrive by 19th October at the latest). You can use the results to decide which schools to include on your local authority application form.
Before listing Ripon Grammar School as a preference on your form, check its admissions policy and make sure your child is eligible. The application form must be submitted to your home local council by 31st October 2023.
Suitability for boarding form
If you would like to apply for a boarding place for your child, you'll also need to complete the 'suitability for boarding' form to determine whether the school can meet your child's boarding needs. Find more information about boarding admissions here.
What's on the Ripon Grammar School 11 plus exam?
The 11 plus exam for Ripon Grammar School takes place at the school on Saturday 9th September 2023.
There are two multiple-choice papers, which are produced for the North Yorkshire local authority by GL Assessment. For each paper, children are given a question book and a separate answer sheet which is marked electronically.
Paper 1 (50 minutes): verbal reasoning. Questions require children to manipulate words, letters and numbers and the relationships between symbols and the meanings of words.
Paper 2 (40 minutes): non-verbal reasoning. Questions involve the manipulation of shapes and images. This test is split into four individually-timed 10-minute sections.
You can access 11 plus familiarisation materials for Ripon Grammar School on the North Yorkshire County Council website.
Learn about each subject in depth and get free preparation resources in our full guide to the 11 plus:
What is the pass mark for Ripon Grammar School?
After your child takes the exam, their scores are age-standardised and combined to give them a total score across both papers. The total scores are ranked in order.
The results are then used to find the highest-scoring 28% children who live in the Ripon area. In the last three years, this has meant a cut-off score of:
196 (2023 entry)
201 (2022 entry)
198 (2021 entry)
Achieving a particular score doesn't guarantee a place at the school, as it may be oversubscribed with qualified candidates. We always recommend researching the admission policies for your target schools and looking at their oversubscription criteria.
Ripon Grammar School admissions criteria
The planned admission number (PAN) is 117, with 14 of these places reserved for boarding students. When there are more eligible applicants than there are places available, priority is given in this order:
Looked After and previously Looked After children.
Children who have special social or medical reasons for admission, as determined by North Yorkshire County Council.
Children living in the catchment area of the school.
Children of staff at the school who have been employed for more than two years at the time of admission.
Children living outside the catchment area of the school.
Within the categories above, children are prioritised in this order:
Children who have a sibling at the school.
Children who live closest to the school in a straight line.
If there are more boarding applications than places available, priority is given in this order:
Looked after and previously Looked After children.
Children of members of the UK Armed Forces who qualify for Ministry of Defence financial assistance with the cost of boarding school fees.
Children with a 'boarding need', including children at risk or with an unstable home environment, children of service personnel who have died while serving or been discharged as a result of injury, and children of key workers and Crown Servants working abroad.
Applications for termly boarding.
Applications for weekly boarding.
As a tie break, priority for boarding places is given first to children with a sibling at the school and who live furthest from the school. Any unallocated boarding places are made available to day students.
Ripon Grammar School catchment area
You can view a map of Ripon Grammar School's catchment area on the North Yorkshire County Council website.
How to help your child prepare for the 11 plus
Here are our top tips on how to best prepare your child for Ripon Grammar School 11 plus.
Cover all the content
The 11 plus assesses a large breadth and depth of learning objectives across the Key Stage 2 national curriculum and beyond.
We recommend that your child starts revising content at least one year before the test. Setting aside study periods using a 'little and often' approach will give them time to build the skills and knowledge they need. When preparing, avoid falling into the trap of over-focusing on either the topics your child enjoys or the topics they find hardest.
Atom Nucleus is an 11 plus online course that tailors your child's personalised learning journey to cover all elements of Ripon Grammar School 11 plus at the right pace for them.
No surprises
Your child will encounter lots of unfamiliar types of questions in the 11 plus exam. Building exam technique with 11 plus test papers will help your child to feel fully confident with the styles of questions they'll encounter in the exam, reducing the potential for stress on the day.
Celebrate their progress
Setting regular goals and celebrating achievements will help keep motivation high. Atom Nucleus offers data-driven insights into your child’s progress towards mastering the 11 plus curriculum, making it easy to see where they need to focus next.
Personalised 11 plus prep for your child
Wondering how to make sure your child covers the depth and breadth of the entire 11 plus curriculum, stays on track with their progress, and gets help when they're stuck? Online learning is a particularly efficient, cost-effective (and fun) way to do this!
Atom Nucleus is the award-winning online 11 plus practice platform that gives your child everything they need to prepare for grammar school exams.
Children work independently through over 90,000 interactive practice questions in verbal reasoning, non-verbal reasoning, English and maths. Teacher-created helpsheets and videos help them discover new concepts and consolidate their learning.
Atom's algorithm keeps children on their ideal learning path, tailored to their unique learning style and pace to keep them challenged and motivated.
Ripon Grammar School 11 plus practice papers
Atom Nucleus gives children access to online practice papers. Our online tests are designed to mirror the format and style of the real Ripon Grammar 11 plus, so your child will go into the exam knowing exactly what to expect.
And what's more, everything is automatically marked for you.
Try Atom Nucleus free for 5 days
Begin your child's journey to Ripon Grammar School today. Use the full features of Atom Nucleus free for 5 days – cancel anytime.
Personalised support for you
We understand how important this next step is for them, and for you. Please don't hesitate to get in touch with any questions you may have about the 11 plus or Yorkshire grammar schools.
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