Applying to St Michael's Catholic Grammar School for September 2028? This guide covers the St Michael's Catholic Grammar School entrance tests, the qualifying score, how the 128 Year 7 places are allocated and the key dates for September 2028 entry.
St Michael's Catholic Grammar School 11+ at a glance
School type: girls' Catholic grammar school
Location: North Finchley, London Borough of Barnet
Number of places in Year 7: 128 (2027-entry figure — St Michael's Catholic Grammar School confirms each year's admission number in its determined arrangements, published the spring before entry.)
Qualifying score: No fixed pass mark is published. All girls who sit the tests are ranked by score, and the looked after and Pupil Premium priorities apply to girls ranked in the top 175.
11+ test: St Michael's Catholic Grammar School entrance tests (four tests: multiple-choice verbal reasoning, non-verbal reasoning and maths, and a written English paper)
Catchment or priority area: no — places are not allocated by where you live
Source: St Michael's Catholic Grammar School Admissions Policy 2027-28. Last checked October 2026.
Key dates for September 2028 entry
St Michael's Catholic Grammar School confirms its exact dates in the spring before each cycle. The windows below follow the 2027-entry timetable: applications opened on Tuesday 14 April 2026, closed at 4pm on Tuesday 7 July 2026, and the entrance tests took place on Friday 11 September 2026. The school's admissions page, familiarisation page and policy don't give a results date, so we haven't listed one. We'll update this page as soon as the school publishes its 2028-entry dates.
Key dates for St Michael's Catholic Grammar School 11+ entry in September 2028, with expected windows where the school has not yet confirmed exact dates.
Date
What happens
Mid-April 2027
Applications to sit the entrance tests expected to open
Early July 2027
Application deadline expected (4pm), including the Certificate of Catholic Practice
Mid-July 2027
Open evening expected
Mid-September 2027
Entrance tests expected (by invitation)
Sunday 31 October 2027
Deadline to apply for secondary school places through your home local authority. This date falls on a Sunday.
Wednesday 1 March 2028
National offer day for secondary school places
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How to apply to St Michael's Catholic Grammar School
St Michael's Catholic Grammar School is selective, so your child needs to sit the 11+ test to be considered for a place.
You apply for your daughter to sit the entrance tests through the school's online application form. Girls applying as Baptised Catholics from a Practising Catholic family must upload a Certificate of Baptism with the form and deliver an original Certificate of Catholic Practice, dated within 3 months of applying, to the school office by the deadline. Electronic copies are not accepted.
Once you have your child's result, you apply by naming St Michael's Catholic Grammar School on your common application form, which goes to your home local authority. For September 2028 entry the deadline is Sunday 31 October 2027. As it falls on a Sunday, you may find it easier to submit your form in the days before.
Reaching the qualifying score makes your child eligible, but it doesn't guarantee a place. If more qualifying children apply than there are places, the school uses its oversubscription criteria, set out further down this page.
What will my child be tested on?
The entrance test is four tests, sat on one day in September at the school, by invitation after you apply: verbal reasoning, non-verbal reasoning, maths and English.
The verbal reasoning, non-verbal reasoning and maths tests are multiple choice, and the school publishes familiarisation papers for them. The English test is a written paper, not multiple choice, and there is no familiarisation paper for it.
The school doesn't give any further information on the style or timing of each paper. After the tests, every girl is ranked in order of her total score.
How are places allocated at St Michael's Catholic Grammar School?
If more children reach the qualifying standard than there are 128 Year 7 places, St Michael's Catholic Grammar School offers places in the order below. This order comes from the school's admissions policy for 2027/28. The school sets its 2028-entry policy separately, and we'll update this table if anything changes.
St Michael's Catholic Grammar School oversubscription criteria in priority order, from the 2027/28 admissions policy.
Priority
Who it covers
1
Baptised Catholic girls from a Practising Catholic family who are looked after or previously looked after, and ranked in the top 175 in the entrance test
2
Baptised Catholic girls from a Practising Catholic family who receive Pupil Premium and are ranked in the top 175 (up to 32 places, in rank order)
3
Other Baptised Catholic girls from a Practising Catholic family, in rank order from the highest score
a
Other Baptised Catholic girls, in rank order
b
Girls who are Catechumens or members of an Eastern Christian Church
c
Girls of other Christian denominations, in rank order
d
Other looked after girls
e
Other girls who receive Pupil Premium
f
Any other girls
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Criteria a to f are used only if fewer than 175 girls meeting criteria 1 to 3 apply, when the school may invite other girls to the tests. Baptism must be shown by a Certificate of Baptism in the Catholic Church, and Catholic practice by a Certificate of Catholic Practice from your parish priest.
Does St Michael's Catholic Grammar School have a catchment area?
St Michael's Catholic Grammar School has no catchment area. Distance from home only comes in as a late tie-break.
Where girls have the same total score, the verbal reasoning score decides first, then non-verbal reasoning, then English, then maths. If they are still tied, the girl whose home is nearest the school, measured as the crow flies from the main school entrance using Barnet's mapping system, comes first. Equal distances are decided by lottery.
If you don't live close to the school, it's worth thinking about how your child will get there every day. How long will the journey take? What transport options are available? Will they be travelling independently or with support?
A longer or more complex journey can affect your child's daily routine, including how much time they have for homework, rest and after-school activities. It's a good idea to think about how manageable the school run will be and whether it will work for your family day to day.
How can I help my child prepare for the test?
The St Michael's Catholic Grammar School entrance test can feel like a big milestone, but preparation doesn't have to be overwhelming. Here's how you can help your child prepare for test day.
Stay on track with a clear plan
One of the hardest parts of 11+ preparation is knowing what to focus on, when, and how to make steady progress without it taking over family life.
A clear, structured plan helps your child feel less overwhelmed and more in control. It ensures they build skills in the right order, cover everything they need, and avoid last-minute cramming.
Atom's exam plan makes this easier. Enter your child's target schools and exam dates, and we'll create a personalised weekly plan tailored to the topics they'll be tested on. It shows them what to work on and when, adapts as they improve, and helps them build progress in a calm, manageable way — little and often.
That means less guesswork for you, less stress for them, and a clearer path all the way to exam day.
Build smart exam technique
As your child's knowledge grows, practice tests can help them feel more comfortable with the real exam format.
Atom's 11+ practice papers are built to match the format, timing and question styles of real 11+ exams. They're also unlimited — you can download the same paper again and again, and your child will get new questions each time. This helps them practise without repeating the same content.
We've made marking easy for you, too. Simply photograph your child's answer sheets and upload them to Atom. The papers are marked instantly, showing your child's standardised age score (SAS), where they're doing well, and what they should focus on next. You'll also learn how they compare to other children applying to the same school.
Encourage regular reading
Strong reading skills play a big role in 11+ preparation.
Encourage your child to read every day, even for just 10–15 minutes. The key is variety. Mix fiction and non-fiction, different genres, and a range of authors. This helps them become more confident in understanding tone, purpose, and meaning across different texts.
Over time, regular reading will broaden their vocabulary, improve comprehension and inference, and build confidence in tackling unseen texts.
Looking for inspiration? Atom's recommended reading lists have suggestions spanning fiction and non-fiction for Years 3–6.
Celebrate progress, not just scores
When you're supporting your child through 11+ preparation, what really matters is knowing they're moving in the right direction — not just how they scored on a single test.
Atom's progress tracking gives you a clear, simple picture of how your child is doing in each topic and the direction they're moving in. You can see where they're on track, where they might need more practice, and spot progress as it happens.
That makes it easier to give meaningful encouragement, keep motivation steady, and focus on what matters most: consistent improvement, not just one-off results.
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Take control of your child’s 11+ preparation.
Not sure if your child is on track for the grammar school 11+? You don’t need to guess what to cover or whether they’re ready. Atom shows you exactly what to practise each week and how they’re performing, so you can stay ahead of the process without the stress.
