Townley Grammar School 11+ guide

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Thinking about applying to Townley Grammar School? Find out everything you need to know about admissions in 2025–2026 and how to prepare your child for success in the Bexley Selection Test.

Key information for Townley Grammar School

• Address: Townley Grammar School, Townley Road, Bexleyheath, Kent DA6 7AB
• Number of pupils: 1,500+
• Admissions contact: [email protected]
• Number of places in Year 7: 224
• 11+ exam: Bexley Selection Test
• Catchment area: no

Dates for your diary

• Thursday 1st May 2025: registration opens for the Bexley Selection Test
• Saturday 31st May 2025: registration closes for the Bexley Selection Test at midnight
• Tuesday 9th September 2025: Bexley Test date for children who attend a Bexley primary school
• Monday 8th – Thursday 11th September 2025: Bexley Test dates for children who do not attend a Bexley primary school
• Mid-October 2025: parents receive results from the Bexley Selection Test
• Friday 31st October 2025: national deadline to apply for secondary school places
• Monday 2nd March 2026: national school offers day

About Townley Grammar School

Townley Grammar School is a high-achieving selective school for girls, with a mixed Sixth Form, located in Bexley, South East London. Established in 1937, the school is known for its strong academic performance, innovative teaching, and commitment to developing confident, independent learners. It offers a broad curriculum, with particular strengths in mathematics, computing, and the performing arts.

Townley takes a forward-thinking approach to education, encouraging creativity, critical thinking, and leadership. The school places a strong emphasis on student well-being and personal development, ensuring a supportive and inclusive environment. Students have access to a wide range of extracurricular activities, including theatre productions, orchestra, sports teams, and debating competitions. The school has partnerships with the Tate Modern, Trinity College of Music, Laban and the Royal Ballet.

With excellent GCSE and A-level results, many Townley students go on to study at top universities in the UK and abroad.

How to apply to Townley Grammar School

Townley Grammar School is a selective school. This means that your child will need to take the 11 plus exam to be eligible for a place. All grammar schools in Bexley use the same 11 plus exam, known as the Bexley Selection Test.

Registration for the Bexley Selection Test is open from Thursday 1st May 2025 and closes at midnight on Saturday 31st May 2025. Your child will then be invited to take the exam in September. If your child goes to a Bexley primary school, they will take the test on Tuesday 9th September 2025, either at their own school or at one of the four grammar schools. If your child does not to go a Bexley primary school, they will take the test at one of the four grammar schools on an assigned date between Monday 8th and Thursday 11th September 2025.

You'll find out if your child has met the eligible score in the Bexley Selection Test in mid-October 2025. You can then use these results to decide whether to apply for a place at Townley Grammar School. To apply, 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 31st October 2025.

Remember – passing the Bexley Selection Test doesn’t guarantee that your child will be allocated a place at your preferred school. Bexley 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 Townley Grammar School below.

What subjects are on the entrance exam?

Children applying to Townley Grammar School take the Bexley Selection Test. This consists of two one-hour papers which assess English comprehension, maths, verbal reasoning and non-verbal reasoning. All of the questions are multiple-choice.

How does place allocation work at Townley Grammar School?

There is no specified pass mark for the Bexley Selection Test. Each of the four grammar schools has 180 places available in Year 7. The 180 children with the highest scores applying to each grammar school will be eligible for a place at that school.

The Bexley Selection Test is competitive. Around 30% of children who take the test achieve a mark high enough to be considered for a grammar school place in the borough.

If the number of children who have met the qualifying standard for entry to the school exceeds the number of places available, Townley Grammar School applies oversubscription criteria. Children are prioritised for places in the following order:

1. Looked-After or previously Looked-After Children.
2. Children who have achieved the highest 180 scores in the Selection Test.
3. Children who have a sibling at the school.
4. Children who have a parent employed by the school for two or more years.
5. Children who live closest to the school, regardless of their test score. The distance is measured from the child's home to the middle gate entrance of Townley Grammar School in a straight line. Selection Test scores are used as a tie-breaker when the distance is identical.

There is no catchment area at Townley Grammar School. However, places are prioritised for children who live closer to the school.

How can I help my child prepare for the Bexley Selection Test?

The Bexley Selection Test is designed to be challenging. Here are our top tips to help your child prepare for the exam in September 2025.

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. 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.

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