Urmston Grammar School 11+ guide

Atom Learning is partnered with Urmston Grammar School. You can read more about our partnership here.

Thinking about applying to Urmston Grammar School? Find out everything you need to know about admissions and how to prepare your child for success in the 11 plus.

Key information about Urmston Grammar School

• Address: Newton Road, Urmston, Manchester, M41 5UG
• Number of pupils: 1,100+
• Admissions contact: [email protected]
• Number of places in Year 7: 150
• 11+ exam: Trafford 11 plus
• Catchment area: Yes

Dates for your diary

• Thursday 24th April 2025: Trafford 11 plus registration opens at midday
• Wednesday 18th June 2025: Urmston Grammar School open evening
• Friday 20th June 2025: Trafford 11 plus registration closes at midday
• Thursday 4th September 2025: final exam details are sent to registered families by this date
• Monday 15th September 2025: Trafford 11 plus exam
• Mid-October 2025: parents receive Trafford 11 plus results
• Friday 31st October 2025: national deadline to apply for secondary school places
• Monday 2nd March 2026: secondary school national offers day

About Urmston Grammar School

Urmston Grammar School is a co-educational grammar school in Trafford, Greater Manchester, with a long-standing reputation for academic excellence, inclusive values, and strong community spirit. The school combines high expectations with a nurturing environment, helping students to flourish academically, socially, and personally.

Admission to Year 7 is via the Trafford Grammar Schools Consortium 11 plus exam. The school is popular and often oversubscribed, with places offered based on performance and proximity to the school. Urmston Grammar values diversity and is proud to welcome students from a range of backgrounds.

At Urmston Grammar, learning is brought to life through an engaging and challenging curriculum that encourages curiosity, creativity, and resilience. Teachers are passionate about their subjects and committed to supporting every student to reach their full potential.

Outside of lessons, students enjoy a vibrant co-curricular programme that includes music, drama, sports, science clubs, and leadership opportunities. The school places a strong emphasis on developing character, responsibility, and a sense of service to others.

With excellent GCSE and A level outcomes, Urmston Grammar provides a springboard to higher education and future success, equipping students with the knowledge, skills, and confidence to thrive in an ever-changing world.

How to apply to Urmston Grammar School

Urmston 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.

Urmston Grammar School is a member of the Trafford Grammar Schools Consortium, along with four other grammar schools in the Trafford area. All five grammar schools use the same 11 plus exam. This means that your child will only have to take the exam once, regardless of how many schools in the Consortium you are applying to.

Registration for the Trafford 11 plus opens on Thursday 25th April 2025 and closes at midday on Friday 20th June 2025. The exam will take place on Monday 15th September 2025 and you’ll receive your child’s results in mid-October. You can then use these results to decide whether to apply for a place at Urmston 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.

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 Urmston Grammar School below.

What subjects are on the entrance exam?

Children applying to Urmston Grammar School take the Trafford 11 plus. This consists of two one-hour papers. Your child will take both papers on Monday 15th September, with a short break in-between.

The papers are entirely multiple-choice and consist of questions in:

• Maths: based on the Key Stage 2 national curriculum
• Verbal reasoning: solving problems with written information. This also includes some reading comprehension
• Non-verbal reasoning: solving problem with visual information, such as shapes, diagrams and pictures

How does place allocation work at Urmston Grammar School?

After the 11 plus, your child’s marks are added together to create a raw score. This is then converted into an age-standardised score to take into account your child’s age in years and months at the time of taking the test. The qualifying mark for grammar schools in the Trafford Consortium is usually at least 324 – and sometimes 334.

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

1. Entry category A: i) Children with an Education Health Care Plan (EHCP) naming Urmston Grammar School who have achieved the qualifying score. ii) Looked After and previously Looked After children.
2. Entry category B: 20 places are allocated to the highest-scoring candidates in order, regardless of where they live.
3. Entry category C: 10 places are allocated to the highest performing children who get free school meals, regardless of where they live, and who did not qualify under categories A or B.
4. Entry category D: children of Urmston Grammar staff members who have had a permanent contract for at least eight years.
5. Entry category E: 120 places are offered to children who achieved the qualifying score, in order of how close they live to the school. M41 and M31 postcodes are prioritised.

Children living in M41 and M31 postcodes are prioritised for entry.

How can I help my child prepare for the Trafford 11 plus?

The 11 plus exam is designed to be challenging. Here are our top tips to help your child prepare for the Trafford 11 plus 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.