Watford Grammar School for Boys 11 plus guide

About Watford Grammar School for Boys

Watford Grammar School for Boys is a partially-selective state school in Hertfordshire for boys aged 11 to 18. It originates from the Free School – a charity school founded by Dame Elizabeth Fuller in 1704 for 60 pupils in the local parish – and moved to its present site in 1912.

The school prides itself on its strong sense of community, where academic commitment and success are celebrated alongside self-discovery, self-expression and developing a sense of personal worth. While the school accepts children of all abilities, students achieve high standards in academic study, sports, music, drama and many other activities.

Watford Grammar School was lasted visited by Ofsted in 2021 and judged to be 'outstanding'. Inspectors described it as a "remarkably friendly and welcoming school", where pupils exhibit "superb" behaviour and receive an "exceptional" education.

• Address: Watford Grammar School for Boys, Rickmansworth Road, Watford, WD18 7JF

• Local authority: Hertfordshire County Council

• School type: boys-only partially-selective school

• Headteacher: Ian Cooksey

• Number of pupils: 1,500+

• National rank (Sunday Times Parent Power): 161

• A level results: 72.5% A*–B

• GCSE results: 59.3% A*/A/9/8/7

Key info for Year 7 admissions

• Admissions contact: [email protected]

• Number of places in Year 7: 224 (of which 56 places are allocated based on academic ability)

• Open day date: Saturday 7th October 2023

• 11 plus registration opens: 11th April 2023

• 11 plus registration closes: 16th June 2023

• Exam date: 9th September 2023 (academic test)

• Exam type: SWH Consortium – GL Assessment

• Common application form (CAF) deadline: 31st October 2023

• National school offer day: 1st March 2024

How to apply to Watford Grammar School for Boys

If you would like your child to be considered for a place in Year 7 at Watford Grammar School for Boys, you will need to complete the common application form for your local authority.

If you would like your child to be considered for a place under the academic criterion, you will also need to register for them to take the academic ability test with the SW Herts Consortium. This group of grammar and partially-selective schools all administer the same academic tests, so if your child is applying for an academic place in any of the schools in the consortium, they will only need to take the academic tests once.

1. Register for the academic ability test

If you are thinking about registering your child for the academic criterion at Watford Grammar School for Boys, it's a good idea to speak to your child's teacher first to see if the 11 plus and a selective education is right for them. The 11 plus is a challenging exam, designed to select the children working within the top 25% of their year group.

You will need to register your child with the SW Herts Consortium between Tuesday 11th April 2023 and Friday 16th June 2023. You will then be notified of your child's test venue on Friday 7th July 2023.

2. Apply for a school place

You will be notified of your child's scores in the academic test via your parent portal on the SWH Consortium website on Wednesday 19th October 2023. You can use your child's results to decide whether to apply for a place at Watford Grammar School for Boys.

To apply for a school place, you will need to name Watford Grammar School for Boys on your common application form. You must complete the form for your home local authority:

• Buckinghamshire residents: Buckinghamshire Council

• Hertfordshire residents: Hertfordshire County Council

• London Borough of Barnet residents: Barnet Council

• London Borough of Enfield residents: Enfield Council

• London Borough of Harrow residents: Harrow Council

• London Borough of Hillingdon residents: Hillingdon Council

Before completing your common application form, make sure to check the school's oversubscription criteria first. In the likely event that more children achieve the qualifying score than there are places available, the school will need to apply oversubscription criteria to prioritise places.

The application form must be submitted to your home local council by 31st October 2023.

What's the pass mark for Watford Grammar School for Boys?

Your child's scores in the academic ability test will be age-standardised to ensure that children born later in the school year aren't disadvantaged. Scores will then be combined to give a total score across both papers, which is then placed in rank order with all the other children who took the exam. The range for the combined score is between 140 and 272.

There is no minimum score required – the 56 children with the highest scores will be eligible for a place. However, in previous years the minimum score required for an academic ability place at Watford Grammar School for Boys was 215 (2022), 211 (2021) and 218 (2020). These figures may be useful as a guide when helping your child prepare for the test.

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.

Watford Grammar School for Boys admissions criteria

56 places in Year 7 (25% of the total places available) are reserved for boys who demonstrate academic ability in the SW Herts 11 plus test. Of these places, 34 are reserved for boys who live within the Watford area. This comprises the following postcodes:

• WD17 1, WD17 2, WD17 3, WD17 4

• WD18 0, WD18 6, WD18 7, WD18 8, WD18 9

• WD19 4, WD19 5, WD19 6, WD19 7

• WD23 1, WD23 2, WD23 3, WD23 4, WD23 5, WD23 6, WD23 7, WD23 9

• WD25 0, WD25 5, WD25 7, WD25 8, WD25 9

• WD3 3

Other oversubscription criteria apply to boys applying for a community place. This includes priority groups such as looked after and previously looked after children, siblings of current students and sons of school staff. Further information is available on the school admission policy.

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