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Thinking about applying to Watford Grammar School for Boys? Find out everything you need to know about admissions in 2025–2026 and how to prepare your child for success in the South West Herts academic ability test.
Key information for Watford Grammar School for Boys
Address: Watford Grammar School for Boys, Rickmansworth Road, Watford, WD18 7JF
Number of pupils: 1,400+
Admissions contact: [email protected]
Number of academic places in Year 7: 56 (25% of total intake)
11+ exam: South West Herts Schools Consortium academic ability test
Catchment area: yes
Dates for your diary
Tuesday 1st April 2025: registration opens for the South West Herts Schools Consortium ability tests
Friday 6th June 2025: registration closes for the South West Herts Schools Consortium ability tests
Saturday 6th September 2025: South West Herts Consortium academic test
Monday 8th September 2025: South West Herts Schools Consortium music test (first round)
Thursday 18th September 2025: parents receive results from the first round music test
Monday 22nd – Friday 26th September 2025: South West Herts Schools Consortium music test (second round)
Thursday 16th October 2025: parents receive results from the second round music test
Friday 31st October 2025: secondary school applications close
Monday 2nd March 2026: secondary school national offers day
About Watford Grammar School for Boys
Watford Grammar School for Boys is a partially selective boys' state school in Hertfordshire. It was founded in 1704 and has roots in the Free School – a charity school founded by Dame Elizabeth Fuller.
Watford Boys' prides itself on its strong sense of community. Academic success is celebrated alongside self-discovery and self-expression. Students at Watford Boys' achieve high standards in exams, sports, music, drama, and many other activities.
Ofsted rates Watford Grammar School for Boys 'outstanding'. Inspectors described it as a "remarkably friendly and welcoming school". They particularly praised students' "superb behaviour" and an "exceptional education".
How to apply to Watford Grammar School for Boys
Watford Grammar School for Boys is a partially-selective school. While most places in Year 7 are non-selective, children can be prioritised for a place based on a particular ability. Academic and music places are available at Watford Grammar School for Boys. The tests for these places are run by the South West Herts Schools Consortium.
Registration for the South West Herts Schools Consortium selection tests opens on the Consortium website on Tuesday 1st April 2025 and closes on Friday 6th June. You’ll also need to complete a Supplementary Information Form (SIF) to apply for an academic ability test. This will be available to download from your target schools(s) website.
The academic ability test will be held on Saturday 6th September 2025. You’ll be notified of your child’s test scores by mid-October.
To apply to Watford Grammar School for Boys, 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 academic ability test doesn’t guarantee that your child will be allocated a place under the academic criterion. Many selective 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 Watford Grammar School for Boys below.
What does the academic ability test involve?
The academic ability test consists of two papers. These papers are produced by GL Assessment – one of the UK’s leading providers of 11 plus exams. The two papers are:
Maths: questions based on the Key Stage 2 national curriculum for maths.
Verbal reasoning: questions which test your child’s ability to use logic and solve problems with written information, such as words, letters, symbols and numbers.
Both papers are multiple-choice. Your child will be given a question booklet and an answer sheet for each paper. The answer sheet is marked using OMR (optical mark recognition), which scans the marks your child has made to indicate their chosen answer(s) for each question.
Guide to the South West Herts Schools Consortium ability tests
Find out everything you need to know in our complete guide to the South West Herts Schools Consortium ability tests. Plus, get access to free 11 plus resources to help your child feel confident for the academic exam!
How are academic places allocated at Watford Grammar School for Boys?
After the academic ability test, your child’s answer sheets are marked using Optical Mark Recognition (OMR). This technology picks up the marks your child has made to indicate which answers they think are correct. Your child receives a mark for every correct answer.
These marks are then age-standardised. Age-standardisation is a common practice in 11 plus scoring and ensures younger children aren’t disadvantaged. Standardised age scores for each paper normally range from 60 at the lowest end, to 142 at the highest end.
A single standardised score of 80 or below represents the bottom 10% of the year group
A single standardised score of 100 represents the average score for the child's year group
A single standardised score of 120 or above represents the top 10% of children in that year group
The highest standardised age score a child can achieve for a single paper is usually 142. This score would place them within the top 1% of children taking the test.
Your child’s standardised age scores for each paper are then added together, and all scores are placed in rank order from highest to lowest. When the two tests are added together, the range is between 140 and 282.
Watford Grammar School for Boys has 56 places available under the academic criterion (25% of the total Year 7 intake). These places are offered to children in descending order of their standardised test score. In order to distinguish between children who have the same lowest ranking score, the proximity of how close the child lives to the school is used as the deciding factor.
Does Watford Grammar School for Boys have a catchment area?
There is a catchment area at Watford Grammar School for Boys. This is known as an ‘admission area’ and comprises the ‘Watford area’ and the ‘rest of the admission area’. Only boys who live within the complete admissions area are eligible for an academic place at Watford Grammar School for Boys.
Watford area postcodes
WD17 1 to 4
WD18 0 and6 to 9
WD19 4 to 7
WD23 1 to 7 and 9
WD24 4 to 7 and 9
WD25 0, 5, and 7 to 9
WD3 3
Rest of admission area postcodes
WD3 1 and 4 to 9
WD4 8 and 9
WD5 0
WD6 3
WD7 7 and 8
HA3 6
HA5 1 to 5
HA6 1 to 3
HA7 3 and 4
34 academic places are reserved for boys who lie within the Watford area. The remaining 22 academic places are reserved for boys who live within the rest of the admission area.
In 2024, the lowest score for which a boy who lives inside the Watford area was allocated a place at the school was 203. The lowest score for which a boy who lives in the rest of the admissions area was allocated a place was 216.
Atom’s top tips to prepare for the academic ability test
The South West Herts Schools Consortium academic ability test is designed to identify children working at the top of their year group. Here are our top tips to help you and your child feel confident for exam day!
Bitesize learning
It’s important to build a good knowledge base before the exam. 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
Your child will need to answer verbal reasoning questions in the academic ability test. Verbal reasoning involves analysing and interpreting 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 for the South West Herts Schools Consortium 11 plus. 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.
South West Herts Schools Consortium 11+ practice papers and online learning
Wish you could give your child a roadmap to success in the academic ability test? You can. Atom Home has everything you need to get prepared, in one package.
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Stress-free 11+ prep
In 2024, 91% of Atom users got offered a place at their top-choice school.
Start your free trial today. Our specialists will get to work on your child’s plan. Relax, academic test prep is sorted.
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