Grammar Admissions

Trafford is one of the few remaining areas of England with fully selective secondary education. Its grammar schools admit primarily – or entirely – on the basis of the 11+ entrance test rather than distance or catchment. Every school marked "Selective (11+)" in the list below is a grammar school; every other secondary school in Trafford is non-selective.

Sitting the 11+ is a separate step from the main secondary common application form, and it happens months earlier. Parents must actively register their child to sit the test with the relevant testing body – a place isn't automatic just because you intend to apply to a grammar school. Missing the registration window generally means your child cannot sit the test that year, so it's worth registering well before the deadline even if you're still undecided.

The 11+ test typically assesses verbal reasoning, non-verbal reasoning, English and maths, sat in one or more sessions in the September of Year 6. It's designed to measure aptitude rather than school curriculum knowledge, though most families do some preparation in Year 5 and 6. Exact subjects and format can vary slightly between test providers, so check the specific requirements published by the grammar schools you're considering.

Raw test scores are adjusted, or "standardised", to account for a child's exact age in months – since a child tested near the start of Year 6 can be almost a year older than a classmate tested at the end of it. Standardisation puts all candidates on a level footing regardless of birth month, so a younger child's raw score is scaled up relative to an older child's for a fair comparison.

Each grammar school sets its own qualifying score threshold, and these are not published on a single central list – where a school has published its threshold, you'll find it in that school's own admissions policy, available from its profile page. Because thresholds can move slightly year to year depending on the cohort, treat any past score as a guide rather than a guarantee.

Once test results are known, you still complete Trafford's normal secondary common application form and rank grammar and non-selective schools together, in true order of preference. Only list a grammar school if your child has reached its qualifying score – ranking a school you haven't qualified for won't secure a place there and can cost you a place at a non-selective school ranked lower.

If your child qualifies but isn't offered a place because the school is oversubscribed even among qualifiers, you can join its waiting list. Grammar school waiting lists are ordered by score (and any other published criteria, such as distance) rather than by when you joined, and are typically kept open into the autumn term.

You can appeal a grammar school refusal to an independent panel, in the same way as any other secondary school. Appeals for a selective school often turn on the school's specific admission arrangements rather than the test itself – see our full Appeals guide.