For parents and guardians: Please verify all school data — cut-off scores, applicant numbers and competition ratios — against official sources (school websites, local authority admissions data) before making any decisions. The figures on this page are researched but not guaranteed and change each admissions cycle.
Complete 2025/26 11+ Guide to Grammar Schools in Warwickshire
Warwickshire is home to 3 fully selective grammar schools and 0 partially selective schools, served by the West Midlands Grammar Schools Consortium (Warwickshire + Birmingham). This guide covers every school — admissions criteria, competition data, cut-off scores, GCSE results, and specific prep advice — so you can make an informed decision.
How the Warwickshire 11+ works
Two papers of approximately 60 minutes each (including instructions and examples), sat on the same day with a short break. Each paper is divided into individually timed sections covering: English Comprehension, Verbal Reasoning, Mathematics, and Non-Verbal Reasoning. All questions are multiple-choice, answered on a separate OMR answer sheet. Score weightings: English/Verbal Reasoning 50%, Non-Verbal Reasoning 25%, Mathematics 25%. Raw scores are age-standardised by GL Assessment.
Warwickshire's five selective grammar schools (and bilateral Ashlawn) share the West Midlands Grammar Schools Entrance Test with eight Birmingham grammar schools. A single registration and one sitting is valid for all consortium schools. There is NO separate creative-writing component. Results released mid-October; the score is standardised. Qualifying scores (Automatic Qualifying Score and Minimum Academic Score) are set after the test and vary each year.
Key dates
Who can apply?
Children entering Year 7 in September 2026 must register for the 11+ by 30 June 2025 via the Warwickshire County Council Parent Portal.
The test is open to all children regardless of address; however, each school applies its own geographic oversubscription criteria when allocating places.
Children attending Birmingham primary schools register through The Grammar Schools in Birmingham; results can be shared across both regions with parental consent.
Children with SEND or medical needs requiring special testing arrangements must submit a separate form to [email protected] by the reasonable adjustments deadline.
There is no cost to sit the 11+ test.
Each child may sit the test only once per entry year.
Admissions process
Parents register via the Warwickshire County Council Parent Portal between 7 May and 30 June 2025 (4 pm). Registration is required before the test can be sat; late registrations are not guaranteed a place in the main testing sessions.
Children sit two GL Assessment papers (each ~60 min) on a single allocated session across 13–14 September 2025. Scores are age-standardised. Results are released to parents in mid-October 2025, including the Automatic Qualifying Score (AQS) and Minimum Academic Score (MAS) for each school.
Parents list up to three preferred schools on the CAF submitted to their home local authority by 31 October 2025. Warwickshire residents apply via warwickshire.gov.uk. Schools should only be listed if the child achieved the qualifying standard for that school.
Each school applies its own priority order: (1) Looked-after/previously looked-after children meeting the qualifying standard; (2) Pupil Premium pupils in the priority area (with some leeway below AQS); (3) Children in Priority Area 1 (East Warwickshire / Rugby area for LSS & RHS; South Warwickshire circle for AGS) achieving AQS; (4) Children in the wider Priority Circle achieving AQS; (5) All other children achieving AQS; (6) Children above the MAS if places remain. Tie-break is by straight-line distance (closest first), or by total capped GCSE points score at Lawrence Sheriff.
Offers made 1 March 2026. Children who do not receive their first choice are automatically placed on the waiting list if they met the qualifying standard. Waiting lists are held for one term until 31 December 2026.
School Directory
Disclaimer: Data compiled from official school admissions policies (warwickshire.gov.uk, lawrencesheriffschool.net, rugbyhighschool.co.uk, alcestergs.co.uk), DfE GIAS (get-information-schools.service.gov.uk), DfE Compare School Performance (compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk), Ofsted (reports.ofsted.gov.uk) and Warwickshire County Council grammar schools pages (warwickshire.gov.uk/grammar-schools-11-test). Progress 8 and Attainment 8 are from DfE 2023/24 data; note that P8 is NOT published for 2024/25 or 2025/26 due to COVID KS2 data gap. Verify all figures at the respective school and LA websites before acting. Data current as of April 2026. Always verify figures on the school or local authority website before making decisions — data changes each admissions cycle. Last updated: 2026-04-19. We aim to refresh this guide every year after new DfE data is published (typically June/July).