Altrincham Grammar School for Girls 11+ Admissions Guide for Parents

Entry to Altrincham Grammar School for Girls at 11+ follows the Trafford Grammar Schools GL Consortium's entrance examination, after which a place depends first on meeting the qualifying standard and then on the school's own oversubscription criteria. The school is an academy grammar school that sets its own admissions arrangements, publishing a proposed admission number of 204 places for Year 7.

Passing the entrance exam shows that a child has reached the qualifying score; it does not on its own guarantee a place, since the school is usually oversubscribed and allocates places within its published number according to catchment area, sibling links and pupil premium status before distance from the school. Families apply in two separate steps, registering for the exam directly with the school and then naming Altrincham Grammar School for Girls on the home local authority's Common Application Form.

[heading] How many places the school offers at 11+

The school admits girls into Year 7 as its main entry point, with a proposed admission number of 204 places published for that year group. The school also admits into the sixth form at 16+, with a minimum of five places made available each year for applicants joining from other schools, alongside its own Year 11 leavers; further sixth-form places may open depending on availability on individual courses.

[heading] How the school's 11+ assessment works

The entrance exam sits within the Trafford Grammar Schools GL Consortium, so candidates take the same GL Assessment papers whether registering through AGGS or one of the other four consortium schools, sitting the test once at a single centre. It comprises two papers, each about an hour long, testing verbal, non-verbal and mathematics skills, with a short break between them. Verbal questions cover vocabulary, word relationships and reasoning comprehension; non-verbal questions cover shape sequences, codes and spatial awareness; mathematics draws on content taught up to the start of Year 6. The school's admissions documents describe no interview and no primary-school report as part of the process, and exam content stays confidential, with no re-marks offered.

Registering for the exam and applying through the Common Application Form

Applying to the school happens in two separate steps. Parents first register their daughter online for the entrance exam, stating which centre she will sit it at and which consortium schools should receive her standardised result; registration for the exam closes at a published date each spring, ahead of the exam itself in September. Results reach parents in good time for the second step: naming the school, ranked according to preference, on the home local authority's Common Application Form before its closing date. The local authority confirms the outcome on National Offer Day the following March.

[heading] Catchment area and oversubscription criteria

The school defines its catchment area as an 8-mile radius from its main entrance, measured in a direct line from a child's permanent home address. Where applications exceed the published number of places, after children with an Education, Health and Care Plan naming the school, places are awarded in a set order of priority.

Where a category remains oversubscribed, priority goes to those applicants living closer to the school; exact ties are broken by random allocation, independently supervised.

• Looked-after and previously looked-after children
• Catchment-area applicants receiving pupil premium
• Catchment-area applicants with an existing sister at the school
• Other catchment-area applicants, prioritised by distance
• Out-of-catchment applicants receiving pupil premium
• Out-of-catchment applicants with an existing sister at the school
• Other out-of-catchment applicants, prioritised by distance

The qualifying standard and how results are reported

Test scores are standardised for age, and the qualifying score for entry is 334 or above; children who are looked after or receive pupil premium qualify with a standardised score of 324 to 333. Parents receive an outcome by email before the end of October, viewed through the exam registration portal; those who qualify are told they have achieved a pass, while candidates below the qualifying score are given their score without a further breakdown. The school does not offer re-marks; GL Assessment holds and marks the answer sheets.

[heading] Preparing for the 11+ assessment

Families can find practice papers on the GL Assessment website and on the consortium schools' own websites, along with familiarisation materials published by the school so that every candidate has equal access to sample question types beforehand. The exam tests verbal, non-verbal and mathematics skills across two timed papers, so practice usually works best when it covers all three areas evenly; children who need access arrangements, such as extra time for a diagnosed need, should have supporting evidence from their primary school submitted by the registration deadline, since requests go to a panel drawn from all five consortium schools before the exam.

Waiting lists and the right of appeal

Children who qualify in the entrance exam but are not offered a place can ask to join the school's waiting list, which is not automatic and is ranked using the same oversubscription criteria; it stays open until the end of December in the year of entry. Parents whose daughters are not offered a place also have the right of appeal to an independent panel, arranged through the school's governors once the local authority has issued its offer; the panel's decision is final and binding on all parties.

Related guides

• Trafford grammar schools guide
• Tutors for families in Manchester
• Grammar schools in England: the full directory

Preparing for the Altrincham Grammar School for Girls 11+ with Taylor Tuition

Families preparing for the Altrincham Grammar School for Girls 11+ usually come to us a year or so before the assessment, though shorter runs work where the foundations are already sound. Having prepared pupils for entry to leading independent and grammar schools, with placements including Westminster, St Paul's, Wycombe Abbey and Eton, our tutors build each programme around the format the school actually uses, whether a written paper, an online pre-test, an interview or a combination of them.

More than half of our tutors hold Qualified Teacher Status and around three in five hold a master's degree or doctorate, and the pool includes former heads of department, exam-board examiners and teachers from independent and boarding schools, so the preparation is led by people who know how selective schools assess. Every tutor who works with children holds an enhanced DBS check.

Families in Greater Manchester and further afield work with us online, and in person in central London. Fees start from £50 per 50-minute session and depend on tutor level and subject, with no registration fee and a free initial consultation to talk through your child's current level and the timeline to the 11+. Families receive progress reports after sessions and have a dedicated point of contact, and we reply to enquiries within one working day with tutor recommendations.

Read more about our 11+ entrance exam tutors, or send an enquiry and we will come back with tutor recommendations.