Devonport High School for Boys 11+ Admissions: Test, Registration and Places

Boys gain a place at Devonport High School for Boys at 11+ by registering for the Plymouth grammar schools' 11+ test and reaching the qualifying standard across two Quest Assessments papers and the school's own English writing paper. The school is fully selective, sets no catchment or priority area, and admits 180 boys into Year 7 each year, so any boy who meets the qualifying standard may apply for a place regardless of where his family lives.

Registration, testing and results follow a set sequence each year, run jointly by DHSB and Plymouth's other grammar schools through Quest Assessments, with offers made through the family's home local authority. Where more boys reach the qualifying standard than there are places, published oversubscription criteria decide who is offered a place.

How many places are there and how does entry work?

DHSB offers 180 places in Year 7 each year, selected on ability through the 11+ test. The school sets no catchment or priority area, so any boy who reaches the qualifying standard is eligible to apply, whether the family lives in Plymouth, elsewhere in Devon, or across the border in Cornwall. Year 7 entry is separate from the school's sixth form, which also admits external applicants at 16+.

How the 11+ assessment is structured

The 11+ test for entry to DHSB is set by Quest Assessments and made up of two multiple-choice papers, one in English and one in mathematics, each lasting around 40 minutes and sat on two separate Saturdays. Boys applying to DHSB also complete the school's own English writing paper, set and marked internally, on the first Saturday alongside the Quest English paper.

Answers to the Quest papers are recorded on an OMR (optical mark recognition) sheet, shading a box next to the chosen option instead of writing full answers. Candidates sit the test at one of three grammar school test centres in Plymouth.

• Paper 1: Quest Assessments English paper, plus the DHSB writing paper, first Saturday
• Paper 2: Quest Assessments mathematics paper, second Saturday

How registration and the process run

Registration for the 11+ opens online during the summer term before entry and closes before the tests take place, using a form published on DHSB's admissions pages. From registration to offer, the process runs in a fixed order.

• Register your son via the online form on DHSB's admissions pages
• He sits the Quest English paper and the DHSB writing paper on the first Saturday
• He sits the Quest mathematics paper on the second Saturday
• DHSB sends results directly to families, showing which category he has been placed in
• Parents name DHSB on the common application form submitted to their home local authority
• The local authority confirms the offered school place on National Offer Day

What the Category A, B and C results mean

After the papers are marked and the external scores standardised, DHSB's Admission Panel, made up of the headteacher, the admissions officer and a governor, places each candidate into one of three categories.

DHSB sends results to families well before the closing date for secondary school applications, so parents have time to make an informed choice on the common application form. Parents of a boy who is unsuccessful have the right to appeal to an independent admission appeal panel; DHSB has an agreement with Plymouth City Council to administer appeals on its behalf.

• Category A: qualifying mark in the Quest papers, ranking at or above the 180th candidate, plus a qualifying mark in the DHSB writing paper, eligible for a place offer
• Category B: qualifying mark in both components but ranking below the 180th candidate, eligible for the waiting list
• Category C: qualifying mark not reached in one or both components, not eligible for a place

Oversubscription criteria when places are limited

DHSB allocates places using a published order of priority. The school applies no catchment area at any stage of this process. Before this order is applied, any candidate with an Education, Health and Care Plan naming the school is admitted.

Where candidates tie, DHSB resolves the order using, in turn, pupil or service premium status, whether a parent is a long-serving member of staff, the DHSB English paper mark, straight-line distance between home and school, and finally a random number generator supervised by the local authority.

• Looked-after and previously looked-after children who reach the qualifying mark
• Children previously in state care outside England who ceased to be so through adoption
• Qualifying candidates ranked by score, filling most of the remaining places
• A small number of places reserved for qualifying candidates registered for pupil premium at the time of testing
• Any places left, filled by qualifying candidates ranked by score regardless of address

How to prepare for the test

Quest Assessments and the Plymouth grammar schools recommend steady, curriculum-based preparation across the weeks before the test, using wide reading, short regular practice sessions, and the free familiarisation booklets and practice OMR answer sheet published for the Plymouth 11+.

DHSB also runs its own free familiarisation session in the summer term, held in the school's Sports Hall for boys in Year 5. Candidates sit a practice mathematics paper on the day and take home an English paper with comprehension and composition questions to complete, with mark schemes provided so parents can use the papers diagnostically.

Families eligible for pupil premium can request free access to Atom Learning's Atom Home practice platform through DHSB, with eligibility verified by the child's primary school.

• Two sharp HB pencils and an eraser
• A pencil sharpener in a clear bag or case
• A small nut-free snack and a bottle of water
• No phones, smart watches or calculators are permitted

Related guides

• Grammar schools in England: the full directory

Preparing for the Devonport High School for Boys 11+ with Taylor Tuition

The Devonport High School for Boys 11+ rewards steady preparation over a year or so, with the last term given to timed practice and interview confidence. Having prepared pupils for entry to leading independent and grammar schools, with placements including Westminster, St Paul's, Wycombe Abbey and Eton, our tutors match the programme to the school's assessment format and to where the child is starting from.

Because the pool includes former heads of department, exam-board examiners and teachers from independent and boarding schools, and more than half of our tutors hold Qualified Teacher Status, families get a tutor who understands what the assessors are looking for. Every tutor who works with children holds an enhanced DBS check.

Families in the South and South West 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.