The Crypt School 11+ Admissions: Entrance Test, Registration and Places

Getting into The Crypt School at 11+ means registering your child for the Gloucestershire Grammar Schools' Entrance Test, achieving the school's qualifying standard in that test, and then listing the school on the Local Authority's Common Application Form by the autumn deadline. The test, produced by GL Assessment, is shared by all seven Gloucestershire grammar schools and sat on one day in September; one registration covers every school the family wants to apply to.

Crypt is a state grammar academy in Gloucester, selective and co-educational from Year 7, with a published admission number of 155 for its main Year 7 intake. There is no catchment area: places go mainly by rank order of test score once a child has met the qualifying standard, with home-to-school distance used only to settle ties within specific priority groups.

How Year 7 entry works

The school's published admission number for Year 7 is 155. Entry is selective and based entirely on the Grammar School Test result; postcode and distance carry no priority in the main allocation round.

Sixth form entry runs alongside Year 7 entry as a separate route: the school's Year 12 capacity is a minimum of 175, made up of continuing Year 11 students plus a minimum of 25 new candidates who meet the GCSE entry criteria, including a minimum points score across a student's best eight GCSEs and grade 5 or above in Mathematics and English Language.

• Main entry point: Year 7 (age 11), via the Grammar School Test
• Occasional in-year places: Years 8 to 11, via school-set baseline tests when a space arises
• Sixth form entry: Year 12, via GCSE results, open to internal and external candidates

How the 11+ assessment works

The Grammar School Test is produced by GL Assessment and shared by all seven grammar schools in the Gloucestershire consortium, so a child sits the same test regardless of which of the seven schools they hope to attend. It consists of two multiple-choice papers: one covering verbal ability (comprehension, vocabulary and verbal reasoning) and English, and the other covering maths and non-verbal reasoning.

Each paper takes approximately 45 to 50 minutes, including instructions and worked examples, with a short break between the two. Testing takes place on a Saturday in the autumn term at one of the consortium schools; it makes no difference to the result which school a child sits the test at. There is no interview and no report is required from the child's current primary school as part of the test itself.

The school does not set a fixed pass mark. Instead it applies a 'qualifying standard', a minimum standardised score that a candidate must reach to be considered for a place; the qualifying standard for children who are Pupil Premium, looked after or previously looked after is set lower than for other candidates.

Registering and applying, step by step

The admissions process runs as a sequence of steps across the year before entry. Registering for the test and applying to the Local Authority are two separate actions, and both are required.

• Register online for the Grammar School Test during the registration window, selecting which of the seven grammar schools should receive the result (a paper form is available from the school office on request)
• Sit the test on the set Saturday in the autumn term at the allocated venue
• Receive the qualifying standard result by post or email in mid-October, ahead of the Local Authority deadline
• Submit the Local Authority's Common Application Form, listing the school as a preference if the qualifying standard has been met
• Receive the Local Authority's offer on National Offer Day, and respond by the Local Authority's acceptance or waiting-list deadline

The qualifying standard and oversubscription criteria

Meeting the qualifying standard makes a child eligible to be considered for a place; it is not itself an offer of a place. The Local Authority allocates places among children who have met the qualifying standard and named the school on their Common Application Form, applying the school's published order of priority.

Where qualifying applicants outnumber the 155 places, priority runs: looked after and previously looked after children; children in receipt of Pupil Premium; children of staff members meeting set employment conditions; then all other qualifying children in test rank order. Within the first three groups, ties are settled by home-to-school distance; within the main rank-order group, ties are settled first by test score and, if still equal, by distance, then by random allocation witnessed independently.

Sibling connections play no part in the process. A child who does not reach the qualifying standard is not eligible for a place or a waiting-list position on that basis, though a right of appeal to an independent panel exists if a place is refused.

Waiting lists and appeals

A Year 7 waiting list is held by the Local Authority initially and then by the school, re-ranked in line with the oversubscription criteria each time a child is added, so a child's position can move up or down over time. The list in this form runs until late February of the offer year, after which remaining places depend on separately arranged baseline tests, and the original Grammar School Test score no longer applies.

Families who are refused a place can appeal to an independent appeal panel under the School Admission Appeals Code; the school publishes its appeal timetable on its website. Late applicants who missed the September test can request a place on one of two further autumn test dates, or sit school-set baseline tests if applying after the autumn term.

Preparing for this test practically

Because the format is multiple-choice across verbal ability, English, maths and non-verbal reasoning, the most useful preparation covers all four areas equally. The school's own guidance to parents points to regular reading and regular use of mathematics as the core of preparation, alongside the familiarisation booklets it publishes showing the style of question used.

Children eligible for Pupil Premium can apply through the school for free access to an online familiarisation platform, covering English, maths, verbal and non-verbal reasoning practice and mock tests, run in partnership with an external provider. The test result reflects reasoning built up over time, so families gain little from cramming in the final weeks, and should confirm test-day logistics as soon as registration confirmation arrives.

Related guides

• Gloucestershire grammar schools guide
• Grammar schools in England: the full directory

Preparing for the Crypt School 11+ with Taylor Tuition

Families preparing for the Crypt School 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 work with us online from anywhere in the UK or abroad, 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.