Wirral has a wide range of fantastic non-selective and selective secondary schools; every pupil is different and their needs and interests may be best catered for at different schools. We strongly encourage parents who are considering secondary school options to visit a range of schools before they make their decision.
If you wish to consider a grammar school place, the selective schools administer entrance examinations. Four of the grammar schools use Wirral's co-ordinated entrance examination (11+) as their admissions examination.
Those schools are:
Calday Grange Grammar School for Boys
West Kirby Grammar School for Girls
Wirral Grammar School for Boys
Wirral Grammar School for Girls
As of September 2020, the test provider will be GL Assessment. The examination consists of:
- non-verbal reasoning,
- verbal reasoning
- mathematics
Test provider CEM examinations was used between 2016 and 2019; prior to this GL assessment was also used but tests only included verbal reasoning (VR).
The 11+ Assessment Request Forms are made available each year from the beginning of May for children in Year 5 who will be applying for secondary school places. The form will be available from Wirral's admissions portal from May onwards. Assessment request forms are for parents who want their child to take the 11+ assessment in September of Year 6. Forms need to be returned to Wirral Local Authority by 31st May.
The timetable for parents considering applying for their children to undertake the grammar school entrance examination is:
31st MAY Deadline for 11+ assessment requests
SEPTEMBER On-line secondary school application system 'goes live'
SEPTEMBER Upton Hall School Test (check school website for further information)
SEPTEMBER 11+ assessments (check calendar for each year's tests)
SEPTEMBER St Anselm's College Test (check school website for further information)
OCTOBER (Saturday test) Birkenhead High School Academy Music Aptitude Test
OCTOBER Results to parents
31st OCTOBER Deadline for secondary preference forms
1st MARCH NATIONAL SCHOOL ALLOCATION DAY
There are other selective schools on Wirral that administer their own admission examinations and have their own selection criteria which are detailed on each of their websites. They are:
Upton Hall Grammar School for girls (Faith School)
St Anselm's Grammar School for boys (Faith School)
Birkenhead High School Academy for girls (10% of admissions on Music Aptitude Assessment only)
Examination dates for these schools are:
Upton Hall - Early September
St Anselm's - Mid September
Birkenhead High School Academy - usually in October.
The 11+ examinations use a standardised scoring system: see the link below for an explanation of this system. At St Peter's, we complete Verbal Reasoning and Non-Verbal Reasoning tests in Years 1,3 and 5 as well as annual Spelling and Reading Tests from Years 3 to 6 which also provide standardised scores. These tests are also provided by GL Assessment and scores can be shared with parents at our bi-annual parent-teacher meetings and can be useful (along with a range of other factors) in considering whether a child is suited to grammar school education.
As of September 2019, 11+ tests are no longer sat at primary schools; the letter from heads at Wirral Grammar Schools (below) explains this change.
Other useful resources can be found below including:
- Link to Wirral Schools Admissions Portal
- Wirral Council's Familiarisation booklet
- Link to GL Assessment's 11+ Familiarisation Materials