Year 10 grammar school entry test - advice on format please

[JamieFrasersBigSwingingKilt]

I’ve entered my DD (currently in Y9) into the grammar school test for admission to Year 10 in September 2026. This is because we can no longer afford her private school fees.

The school has clearly stated it doesn’t have any vacancies in the Year group so would be testing for a waiting list place at this stage.

This is what they have said about the test:

Science - 1h45
French/Spanish - 30m
English - 1h30m
Maths - 1h
Please be advised that we cannot give you any further information on testing but would confirm that the content is what we would have taught our students by the end of Year 9.

My question is: does anyone have any ideas on the format of these tests or anything else that could help please?

Thank you!

Tests would to some extent be school-specific, so if you name the school, you might find someone whose DC have also had a mid-year assessment there, for the same school year if you're lucky.

When DD sat an in-year entrance test for a local grammar school (albeit over a decade ago, and end of year 7), we had a look at the 'curriculum' pages on the school's website to see what they would have covered.
For testing in.Yr9, though, it could be anything on the KS3 curriculum - or a bit more, if they start GCSE work early.

Thanks @MarchingFrogs. I shall check that out.

Definitely look at the school’s curriculum content pages on their website to get an idea of relevant topics covered thus far in Year 9.

It is possible that their English test would be more in line with English language rather than English literature. There are so many texts to choose from for a school to study for English Lit that it would be tricky to set a fair test. That said, no harm in reading up on their chosen Year 9 texts in case they feature.

Perhaps use Dr Frost Maths or Atom to help revise any specific Maths content?

Also have a good look on their website in case they have posted materials to support in year admission tests.

thank you @Ohcrap082024. Do you think these will be full written tests (gcse style) as opposed to the 11+ entrance test format?

It might be worth paying a local tutor who has experience of teaching pupils for this test.

At the school I work at, it would be very similar to the foundation GCSE papers for this point in year 9.

This is what I was going to say too.

Caveat: no direct experience of tests set for entry at this level. But I would expect in my subject (MFL) that a grammar school student (ie an able candidate) would be working about F level on the GCSE papers. So for French or Spanish that might be somewhere to start.

No F level in English and I agree, it would be hard to test lit knowledge as that would require knowledge of specific texts (which they are not telling you) so that's likely to be Eng lang – so again, I would expect a low-level GCSE level of knowledge of terms and structure.

In my grammar school area, the English test at 11+ is 25mins. So if the English test for your DD is 90 mins, I would expect it to be much more in line with the GCSE format.

The school itself…is it a super selective or pass mark selective in terms of the 11+?

I don’t know what that means @Ohcrap082024. Sorry.

A super selective selects purely on results. So, the offers are made in rank order of results, irrespective of distance.

'Pass mark selective' means anyone that achieves the pass mark is eligible. The offers are usually made based on proximity to the school.

(There are usually some places for looked after children, PP, possibly siblings as well.)

I would imagine that @Ohcrap082024 asked the question as it might indicate how far above the curriculum the current students are working, and therefore how hard the test might be.

That’s so helpful. Thank you. It’s a super-selective.

OK so you need the best possible mark by the sounds. Can you try a few GCSE papers (easily got) to give a flavour? The fact that it is so subject-specific suggests to me that it will be about that level. There are not so many ways to test a year 9's skill in French- I am thinking half a dozen reading questions and a 90 word structured essay.

I was in Costco today so picked these up (English, maths and science). Do you think they’ll do the trick?

Can you tell that I’m totally out of my depth here?! 🤣

While I wait for Mumsnet HQ to check the image, I can tell you it’s year 9 KS3 targeted workbooks from CGP.

These will be good for practice for sure. What sort of level is your DD currently at in the various subjects? The KS3 workbooks will give questions at a KS3 level (I mean obvs) rather than being a scheme of revision of the work (those books are also available).

I would imagine as I and others say that students at a super-selective grammar school will be ahead of the usual range for KS3 so you might want to look at KS4 revision guides as well. Does she do French or Spanish? What sort of level is she there?

She is currently at a top London indie that performs overall better than the grammar. She's doing well in all of her subjects (top set for maths and just got 90% in her biology test last week) but is dyslexic so struggles with English. She does Spanish and is in the middle set for that. She's very able but given there'll be other very able girls sitting the tests and she has to gain the highest score/s to even be in with a shot at a place, I want to get her in the right frame of mind and be prepared.

Sorry to hear that you are having to pull your DD out of indie school - it must be difficult for both of you

I’m not sure what you mean by “for admission to Year 10 in Sept”. In state schools, you will only get a place if a vacancy comes up because another child leaves the school. Your child would then be expected to start within a short timescale (about 2 weeks).

Obviously there is a risk that no children will leave between now and September (even if she was to get top place in the waiting list) so you need to think about a back-up plan

It may also be worth looking at moving your DD asap if possible, so she is more likely to be able to choose her GCSE options rather than be left with whatever subjects have space.

Good luck

Thanks @CatRescueNeeded. I was trying to not bore everyone the full story! In short, this is absolutely for year 10. To join the waiting list. The school has been very clear about it. And if there are spaces available and DD performs well enough to be sufficiently high enough on the list then she could potentially get a place. There are no spaces at present. The odds are definitely stacked against her but it’s worth a try!