Denmark Road High School 11 Plus (11+) Exam Guide

About Denmark Road High School

Denmark Road High School is a state grammar school for girls aged 11 to 16 in Gloucester, with a co-educational sixth form. The school selects through the Gloucestershire Grammar Schools’ Entrance Test, the shared 11+ sat by all seven of the county’s grammar schools, rather than setting its own exam.

The school has 150 places for Year 7 entry and no fixed catchment area. Gloucester postcodes GL1 to GL4 carry priority only within specific categories of the admissions criteria, not as a general filter on who can apply, so families from across and beyond Gloucestershire are welcome to apply.

There is no fixed pass mark at Denmark Road. Instead, a Qualifying Standard is set each year by the school’s own Admissions Committee from that year’s standardised test results, and places are then allocated in a set order of priority categories.

Key information for 2027 entry: Denmark Road High School at 11 Plus (11+)

• School type: State grammar school for girls, with a co-educational sixth form
• Consortium: Gloucestershire Grammar Schools’ Entrance Test (shared with six other county grammar schools)
• Registration deadline: noon on 26 June 2026
• Exam date: Saturday 12 September 2026
• CAF deadline: 31 October 2026
• National school offer day: Monday 1 March 2027
• Contact details: 01452 543335, www.denmarkroad.org, https://www.denmarkroad.org/join-us/admissions/

Admissions information for 2027 entry: Denmark Road High School at 11 Plus (11+)

Registration for Year 7 entry into Denmark Road High School opens at noon on 18 May 2026 and closes at noon on 26 June 2026, via denmarkroad.org or any other Gloucestershire grammar school’s website. Your daughter then sits the shared Entrance Test on one day in September 2026, at an allocated test centre, and results are sent to parents in October, ahead of the Common Application Form deadline.

You must also submit your Common Application Form (CAF) to your home local authority by the end of October 2026, naming Denmark Road; the order in which you list schools reflects your order of preference.

National school offer day is held in March 2027, the Published Admission Number (PAN) is 150, and the Qualifying Standard is set annually by the school’s own Admissions Committee rather than being a fixed score.

How can I register my child for the 11 Plus (11+) exam at Denmark Road High School?

To register your daughter for the Gloucestershire Grammar Schools’ Entrance Test, you as a parent or legal guardian complete the shared online registration form, available via denmarkroad.org or any of the other six Gloucestershire grammar schools’ websites, before the June 2026 deadline.

You register only once and your daughter sits the test only once; at registration, you choose which of the seven Gloucestershire grammar schools to share her result with, so registering through a different school’s site makes no difference to her chances at Denmark Road.

What is the 11 Plus (11+) entrance exam format for Denmark Road High School?

The Gloucestershire Grammar Schools’ Entrance Test is two multiple-choice papers, sat back to back on the same day and marked independently of the school:

• Verbal ability: comprehension, vocabulary and verbal reasoning questions.
• Numerical reasoning: Key Stage 2 maths content worked at pace.
• Non-verbal reasoning: pattern, shape and spatial puzzles.

Results are standardised for your daughter’s exact age at the time of the test. There is no fixed pass mark: the Qualifying Standard is decided each year by the school’s own Admissions Committee, and the school’s 150 places are then filled through a set order of priority categories, including places for looked-after children, Pupil Premium-eligible applicants, staff children, and priority-postcode and sibling applicants, before the remaining places go by rank order of test score.

The provider changes for September 2028 entry

This matters if your child is currently in Year 4 rather than Year 5. The Gloucestershire consortium is moving to a new provider, Future Stories Community Enterprise, for the test sat in July 2027 for September 2028 entry. Note the change of season as well as the change of provider: that test is sat in July rather than September. September 2027 entry is unaffected and still uses GL Assessment. If you are preparing for the 2028 cycle, our FSCE guide explains how that format differs.

The biggest change for the 2028 cycle is that non-verbal reasoning goes. FSCE tests only what is on the Key Stage 2 National Curriculum, and non-verbal reasoning is not part of it. The headteacher of Denmark Road High School confirmed the removal in the seven schools’ joint announcement of April 2026. FSCE papers are built around Key Stage 2 English and maths, with a creative writing response at some FSCE schools, so a child in Year 4 now can put their preparation into English and maths. The consortium has said it will publish the full paper details later in 2026, and we will update this page when it does.

How to prepare your child for the 11 Plus (11+) Denmark Road High School exam

Since neither verbal reasoning nor non-verbal reasoning forms part of the normal primary school curriculum, both benefit from short, regular practice sessions well before the exam, alongside wide reading and steady Key Stage 2 maths practice for the numerical reasoning paper.

Closer to September, move to full, timed practice papers under exam conditions, marking each one straight after so you can focus further sessions on whatever it flags as weak, including practice transferring answers to a separate multiple-choice answer sheet against the clock.

For Denmark Road High School (Gloucestershire) 11+ preparation, we recommend the following packs: