Haberdashers’ Adams Grammar School 11 Plus (11+) Exam Guide

About Haberdashers’ Adams Grammar School

Haberdashers’ Adams Grammar School is a state grammar school in Newport, Shropshire, taking pupils from age 11 to 18 and offering boarding alongside day places. The headteacher is Daniel Biggins. For September 2027 entry the Published Admission Number is 150, made up of 135 day places and up to 15 boarding places. Year 7 entry became co-educational in 2024, so the older year groups are still boys only as each co-educational cohort works its way up the school.

Entry into Year 7 is by the entrance test shared across the West Midlands Grammar Schools Partnership, sat in September of Year 6 and set by GL Assessment.

The school was judged Good at its May 2022 Ofsted inspection, with behaviour and attitudes rated Outstanding. You may still see an older Outstanding rating quoted elsewhere; that dates from 2013.

Key information for 2027 entry to Haberdashers’ Adams Grammar School at 11 Plus (11+)

• School type: state grammar school with boarding, in Newport, Shropshire
• Test provider: GL Assessment, for the test shared across the West Midlands Grammar Schools Partnership
• Registration: on the West Midlands Grammar Schools website, opening 5 May 2026 and closing at 4pm on 26 June 2026
• Test dates: within a window of 12 to 14 September 2026. Haberdashers’ Adams publishes 14 September 2026
• Results date: 16 October 2026
• Application deadline to your local authority: 31 October 2026
• National Offer Day: 1 March 2027
• Year 7 places available: 150, made up of 135 day places and up to 15 boarding places
• Contact details: adamsgs.uk, [email protected], 01952 953810, with the registrar on 01952 953813

Admissions information for 2027 entry to Haberdashers’ Adams Grammar School at 11 Plus (11+)

No pass mark is published in advance. The qualifying score is set each year after the papers have been marked and the order of merit is known, so there is no target number to aim at and no figure from a previous year that you should treat as the bar.

Day places and boarding places are allocated separately, and it is worth understanding which list you are on.

For day places, priority runs in this order: looked after and previously looked after children; children eligible for the Pupil Premium or Service Premium, whose qualifying score is set no lower than 5% below the general qualifying score; children on roll at one of around 35 named designated primary schools; and then all remaining qualifiers in rank order of test score, with straight-line distance as the tie-break.

For boarding places, priority runs: looked after children; children of UK Armed Forces personnel who qualify for Ministry of Defence boarding assistance; children with a defined boarding need; and then rank order in the entrance test, again with distance as the tie-break. Boarders sit exactly the same entrance test as day applicants, with no separate academic assessment, but boarding applicants and their parents are interviewed to assess suitability for boarding, and a separate boarding waiting list operates.

Make sure you check the school’s current admission arrangements for the full ordered list and the designated primary schools, as they are reviewed each year.

How can I register my child for the 11 Plus (11+) exams at Haberdashers’ Adams Grammar School?

You do not register with Haberdashers’ Adams Grammar School directly, and you do not register with the council either. Registration for the entrance test is done through the West Midlands Grammar Schools website, which covers every school in the partnership.

The registration portal opens on 5 May 2026 and closes at 4pm on 26 June 2026. Registering for the test and applying for a school place are two separate steps, and you need to do both: the application for a place goes to your home local authority on the Common Application Form.

At registration you choose which schools your child’s result is shared with, so it is worth deciding your list before you start. Make sure you check the partnership’s own pages for the current registration link and closing time, as these are confirmed each year.

The application process is:

• Register your child for the entrance test on the West Midlands Grammar Schools website between 5 May and 4pm on 26 June 2026, naming the schools you want the result shared with
• Sit the test in the testing window of 12 to 14 September 2026. The school’s own arrangements give 14 September 2026.
• Receive the result on 16 October 2026
• Apply to your home local authority for a school place, naming Haberdashers’ Adams Grammar School, by 31 October 2026
• Receive your offer on National Offer Day, 1 March 2027

What is the 11 Plus (11+) entrance exam format for Haberdashers’ Adams Grammar School?

The entrance test is shared across the West Midlands Grammar Schools Partnership, a group of grammar schools spanning Birmingham, Shropshire, Walsall, Warwickshire and Wolverhampton. One test, one set of papers, one result. It is set by GL Assessment and is made up of two multiple-choice papers.

• Paper 1 and Paper 2 – around 50 to 60 minutes each, including time for instructions and practice questions
• Verbal ability, which includes reading comprehension, together with verbal reasoning – 50% of the marks
• Non-verbal and spatial reasoning – 25% of the marks
• Mathematics – 25% of the marks

It is important to note that the subjects are not split one per paper. Each paper mixes the three skill areas, so your child needs to be comfortable switching between question types inside a single paper. English is not a separate paper here: comprehension and vocabulary sit inside the verbal ability questions.

Answers are marked on a separate machine-read answer sheet rather than in the booklet, and are marked at least twice. Scores are standardised for age, so a summer-born child is not judged against the raw marks of older classmates. For more on this provider, see our GL Assessment guide.

A rough guide to topics covered:

• Verbal ability and verbal reasoning – reading comprehension, inference, vocabulary in context, synonyms and antonyms, word relationships, letter and number sequences, codes and logic puzzles
• Mathematics – arithmetic, fractions, decimals and percentages, measurement and unit conversions, algebra, geometry, statistics and word problems
• Non-verbal and spatial reasoning – sequences, rotations, reflections, nets and odd-one-out questions with shapes

Familiarisation material is published by GL Assessment and linked from the partnership’s own pages. Because one result covers every school in the partnership you consent to share it with, a single set of practice material serves all of your child’s applications.

Haberdashers’ Adams Grammar School 11 Plus (11+) top tips for your child

• Practise switching between question types. Each paper mixes verbal, non-verbal and maths questions, so you need to change gear quickly rather than settle into one subject.
• Read widely and keep a vocabulary notebook. Verbal ability and verbal reasoning are worth half of all the marks, and comprehension sits inside them, so this is where your effort pays off most.
• Practise marking answers on a separate answer sheet. The papers are marked by machine, so a clear mark in the right box matters as much as knowing the answer!
• Learn the common non-verbal reasoning patterns. Rotations, reflections, nets and sequences come up again and again, and they get much quicker with practice.
• Keep your times tables and quick calculations sharp. Maths is a quarter of the marks and the questions are tightly timed.
• Remember you only sit the test once. The same result goes to every school you have chosen, so there is no need to panic about doing it again for each one.
• Don’t panic about one difficult question! Move on, keep a steady pace, and come back to anything you skipped if there is time left.

How to prepare your child for the 11 Plus (11+) Haberdashers’ Adams Grammar School exam

Preparing for Haberdashers’ Adams Grammar School means preparing for the shared West Midlands partnership test, so the ground to cover is verbal ability and verbal reasoning, mathematics, and non-verbal and spatial reasoning. Verbal work carries half the marks, and reading comprehension sits inside it rather than in a paper of its own, so reading widely and building vocabulary is the single highest-value thing your child can do over the year before the test.

The most useful way to prepare is to use practice tests that match this format, so your child gets used to multiple-choice questions across all three skill areas, to moving between them inside one paper, to transferring answers accurately onto a separate answer sheet, and to keeping to time. That familiarity is what stops the format itself being a surprise on the day.

One test result covers every school in the partnership you choose to share it with, including Newport Girls’ High School, Queen Mary’s Grammar School, Queen Mary’s High School and Wolverhampton Girls’ High School, so a single set of material serves all of your applications.

For Haberdashers’ Adams Grammar School 11+ preparation, we recommend the following packs: