Pate’s Grammar School 11 Plus (11+) Exam Guide

About Pate’s Grammar School

Pate’s Grammar School is a co-educational state grammar school for 11 to 18-year-olds in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. It selects through the Gloucestershire Grammar Schools’ Entrance Test, the shared 11+ sat by all seven county grammar schools and set by GL Assessment.

Each year Pate’s has 150 places for Year 7 entry. It ranks the highest 250 scorers on the Entrance Test into a Qualifying Group before allocating places, so a qualifying result is the first hurdle rather than a guarantee of a place. Up to 15 Priority Places are reserved for disadvantaged candidates, and there is no fixed catchment area: distance from home to school is used only as a tie-break between equal scores.

Because Pate’s shares its entrance exam with the other six Gloucestershire grammar schools, your child registers once, sits the test once at an allocated centre, and you then choose which schools to share the result with.

Key information for 2027 entry: Pate’s Grammar School at 11 Plus (11+)

• School type: Co-educational state grammar school
• Consortium: Gloucestershire Grammar Schools (shared Entrance Test with six other 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: www.patesgs.org, Gloucestershire County Council admissions

Admissions information for 2027 entry: Pate’s Grammar School at 11 Plus (11+)

Registration for Year 7 entry into Pate’s Grammar School opens at noon on 18 May 2026 and closes at noon on 26 June 2026. The Entrance Test is sat on a Saturday in mid-September, with test centre arrangements confirmed to families the week before.

Results are emailed to parents in mid-October, ahead of the Common Application Form (CAF) deadline at the end of October 2026; make sure Pate’s Grammar School is listed on your CAF, since the order you list schools in reflects your order of preference.

Pate’s Qualifying Group is the highest-ranking 250 candidates by standardised score. Within that group, places are allocated in a fixed order: Looked After and Previously Looked After children first, then up to 15 Priority Places for disadvantaged candidates, then Non-Priority Places for local postcodes, then Non-Priority Places open to the whole UK. National school offer day is in March 2027.

How can I register my child for the 11 Plus (11+) exam at Pate’s Grammar School?

To register your child for the entrance exam, you as their parent/legal guardian must complete the online registration form via patesgs.org or another Gloucestershire grammar school’s website, before the noon deadline at the end of June 2026.

Your child sits the Entrance Test only once, at whichever Gloucestershire grammar school centre they are allocated; you can then choose to share the result with Pate’s and any of the other six county grammar schools, regardless of where your child sat the test.

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

The Gloucestershire Grammar Schools’ Entrance Test is two multiple-choice papers, sat back to back on the same morning and marked independently of the school. The papers cover verbal ability (comprehension, vocabulary and verbal reasoning), numerical reasoning (Key Stage 2 maths worked at pace) and non-verbal reasoning (pattern, shape and spatial puzzles). Results are standardised for your child’s exact age at the time of the test, and there is no fixed pass mark.

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+) Pate’s Grammar School exam

The most useful way to prepare for Pate’s Grammar School’s 11+ entrance exam is to use practice tests that mirror the real Entrance Test format, since non-verbal reasoning in particular is rarely taught in primary school and rewards focused, dedicated practice.

Regular short sessions on verbal and non-verbal reasoning through the spring and early summer, moving to full timed practice papers over the summer holidays, will help your child build the confidence and pace they need on the day.

For Pate’s Grammar School (Gloucestershire) 11+ preparation, we recommend the following packs: