Rugby High School 11 Plus (11+) Exam Guide

About Rugby High School

Rugby High School is a girls’ state grammar school in Rugby, Warwickshire. The Published Admission Number for Year 7 in September 2027 is 150.

Entry into Year 7 is by the entrance test shared by the Warwickshire grammar schools, sat in September of Year 6 and set by GL Assessment.

Key information for 2027 entry to Rugby High School at 11 Plus (11+)

• School type: girls’ state grammar school
• Test provider: GL Assessment, for the entrance test shared by the Warwickshire grammar schools
• Registration opens: 7 May 2026
• Registration deadline: 4pm on Tuesday 30 June 2026
• Test dates: 12 and 13 September 2026. Your child sits one session across those two days
• Results date: from 16 October 2026
• Application deadline to your local authority: 31 October 2026
• National Offer Day: 1 March 2027
• Year 7 places available: 150
• Contact details: rugbyhighschool.co.uk, [email protected], 01788 810518

Admissions information for 2027 entry to Rugby High School at 11 Plus (11+)

Warwickshire does not publish a fixed pass mark in advance. A Committee of Reference sets the Automatic Qualifying Score each year once the tests have been marked, so there is no target number to aim at and no published figure from a previous year that you should treat as the bar.

Rugby High is an Eastern Area school, and its criteria are built around two geographies: the Eastern Area of Warwickshire, and a Priority Circle of just over ten miles measured from the Rugby Water Tower. Priority runs broadly in this order: looked after and previously looked after children who reach the qualifying score; girls eligible for the Pupil Premium in the Eastern Area or Priority Circle; girls eligible for the Service Premium on the same basis; children of staff; girls in the Eastern Area who reach the qualifying score; girls in the Priority Circle who reach it; and then, if places remain unfilled, girls outside those areas who reach it.

Lawrence Sheriff School uses the same structure, so a family applying to both is working to one set of geographic rules. Make sure you check the school’s current admission arrangements for the full ordered list, as they are reviewed each year.

How can I register my child for the 11 Plus (11+) exams at Rugby High School?

You do not register with Rugby High School for the entrance test. Registration is handled by Warwickshire Admissions at the county council, which routes applicants by postcode, so families outside Warwickshire may be directed to a different registering body.

Registration opens on 7 May 2026 and closes on 4pm on Tuesday 30 June 2026. Registering for the test and applying for a school place are two separate steps, and you need to do both.

Make sure you check the Warwickshire County Council and West Midlands Grammar Schools pages for the current registration link, as the process is confirmed each year.

The application process is:

• Register your daughter for the entrance test with Warwickshire Admissions between 7 May and 4pm on 30 June 2026
• Sit the test on 12 or 13 September 2026
• Receive the result from 16 October 2026
• Apply to your local authority for a school place, naming Rugby High 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 Rugby High School?

The entrance test is shared by the Warwickshire grammar schools and is set by GL Assessment, which took over from CEM. It 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
• English and verbal reasoning together – 50% of the marks
• Non-verbal 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 English comprehension, verbal reasoning, mathematics and non-verbal and spatial reasoning, so your child needs to be comfortable switching between question types within a single paper.

Answers are marked on a separate machine-read answer sheet rather than in the booklet, and 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:

• English – reading comprehension, inference, vocabulary in context, spelling, punctuation and grammar
• Verbal reasoning – letter and number sequences, codes, word relationships, hidden words 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

A familiarisation guide with sample questions is published on the West Midlands Grammar Schools website. It is worth working through early so the layout is familiar long before the day.

The same papers are used by grammar schools elsewhere in the West Midlands, including the Birmingham King Edward VI schools, and at registration you can consent to your child’s result being shared with other schools in the partnership. The registering body and the closing date are not the same for every group, so check which schools your registration actually covers before you rely on it.

Rugby High School 11 Plus (11+) top tips for your child

• Practise switching between question types. Each paper mixes English, verbal reasoning, maths and non-verbal reasoning, so you need to change gear quickly rather than settle into one subject.
• Read widely and keep a vocabulary notebook. English and verbal reasoning together are worth half of all the marks, 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.
• Work through the familiarisation guide on the West Midlands Grammar Schools website. It shows you exactly how the questions are laid out.
• 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+) Rugby High School exam

Preparing for Rugby High School means preparing for the shared Warwickshire entrance test, so the ground to cover is English comprehension, verbal reasoning, mathematics and non-verbal and spatial reasoning. English and verbal reasoning carry half the marks between them, so reading widely and building vocabulary is the single highest-value thing your daughter 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 daughter gets used to multiple-choice questions across all four areas, to moving between subjects 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.

The same test is used by Alcester Grammar School, Ashlawn School, King Edward VI School, Stratford-upon-Avon, Lawrence Sheriff School and Stratford Girls’ Grammar School, so material bought for one of the Warwickshire grammar schools works for all of them.

For Rugby High School 11+ preparation, we recommend the following packs: