Co-educational selective academy, Outstanding Ofsted, 150 places for September 2027 entry, common Warwickshire/Grammar Schools in Birmingham test held on 12–13 September 2026. Expert one-to-one preparation from Leading Tuition.
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Warwickshire County Council's schedule for 2027 entry shows results on the Parent Portal on 16 October 2026 and applications due by 31 October 2026. Alcester's admissions policy for 2027 entry sets the Year 7 admission number at 150 and the priority area at 16.936 miles from Stratford-upon-Avon.
Alcester Grammar School is a co-educational selective grammar academy on Birmingham Road, Alcester, Warwickshire, B49 5ED, educating pupils aged 11 to 18. The school converted to academy status on 1 April 2011. Ofsted's most recent inspection, on 7 December 2022, rated the school Outstanding overall, with sixth form provision rated Good. The school's principal is Ms Rachel Thorpe.
For September 2027 entry, the school's Published Admission Number for Year 7 is 150. Entry is entirely selective and based on performance in the common 11+ entrance test administered jointly by Warwickshire Admissions and the Grammar Schools in Birmingham consortium.
Because Alcester sits its 11+ alongside a wider consortium, a child who sits the test can, with a single set of papers, be considered for several other selective schools too. Alcester Grammar shares its entrance test with King Edward VI School Stratford-upon-Avon, Lawrence Sheriff School, Rugby High School, Stratford Girls’ Grammar School and the partially-selective Ashlawn School — and this is, in turn, the same test used by the eight grammar schools in Birmingham. Families do not need to sit a different exam for each school, and a child can sit the test only once; each school then applies its own priority area and oversubscription criteria to decide its own offers. Because Warwickshire's grammar schools and the Grammar Schools in Birmingham may use different weightings, a child who receives two results letters can have different total scores. For a longer background read on how this consortium arrangement works, see our full Alcester Grammar School 11+ guide. You can also browse our other 11+ school guides and wider 11+ resources for families preparing across Warwickshire and beyond. Warwickshire County Council publishes the 2027 entry 11+ testing schedule on its own 11+ information page, and the school's own Admissions Arrangements page carries the determined admission arrangements for 2027 entry.
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| School name | Alcester Grammar School |
| Type | Co-educational selective grammar academy, ages 11–18 |
| Location | Birmingham Road, Alcester, Warwickshire, B49 5ED |
| Entrance test | Common Warwickshire/Grammar Schools in Birmingham test |
| Test papers | Two multiple-choice papers, each around 50–60 minutes: English, Maths, Verbal & Non-Verbal Reasoning |
| Test dates (September 2027 entry) | Held on 12 and 13 September 2026 (for September 2027 Year 7 entry) |
| Published Admission Number | 150 (Year 7, September 2027 entry) |
| Priority area | 16.936-mile radius from the Fountain, Rother Street, Stratford-upon-Avon |
| Ofsted rating | Outstanding (7 December 2022); sixth form provision Good |
For Year 7 entry, Alcester Grammar School does not set its own bespoke entrance exam. Instead it uses the common test administered jointly by Warwickshire Admissions and the Grammar Schools in Birmingham consortium. Warwickshire County Council's own 11+ information lists the 11+ test dates for 2027 entry as 12 and 13 September 2026, with 11+ results available on the Parent Portal on 16 October 2026.
The test comprises two multiple-choice papers: Alcester's admissions policy gives each as approximately 50 minutes, while Warwickshire County Council says each takes around 60 minutes including spoken instructions and explanations of the practice items, and each child is allocated one session, in the morning or afternoon. Warwickshire County Council says the test has four sections: English, verbal reasoning, non-verbal reasoning and mathematics. Because English is one of the four sections, preparation for Alcester needs to cover English alongside the two reasoning strands and mathematics. Alcester's admissions policy says data from all students sitting the test is used to produce standardised scores, with weightings applied to the scores achieved in verbal reasoning, non-verbal reasoning and numeracy.
Because the test is shared with several other Warwickshire and Birmingham grammar schools, a single sitting can support applications to multiple selective schools at once — but each school then applies its own priority area and its own annually-set qualifying score to decide its own offers. This is an important distinction: sitting the test is a single administrative event, but the outcome at Alcester specifically depends on Alcester's own admissions criteria.
Alcester Grammar School's own admissions page links to brief and extended 11+ familiarisation materials, which the school describes as showing the style of questions and answer formats for the Warwickshire 2027 entry 11+ test; the school notes that they are not definitive and do not guarantee which question types appear in the final assessment. These materials are a useful starting point because they show the question formats and how answers are written on the answer sheet, and there is no substitute for practising in the actual format rather than a generic imitation. We recommend every family preparing for the test works through the official familiarisation booklet at least once before starting structured tuition, so both parent and child understand how the test is laid out and how to record answers, rather than relying on general assumptions about 11+ exams.
If your child's test score falls between the Required Minimum Academic Standard and the Automatic Qualifying Score, they are placed on the waiting list rather than refused outright, and further places may become available after National Offer Day if, for example, parents or carers take up places at another school; Year 7 waiting lists are held for one term, until 31 December 2027. Families whose child is refused a place have a right of appeal through an independent appeal panel; Warwickshire Admissions organises admission appeals on behalf of the school, and the timetable for organising and hearing appeals is published at warwickshire.gov.uk/schoolappeals. It is important to read the full criteria carefully rather than relying solely on a summary such as this one.
There is no fixed qualifying score published year after year for Alcester Grammar School. The school's admissions policy states that a Committee of Reference sets an Automatic Qualifying Score and a Required Minimum Academic Standard afresh each year, taking into account the aptitude of that year's cohort of applicants and the number of places available. Warwickshire Admissions' results information shows the Automatic Qualifying Scores and waiting list scores for each Warwickshire grammar school for the previous year; the policy says these can be used for comparison, but there can be no guarantee that any child, including those scoring above the required score for previous years, will be offered a place. Results are available on 16 October 2026.
Alcester's priority area is defined precisely: it is a circle with a radius of 16.936 miles drawn from the Fountain in Rother Street, Stratford-upon-Avon — not from the school's own site on Birmingham Road — extending out to the county boundary south of Long Compton. This means the priority area is centred on Stratford-upon-Avon rather than Alcester itself. Families should not assume proximity to the school building alone determines priority status — it is distance from the Stratford town-centre reference point that matters under the current policy.
The school's published oversubscription criteria rank applicants in five categories once the qualifying score has been applied: first, looked-after and previously looked-after children who reach the automatic qualifying score or score up to 20 marks below it; second, priority-area children who attract the Pupil Premium through free school meals eligibility and reach the automatic qualifying score or score up to 20 marks below it (up to twenty places in categories 1 and 2 together may be offered to children below the automatic qualifying score); third, priority-area children who reach the automatic qualifying score; fourth, non-priority-area children who reach the automatic qualifying score; and fifth, children who fall between the Required Minimum Academic Standard and the automatic qualifying score, considered for the waiting list. Within each category, children with the highest scores have the highest priority; where children have the same score, those living nearest the school in a straight line have priority, and a computerised random number generator is used only where all home to school distances are also equal.
Preparing for Alcester Grammar School 11+ Entry?
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Alcester Grammar School occupies a distinctive position within south Warwickshire's selective landscape. Its Outstanding Ofsted judgement, from the inspection on 7 December 2022, covers quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development and leadership and management. As a co-educational grammar in a region where several nearby selective schools are single-sex, Alcester also gives families a mixed-intake option within the same consortium and testing arrangement. Missing out at 11+ is not the end of the road here: AGS admits externally at sixth form on GCSE results, with no priority circle applying to Year 12 entry. Our Alcester Grammar School sixth form guide covers the 48-point formula and the reduced bar for disadvantaged applicants.
Because the school's priority area is measured from Stratford-upon-Avon rather than from Alcester itself, it is not limited to the town of Alcester. For families in Stratford-upon-Avon, Bidford-on-Avon, Studley, Henley-in-Arden, Shipston-on-Stour and the surrounding villages, King Edward VI Stratford-upon-Avon and Stratford Girls' Grammar are two of the other schools sharing the same entrance test as Alcester Grammar.
Understanding exactly where your child's home address sits relative to the 16.936-mile priority-area boundary, and how the annually-reset Automatic Qualifying Score interacts with that priority status, is important planning intelligence well before the test. A strong test score does not guarantee a place on its own, because children living outside the priority area will normally only be offered places in the first round if there are insufficient children of the required level of ability living within it; equally, priority-area families should not assume geography alone secures an offer without also reaching the qualifying score.
Leading Tuition's specialist 11+ tuition programme works with families across Alcester, Stratford-upon-Avon, Bidford-on-Avon, Studley, Henley-in-Arden and the wider south Warwickshire priority area to prepare children for the common Warwickshire/Grammar Schools in Birmingham entrance test. Because a single test result can support applications to Alcester Grammar and to several other consortium schools simultaneously, a well-structured preparation programme can support several applications from a single course of tuition.
We begin with a diagnostic assessment spanning all four tested areas: English comprehension, mathematics, verbal reasoning and non-verbal reasoning. This identifies precisely where your child stands and allows preparation time to be directed where it is needed most rather than split evenly across four areas by default.
English preparation builds comprehension technique, vocabulary and accuracy under timed conditions, since English is one of the four sections of the test. Verbal reasoning work develops the specific question-type fluency the test papers require. Non-verbal reasoning practice trains spatial pattern recognition systematically. Mathematics preparation goes beyond the Key Stage 2 curriculum where needed, because the council says the 11+ test closely relates to the curriculum taught in schools but its level of difficulty may go beyond the levels children are expected to achieve by the end of Key Stage 2. As the test approaches, we introduce full timed mock papers replicating the two-paper format to build stamina and exam composure.
We also advise families on the wider admissions process: how the priority area is measured from the Stratford-upon-Avon reference point rather than from the school itself, how the annually-reset Automatic Qualifying Score and Required Minimum Academic Standard work, and how to plan the Common Application Form alongside applications to other consortium schools your child may also be sitting the shared test for. Progress is reviewed after every session, with short diagnostic tasks used to catch any drift early and refocus the plan. Parents receive regular updates throughout the programme, and in the final weeks before the test we shift emphasis fully to timed, full-paper practice so your child walks into the exam hall prepared for exactly what they will face.
Note: These dates apply to the test taken in September 2026 for entry to Year 7 in September 2027. The same Warwickshire County Council schedule asks for proof of address in the week commencing 1 December 2026, to be received by 31 December 2026; Alcester's policy gives parents or carers fifteen working days to provide proof of the home address once it is requested, and says late candidates will be tested before 31 January 2027. Families with a child in Year 5 in the 2026/27 school year (Year 7 entry in September 2028) should note that the council says registration for the 11+ opens on 7 May each year for children in Year 5, closes on 30 June, and is followed by testing sessions in September; confirm the dates for that cycle directly on Warwickshire County Council's 11+ page.
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Reviewed October 2026: dates, figures and rules checked against Warwickshire County Council's 11+ pages, Alcester Grammar School's 2027/28 admissions policy and admissions page, Ofsted and Get Information About Schools.
Yes. Alcester Grammar School is a co-educational selective academy allocating places on the basis of the common Warwickshire 11+ entrance test, with a Published Admission Number of 150 for Year 7 entry in September 2027. This is confirmed on the school's own Admissions Arrangements page and its published admissions policy, and by Warwickshire County Council's 11+ information hub. Entry to Year 7 is through the 11+, and the sixth form admits external applicants on GCSE results.
Alcester uses the common test operated by Warwickshire Admissions together with the Grammar Schools in Birmingham. For September 2027 entry, the test dates were 12 and 13 September 2026. Registration opened on 7 May 2026 and closed at 16:00 on 30 June 2026, invite letters went out in the week commencing 10 August 2026, and results are available on the Parent Portal on 16 October 2026. The secondary school application deadline is 31 October 2026, through your home authority.
Two multiple-choice papers, each around 50–60 minutes, taken in the one session allocated to each child. Warwickshire County Council lists four sections: English, verbal reasoning, non-verbal reasoning and mathematics. Alcester's admissions policy says data from all students is used to produce standardised scores, with weightings applied to verbal reasoning, non-verbal reasoning and numeracy.
There is no single fixed pass mark published every year. A Committee of Reference sets an Automatic Qualifying Score and a Required Minimum Academic Standard afresh each year based on that year's cohort and available places. Warwickshire Admissions' results information gives the previous year's Automatic Qualifying Scores and waiting list scores for comparison, but there can be no guarantee that any child, including those scoring above a previous year's required score, will be offered a place.
A circle with a 16.936-mile radius drawn from the Fountain in Rother Street, Stratford-upon-Avon — not from the school itself — extending to the county boundary south of Long Compton. Priority-area children reaching the automatic qualifying score are prioritised ahead of children from outside it.
150 places for Year 7 entry in September 2027 (the school's Published Admission Number). The school is co-educational for ages 11–18 and holds an Outstanding Ofsted rating, from its inspection on 7 December 2022.
Year 4 or early Year 5 is ideal. Because the council lists four sections in the test (English, verbal reasoning, non-verbal reasoning and mathematics), preparation needs to be broader than reasoning-only practice. Sustained, personalised preparation across all four areas gives your child the best platform ahead of the test.
Our specialist tutors prepare children one-to-one for the common Warwickshire and Grammar Schools in Birmingham test, covering English, mathematics, verbal reasoning and non-verbal reasoning, the four sections the council lists for the test. We begin with a diagnostic assessment, build a personalised programme and introduce timed full-paper practice as the test approaches. We also explain how the priority area, the Automatic Qualifying Score and the application timetable work, so families know what each stage means. Book a free consultation to talk through your child's preparation.