Wirral Grammar School for Girls 11+ Guide 2026: Admissions, Exam and Preparation

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Wirral Grammar School for Girls is a state grammar school in Bebington, Wirral, offering 180 Year 7 places for children starting in September 2027. Entry depends on reaching the required standard in the Wirral 11+ Assessment, which was sat on Tuesday 15 September 2026, provided by Quest Assessments, in two papers on the same day covering verbal reasoning, non-verbal reasoning and mathematics. This guide sets out the school's exact admission number, the full 2026 test and application timetable, the oversubscription criteria that decide places when demand exceeds 180, and how to prepare specifically for this school rather than a generic 11+ course.

What is Wirral Grammar School for Girls and how many places does it offer for September 2027?

Wirral Grammar School for Girls is based on Heath Road, Bebington, Wirral, CH63 3AF, and opened as an academy on 1 August 2011. It is a girls-only selective grammar school with academy status, teaching pupils aged 11 to 18, including a sixth form. The headteacher is Mrs Jennifer Ogunmyiwa, listed on Get Information about Schools as the school's headteacher governor from 1 September 2022. According to Get Information about Schools, the school has 1,224 pupils on roll. The school was rated Outstanding by Ofsted across all five inspection categories — quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and sixth form provision — following an inspection on 6 December 2022, with the report published on 31 January 2023.

For children starting in September 2027, the school's own admissions policy sets a Published Admission Number (PAN) of 180 for Year 7 at Wirral Grammar School for Girls. Full details of the school's own admissions process are published on the Wirral Grammar School for Girls admissions page.

How does the Wirral 11+ Assessment work for September 2027 entry?

Wirral Grammar School for Girls, Calday Grange Grammar School and West Kirby Grammar School each state on their own admissions pages that the 11+ is administered by Wirral Local Authority. The school's admissions policy says its assessment arrangements are conducted by Wirral Local Authority and that it takes part in the authority's co-ordinated admission arrangements. For September 2027 entry the assessment was provided by Quest Assessments and sat on Tuesday 15 September 2026.

Children sat two papers on the same day: the candidate pack describes paper one as verbal reasoning and paper two as mathematics and non-verbal reasoning, each lasting approximately 50 minutes, with a short break between them. This matters for preparation: the council's page and the candidate pack list verbal reasoning, non-verbal reasoning and mathematics as the areas assessed, and English is not among them. The candidate pack says the best preparation is a strong grounding in what your child is already learning at school, combined with wide reading and the ability to apply their knowledge to new contexts. The school's page says all students, local or from outside the area, take the tests at one of the grammar schools based in Wirral, and the council says parents should include at least one grammar school when they apply for a school place. The school's admissions policy says the assessment is based on the results of two tests, that each score is adjusted using conversion tables for the child's exact age in years and months, and that the two scores are added together; girls who score higher than the required score are deemed to have achieved the grammar school standard. For a general breakdown of how Quest Assessments scores work, see our Quest Assessment scoring guide.

What are the exact 2026 key dates for Wirral Grammar School for Girls?

The dates below are for a September 2027 start. The registration and test dates have passed; the next dates are results in mid October 2026, the application deadline of 31 October 2026 and National Offer Day on 1 March 2027.

Two details from the council's page are worth knowing. First, children took the assessment at a test venue allocated to them: parents were told which venue their child would attend by the end of August 2026, and the candidate pack says the test is sat at one of the four Wirral grammar schools. Second, the assessment can only be taken once, with no re-sit. The council's page says a child who is absent or unwell on the day of the assessment should not be brought in: the family emails secondaryplaces@wirral.gov.uk with the child's name and date of birth, and the child will be invited to another assessment session.

How is the oversubscription policy applied when demand exceeds 180 places at Wirral Grammar School for Girls?

Meeting the required standard in the Wirral 11+ Assessment does not guarantee a place — it makes a girl eligible to be considered under the school's oversubscription criteria if applications exceed the 180-place PAN. The school's own admissions policy sets out six criteria, applied in order once the school is oversubscribed by girls who have met the qualifying standard, after girls with an Education, Health and Care Plan naming the school are admitted:

One detail worth flagging for families comparing schools: each school's admissions policy explains how places are allocated, and the Free School Meals criterion is set school by school. Wirral Grammar School for Girls reserves up to 15 places for girls eligible for Targeted Free School Meals, while West Kirby Grammar School's policy for September 2026 entry reserves up to 18 places for children on Free School Meals at the time of application. Distance is the sixth and final criterion, measured from home to the school gate nearest the child's home by the shortest road route, or by a footpath the school considers a safe walking route; in the unlikely event of a tie, the policy says the applicant is chosen by random allocation.

How is admission to Wirral Grammar School for Girls different from other Wirral grammar schools?

It is easy to conflate Wirral's grammar schools, so it is worth being precise. Each school decides its own oversubscription criteria in its own admissions policy: the council's page says each school's admissions policy explains how places are allocated, and the policy of Wirral Grammar School for Girls says admission to the school is determined by the Governors. For this school, the policy sets an admission number of 180 for September 2027 and its own oversubscription criteria, so figures from another school's policy should not be assumed to apply. Families with more than one child sitting the assessment in the same year should read each school's policy separately.

The council's page on this assessment covers non-Catholic grammar schools, so families also considering a Catholic grammar school should check that school's own admissions information for its test and deadlines. For a side-by-side view of Wirral's grammar schools, see our Wirral Grammar Schools 11+ Guide.

What results and outcomes does Wirral Grammar School for Girls achieve?

Wirral Grammar School for Girls' published exam results are on the Department for Education's Compare school and college performance service, which says it will close soon, with a new service available from autumn 2026. Ofsted's provider page lists the school's inspection of 6 December 2022 (report published on 31 January 2023) as Outstanding in every category, including sixth form provision.

How should families prepare for the Wirral 11+ Assessment for Wirral Grammar School for Girls?

Because the Wirral 11+ Assessment assesses verbal reasoning, non-verbal reasoning and mathematics, preparation for Wirral Grammar School for Girls should be more targeted than a generic 11+ programme. We recommend three priorities. First, familiarise your daughter with the question style: the candidate pack says the assessment is a paper test in which all questions are multiple choice, answered on an OMR (Optical Mark Recognition) answer sheet, and the council says the assessments do not include long written answers. Second, use the free familiarisation booklets for maths, verbal reasoning and non-verbal reasoning, which the candidate pack says give sample questions and practice with the OMR answer sheet. Third, follow the candidate pack's advice on habits: short, regular learning is more effective than long sessions, and the most valuable thing a child can do is keep learning steadily and confidently in school.

For families looking ahead, the school's Important Dates table shows that children born between 1 September 2016 and 31 August 2017 start secondary school in September 2028, apply for the assessment between 1 May and 31 May 2027, sit it in September 2027 and receive results in October 2027; that group is in Year 5 in the 2026/27 school year. Because the assessment can only be taken once, the candidate pack's advice to get used to timed questions is worth following: each paper lasts approximately 50 minutes. If a place is not offered in the first round, the school's policy says a waiting list for Year 7 is maintained by Wirral Local Authority until 31 December 2027 and is ordered solely by the oversubscription criteria; see our grammar school waiting list movement data by region for how waiting lists have moved elsewhere.

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Reviewed September 2026: dates, figures and rules checked against Wirral Council's grammar assessment page, Wirral Grammar School for Girls' admissions pages, 2027 admissions policy and Wirral 11+ candidate pack, West Kirby Grammar School's and Calday Grange Grammar School's admissions pages, Get Information about Schools, Ofsted and the DfE Compare service.

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