September 2025 - Queen Mary's Grammar School

The registration portal for our main Entrance Test for Year 7 (entry Sept 2025) is now open. Please click here to register: West Midlands Grammar School Online Portal.

The closing date will be 4pm on 28^th June 2024 and the entrance test will take place on Saturday 14th September 2024.

Admission Timetable – QMGS – September 2025 Entry
Online registration portal opens	07/05/2024	Your application will be confirmed at the end of the process, we suggest you print your application at this stage. You will then be sent an email in due course confirming the venue of the test
Deadline for submitting SEN form (if applicable)	14/06/2024 (4:00pm)	This is the deadline for requesting reasonable adjustments are made to the entrance test to allow your child to access the paper, if for example they have a disability. Requests for adjustments must be submitted by this date along with evidence. Contact the Admissions office if you did not download this form during your application.
Online registration portal closes	28/06/2024 (4:00pm)	4pm is the deadline for registering for the entrance test. It is not possible to register for the test after this time.
Test Information	September 2024	You will be sent information about the test and procedure for the day of the test. This will be posted to your home address. If you have not received this by 9th September, contact Admissions – admissions@qmgs.merciantrust.org.uk. Do not contact us before 9th September.
Entrance Test	14/09/2024	Your child sits the entrance test on this date. It is likely that two sessions will be held (AM and PM). Your child will be allocated a session and you should therefore keep the whole of 14th September free.
Deadline for submitting LA preference form	31/10/2024	You must have applied for school places via your local authority by this date. You are advised to wait for the entrance test results before applying for school places
National Offers Day	01/03/2025 (or next working day)	1 March or next working day is the national date for local authorities to notify parents which school their child has been offered.

Places available at the school

There are 180 places for boys at Queen Mary’s Grammar School for entry to Year 7 in September 2025. Admission is based on the results of the School’s Entrance Test.

The Test

The test provider for 2025 entry is GL Assessment. We administer the Test as part of a Consortium of grammar schools in Shropshire, Walsall and Wolverhampton but are part of the larger partnership of grammar schools, known as ‘West Midlands Grammar Schools’, which incorporates all Birmingham, Shropshire, Walsall, Warwickshire, and Wolverhampton grammar schools.

The Test comprises two papers, which assess Verbal Reasoning, Non-Verbal Reasoning and Numerical Reasoning provided by GL Assessments. Normally, each test paper is approx. 50 minutes in length. School administration for each test will normally be one-hour.

Candidates are given a short break between the papers. Questions are included in question booklets.
Candidates MUST write answers on the separate answer sheets provided. To help candidates prepare before the Test GL provide familiarisation guides (links below).

How places are allocated at the School

To be considered for a place at the school, a candidate must achieve the Minimum Qualifying Score. This score is determined by the School’s Governors after the Test results are available. Any candidate scoring below the Minimum qualifying Score will not be offered a place.

As the School is heavily oversubscribed, places are offered to candidates who score above the Minimum Qualifying Score in the following preference order (based on Test scores in each category):

a) A ‘looked after child’ or a child who was previously looked after but immediately after being looked after became subject to an adoption, child arrangements, or special guardianship order including those children who appear to have been in state care outside of England and ceased to be in state care as a result of being adopted who achieve the qualifying score by rank order of standardised score. A looked after child is a child who is (a) in the care of a local authority, or (b) being provided with accommodation by a local authority in the exercise of their social services functions as defined by section 22 (1) of the Children Act 1989.

b) Children eligible for Pupil Premium at the time of the Test who achieve the qualifying score by rank order of standardised score but limited to no more than 30% of students in this category (currently 54 places);
If the number of students applying under this criterion exceeds the number of places available, priority will be given to students as follows:
B1. For those students attending a State-funded Primary School in Walsall at the time of the Test. A list of such schools is appended.
B2. For those students who do not attend a State-funded Primary School in Walsall but who achieve the qualifying score by rank order of standardised score.

c) other children who have achieved the qualifying score by rank order of standardised score until the Published Admissions Number is reached.

Application Process – Application to the School to sit the Test

Important information

When you apply to register your child to sit the Entrance Test, your child will be allocated a test centre that is closest to their home address. You are not able to select a test centre of your choice, and should you state a different post code than the home post code at the start of the process, please be aware your registration form will be rejected, and you will be instructed to re-apply using the correct postcode.

In the registration form for your child to sit the Entrance Test, you will be given the following information:

Please select from the list below the schools that you would like your child to be considered for.
This is separate from the Local Authority preferences process, which has a separate deadline of the 31st October 2024.
You must choose from the list below which schools you wish your child’s test results to be shared with. This may be different from the school at which they sat the Entrance Test.
We cannot share data with schools if they are not selected at this point.
It will not be possible to change your selections once this application to sit the Entrance Test is submitted.

If you do not select a particular school then that school will not be able to consider your application at all, even if you later list the school on your preferences form.

All applications have to be made before the deadline, which is 4pm on the 28th June 2024. When you are ready to register for the entrance test for Admissions 2025 please ensure you have a colour head and shoulders photograph of your son ready to upload onto the portal (this does not need to be an official passport photograph).

For any aspects of the portal you tick that require supporting documents i.e. EHCP, adoption certificate, Pupil Premium Form, you have until the portal close date as above to upload the documents.

Only once you have completed the registration form will you receive an acknowledgement email. Once you have submitted your registration form you will be able to download and print a copy of your registration form for your records. If you have made any errors, you must contact admissions@qmgs.merciantrust.org.uk immediately and the error can be amended. No changes can be made after the closing date.

All applications after this time will be considered “late” as defined in our Admissions Arrangements. See information relating to late applications in PART 2 below.

Sharing Data

The West Midlands Grammar Schools Partnership can share results. This means that if your child sits the entrance test in Birmingham, they can be eligible to apply for any of the grammar schools in, Shropshire, Walsall, Wolverhampton and Warwickshire. Likewise, applicants sitting the entrance test in, Shropshire, Walsall, Wolverhampton and Warwickshire can be eligible to apply for any of the grammar schools in Birmingham.

If you intend to apply for multiple schools, you must tick the relevant box on the test application form to consent to share your child’s details and entrance test result.

Please note that admission criteria to each school within the partnership will differ and we strongly recommend you check individual school websites for further details.

Application Process – Application to the Local Authority

As well as applying to the School to sit our Test, parents must also apply to their own Local Authority. This usually involves completing their Local Authority’s online application, indicating parents’ preference of schools. Parents should list schools in order of their choice and not based on test result. Local Authorities will allocate boys the highest school they are eligible to be offered a place at. The deadline is 31 October 2024. Places are allocated by parents’ Local Authorities, on 1st March 2025 (or the next working day).

Special Arrangements

Parents may apply for special arrangements for the Test if they satisfy the School’s Governors that their son has special educational needs or is suffering from a disability. A request for special arrangements must be indicated when completing the online application form. Parents who request special arrangements must then complete the Consortium’s special arrangements request form, which will be available during completion of the online admissions application. You must include educational or medical evidence, and the relevant part completed by their son’s school. This form should be completed and submitted to the school no later than 14^th June 2024.

Pupil Premium evidence

If parents indicate their son is eligible for Pupil Premium, a Pupil Premium form must be completed. This will be available for download during the application. Only candidates eligible at the time of the Test can be offered a Pupil Premium place. If a boy becomes eligible for Pupil Premium after the application is made, but before the test takes place, parents should contact the school. This form also requires completing by the candidate’s primary school. Parents should complete this before the entrance test date, or their son will not be considered for a Pupil Premium place.

Open evenings

An open evening will take place at QMGS on 6^th June 2024.

PART 2 – Late Applications

Late applications are those where the parents of a candidate have not registered with the school by 4:00pm on 28^th June 2024. All late candidates will be tested as per our published Admission Arrangements for a waiting list place.

Further details will be available in October 2024 on this website.

Application Form and Important Information about the School

Please read all of the documents in the links below before completing the online application form .

Familiarisation material

Free Materials – GL 11+ (gl-assessment.co.uk)