Best Wirral Grammar Schools 2026/27

This guide covers the four non-Catholic Wirral grammar schools that share one entrance test: Wirral Grammar School for Boys and Wirral Grammar School for Girls (both in Bebington), and Calday Grange Grammar School (boys) and West Kirby Grammar School (girls), both in West Kirby. The wider Wirral also has Catholic grammar schools that run their own separate tests, but the four above all use the single Wirral Admissions Test.

In Wirral the 11+ is officially called the assessment for grammar school education, and is widely known as the Wirral Admissions Test. For September 2027 entry it is provided by Quest Assessments (the consortium moved away from GL Assessment). It consists of two multiple-choice papers taken on the same day, testing verbal reasoning, non-verbal reasoning and mathematics. Scores are standardised to take account of your child's age.

Children sit two papers and the marks are combined into a single age-standardised score. A combined standardised score of around 236 is widely reported as the grammar standard, but the consortium sets the exact qualifying mark and the council does not publish a fixed number. Reaching the standard makes your child eligible to be considered; it does not guarantee a place, because oversubscribed schools then apply their own admissions criteria.

For September 2027 entry, registration opened on 1 May 2026 and closed at 12 noon on 1 June 2026 (the timetable also lists a 31 May 2026 deadline). The test is on Tuesday 15 September 2026, results are emailed to parents on 21 October 2026, and the secondary school application form must be submitted by 31 October 2026. Offers are made on 1 March 2027. Registration is now closed for this cycle.

Registration is coordinated by Wirral Council (not the individual schools). You complete an assessment request form on the council's admissions portal, which opens on 1 May with a late-May/1 June deadline. Your child sits the test only once, even if you apply to several Wirral grammar schools. Families living outside Wirral register for the test through Wirral but apply for the actual place through their own local authority, naming the school as a preference.

Selection is by test result, not by where you live, so there is no catchment area for qualifying. Children from across Wirral, Liverpool, Cheshire and North Wales sit the test each year. Distance only comes into play as a tie-break if a school is oversubscribed, when priority usually goes to the child living closest by the shortest walking route. Some schools also give priority to children eligible for free school meals who meet the grammar standard.

Wirral Grammar School for Boys (Bebington) and Calday Grange Grammar School (West Kirby) are boys' schools, while Wirral Grammar School for Girls (Bebington) and West Kirby Grammar School (West Kirby) are girls' schools. West Kirby and Calday Grange both have mixed (co-educational) sixth forms. All four are fully selective state grammar schools - none of them is partially selective.

It depends on your child and where you live, but three of the four hold the top Ofsted rating: Wirral Grammar School for Boys, Wirral Grammar School for Girls and Calday Grange Grammar School are all rated Outstanding, while West Kirby Grammar School is rated Good and is regularly named among the country's leading state schools. Because all four share the same entrance test, many families list more than one as preferences and choose on results, location and sixth-form options.

Yes. All four schools have sixth forms offering A-levels. Wirral Grammar for Boys and Wirral Grammar for Girls run single-sex provision, while Calday Grange and West Kirby Grammar both operate mixed (co-educational) sixth forms, so boys can join West Kirby and girls can join Calday Grange at 16. Sixth-form entry has its own application process and academic entry requirements, separate from the Year 7 11+.

Start early and build confidence in verbal reasoning, non-verbal reasoning and maths, then practise under timed, multiple-choice conditions so the format feels familiar on test day. Use the official Quest familiarisation materials alongside regular practice papers. Prep4All's 11+ practice papers are designed to mirror the style and timing of the Wirral Admissions Test, helping your child get used to the question types and pace before September.