Which Grammar Schools Use the FSCE 11 Plus?

Which grammar schools use FSCE for 2027 entry? Confirmed school examples include Reading School, Chelmsford County High School for Girls, Queen Elizabeth Grammar School Penrith, Ermysted's, Skipton Girls', Crossley Heath, North Halifax Grammar, Heckmondwike, Lancaster Girls' and Clitheroe Royal. The reviewed school examples and official links are below. For 2028 entry, seven Gloucestershire schools and five Trafford Consortium schools have announced a move to FSCE; they are separate from the current list.

FSCE, or Future Stories Community Enterprise, writes entrance tests for a number of grammar schools. The provider name does not tell you which subjects your child will meet, how many papers there are, or whether one sitting covers several schools. Those details belong to the school and entry year.

Use the school links below to check the current admissions page and familiarisation materials. The dates in the first list are for tests sat in 2026 for September 2027 entry. Gloucestershire and Trafford have announced later changes, explained separately below.

FSCE directs parents to their target school’s admissions page for test content, format and free familiarisation guides. Its parent information also explains that specifications differ by school. Use a school’s current guidance before choosing practice materials.

Confirmed: schools using FSCE for September 2027 entry

These schools' own admissions pages name FSCE as the provider for tests sat in 2026 for entry in September 2027. The registration windows shown are for that cycle, now closed. They do not establish the dates for 2028 entry; wait for the school to publish those arrangements.

• Reading School, Berkshire. Boys. Registration 27 March to midnight 17 May 2026. Main sitting Thursday 16 July 2026 for in-catchment day and boarding applicants, with a separate SEN sitting on 15 July; the 2027 policy listed Friday 25 September 2026 as the proposed sitting for out-of-catchment day applicants. Separate Sporting Aptitude Assessment Sunday 12 July 2026 for its 10% reserved places. 138 day places plus 12 weekly boarding places. Source: reading-school.co.uk.
• Chelmsford County High School for Girls, Essex. Test Thursday 3 September 2026; results were emailed on Monday 12 October 2026. Registration 9am 13 April to 4pm 3 June 2026. 180 places. Content "tests application and knowledge and skills from KS2 subjects taught up to and including the Year 5 programme of study". Source: CCHS 2027-entry admissions.
• Queen Elizabeth Grammar School Penrith, Cumbria. Test Thursday 17 September 2026; registration closed 12 July 2026. The school says its entrance testing has now concluded. Source: QEGS admissions. Read the separate admissions policy for the allocation criteria.
• Ermysted's Grammar School, Skipton. Boys. Test Saturday 26 September 2026, registration closed noon 31 August 2026. Two papers only. Source: Ermysted’s Year 7 admissions.
• Skipton Girls' High School, North Yorkshire. Its own FSCE test was Saturday 26 September 2026, with registration closing at midnight on 19 August 2026. Source: Skipton Girls’ admissions page, which links the 2027-entry booklet. Do not assume a registration at Ermysted’s covers this school.
• The Crossley Heath School, Halifax. Applications 10am 20 March to 11pm 26 June 2026. Source: crossleyheath.org.uk.
• The North Halifax Grammar School. Shares the Halifax Grammar Schools FSCE test with Crossley Heath, but must be listed separately on your Common Application Form.
• Heckmondwike Grammar School, West Yorkshire. Registration opened 11 May 2026, applications due 22 June 2026, exam 14 September 2026, results due in mid-October (target date 17 October), formal offer via the local authority in early March. Source: Heckmondwike entrance exam.
• Lancaster Girls' Grammar School. Test Saturday 26 September 2026, registration 1 June to 9 September 2026. Source: LGGS Year 7 admissions.
• Clitheroe Royal Grammar School, Lancashire. Test Saturday 26 September 2026, registration noon 1 June to noon 4 September 2026. 180 places, one sitting only, no resit. Its 2027 handbook says the result letter was due by noon on 9 October, and Lancashire families must separately apply for a school place by 31 October. A qualifying result is not an offer. Read our Clitheroe school guide for the current decision and catchment priorities.

If you are working out which of these is realistically within reach, start with the Smart Cub Learning grammar-school directory to compare the verified test route, catchment and admissions evidence for each published school. Our pillar guide to grammar schools near me then explains how distance tie-breaks and oversubscription criteria interact once the test score is in.

Myth: FSCE means one standard four-paper test

Chelmsford’s familiarisation guide describes four papers, but other schools publish different structures. Compare the documents for the same entry year.

• Ermysted's describes exactly two papers: one of "English and mathematics questions with multiple choice answer options", and one of "English and mathematics questions where you respond with short written answers".
• Clitheroe Royal also describes two, "both of which are age weighted": Paper 1 multiple choice English and maths, Paper 2 short written answers, and explicitly no non-verbal reasoning.
• QEGS Penrith publishes three papers. Its September 2026 format notice gives approximate timings of one hour for Adventure, 40 minutes for Beacon and 35 minutes for Compass. This is more specific than the earlier parent FAQ’s general timing range. The FAQ describes content from several KS2 subjects and excludes non-verbal reasoning.
• Crossley Heath and North Halifax cover English, maths and creative writing, with everything except the creative writing marked by computer and all written elements sat on one day in September.
• Heckmondwike covers "application of knowledge and skills in English and maths, as well as exploring imaginative flair through creative writing".
• Lancaster Girls’ Grammar School says its September 2026 test assesses English and maths through multiple-choice and written responses. A broader FSCE familiarisation booklet does not change the school’s stated subjects.

The practical consequence: buying a generic "four-paper FSCE" practice pack for an Ermysted's candidate means practising a structure the child will not meet. Start with the tested subjects in the school’s current guidance. Secure KS2 English and maths are useful foundations, while schools such as QEGS and CCHS describe a wider range of curriculum subjects. Our FSCE 11 plus exam guide goes deeper on the question styles themselves.

Announced, but not using FSCE yet: the twelve

Twelve more schools have appointed FSCE but have not used it yet. Keep those future entry years separate from the present cycle when choosing practice materials.

Gloucestershire's G7: The Crypt School, Denmark Road High School, Marling School, Pate's Grammar School, Ribston Hall High School, Sir Thomas Rich's School and Stroud High School. They have appointed FSCE "for entry to Year 7 from 2028 onwards", and at the same time the test moves from September of Year 6 to "the latter part of the summer term of Year 5", taking effect "from summer 2027 for first entry into Year 7 in September 2028" (Pate’s joint G7 announcement).

Trafford's five: Altrincham Grammar School for Boys, Altrincham Grammar School for Girls, Sale Grammar School, Stretford Grammar School and Urmston Grammar.

The Gloucestershire and Trafford timing trap

The two areas change provider for the same entry year, but their first FSCE sitting dates differ.

Entry year	Gloucestershire (seven schools)	Trafford (five schools)
2027	GL Assessment, test in September of Year 6 (September 2026)	GL Assessment, test in September of Year 6 (September 2026)
2028	FSCE, test in the summer term of Year 5 (planned for 3 July 2027)	FSCE, test in September of Year 6 (September 2027)
2029	FSCE, test in the summer term of Year 5	FSCE, test in the summer term of Year 5

The Trafford consortium publishes a three-stage timetable: "For entry to Year 7 in 2027, the test provider will be GL and the admissions test will be held in September 2026"; "for entry to Year 7 in 2028, the test provider will be FSCE and the admissions test will be held in September of Year 6"; "for entry to Year 7 in 2029 onwards, the test provider will continue to be FSCE and the admissions test will be held in the latter part of the Summer Term of Year 5" (urmstongrammar.org.uk).

Work it through for two children both starting Year 5 in September 2026, both aiming at 2028 entry:

• The Gloucestershire child sits an FSCE test in the summer term of 2027, in Year 5. Preparation has to be complete roughly one school term earlier than the old September timetable.
• The Trafford child sits an FSCE test in September 2027, at the start of Year 6. Same provider and entry year, but a later sitting date that year.

And for 2027 entry, both areas are still on GL Assessment. Gloucestershire County Council's page for that cycle says the 2027-intake registration window was "open from noon, 18 May 2026 to noon, 26 June 2026" and the test "took place on Saturday 12 September 2026". It does not mention FSCE for that cycle. Its separate 2028-intake section says the schools are planning the test for Saturday 3 July 2027 and names FSCE as the provider. According to the Trafford consortium's New Entrance Exam Provider page, one Trafford FSCE paper draws on the English and mathematics curriculums and a second draws on other subjects within the KS2 national curriculum, replacing the verbal, non-verbal and mathematical reasoning of the GL papers. The announcement says the test draws on the Key Stage 2 programmes of study up to the end of Year 5, and that the subjects, question types, content and format may vary from year to year. Use the Smart Cub Learning grammar-school directory to open each published school's reviewed route and admissions evidence.

Colyton: check the entry year before choosing materials

Colyton's determined September 2027-entry policy gives its test date and selection rules but does not name the test provider or the subjects. Our Colyton assessment guide keeps those details unknown for that cohort rather than applying another year's format.

The school's current admissions page carries Quest information for September 2028 entry. That is a later cycle. A provider link on a changing admissions page does not establish who set the September 2026 test for 2027 entry. Use the entry-year policy and familiarisation material together before choosing practice resources.

Which FSCE schools share a sitting or need separate registration

"They all use FSCE" does not mean one test covers them all. Check whether the schools share a sitting, which schools receive the result, and which separate registrations or application preferences you need.

• One sitting, several schools. Trafford's announcement says its five consortium schools will retain a shared sitting under FSCE from 2028 entry. Gloucestershire's G7 announcement also says one test covers its seven schools from 2028 entry. A shared sitting does not mean every school must report the same standardised score or make the same admissions decision. In the current Trafford GL cycle, Stretford's 2027 FAQ says the standardised score may differ by school because each uses a different candidate cohort. Altrincham Grammar School for Boys' 2027 booklet says families select the schools that receive their result at test registration and cannot share it retrospectively. Recheck the FSCE cycle's registration and scoring rules when published; our Trafford Consortium route covers the confirmed 2027 path.
• One test, but you still apply separately. Crossley Heath and North Halifax share a single Halifax Grammar Schools FSCE test. The child sits once, but both schools must be listed separately on the Common Application Form. Test registration does not replace the separate school preferences on the application. The coordinated process normally makes one school offer.
• Check each school's registration and sharing rules. Reading, CCHS and QEGS publish school-specific routes. Ermysted's, Skipton Girls', Lancaster Girls' and Clitheroe Royal are named in an official FSCE consortium FAQ, but publish separate registrations and admissions criteria. The shared FAQ does not establish that a result transfers automatically. All four published 26 September 2026 sittings. Before booking more than one school, ask their admissions teams whether one sitting is accepted and what registration or score-sharing arrangements are required.

Build your shortlist around that arithmetic before anything else, then plan backwards from the earliest sitting date. Smart Cub Learning's exam plan connects preparation with focused practice, papers and mocks. If the overall sequence is still opaque, start with the practical parent guide to the 11 plus.

Myth: you can buy official FSCE practice papers

Reading School’s assessment guide links to its current official sources. The school states: "there are no commercially available practice test papers for the FSCE Ltd tests", and "the Entrance Test content changes each year therefore the Familiarisation Guide is NOT definitive".

A commercial product labelled "FSCE format" is not proof of an official or school-endorsed paper. For curriculum-based preparation:

1. Cover KS2 English and maths to the end of the Year 5 programme of study, where that matches the target school’s specification. CCHS explicitly describes content through Year 5; do not assume that one school’s specification covers every FSCE test.
2. Practise both answer modes: multiple choice on an OMR sheet, and short written answers where working and legibility count.
3. Add creative writing only if the target school tests it (Heckmondwike, Crossley Heath, North Halifax, CCHS).
4. Check each target school’s tested subjects before choosing reasoning practice. A provider name alone does not establish the content.
5. Use the timings and breaks in the target school’s current familiarisation guidance; do not assume one duration for every FSCE test.

For example, a curriculum maths question might ask: “A class of 28 children collects 1,050 tokens. The teacher keeps 30 and shares the rest equally. How many tokens are left over?” Subtract first, then divide: 1,020 ÷ 28 gives 36 each with 12 left over. This is an original practice example, not a recalled or official FSCE question. Use the school’s free examples to learn its answer format.

How to verify a school yourself, and when to re-check

Check each school and entry year separately: Use this protocol:

1. Open the school's own admissions page (search the school name plus "Year 7 admissions", and only trust a result on the school's own domain).
2. Find the entry year explicitly stated on the page. A page headed "September 2027 entry" tells you nothing about 2028.
3. Look for the provider named in full: "Future Stories Community Enterprise Ltd (FSCE)". If the page names GL Assessment, CEM or Quest, it is not an FSCE school for that year.
4. Note the sitting date and the registration window, then diarise the window opening one month early.
5. Re-check during Year 5, before the test registration window. For September 2027 entry, the dates above ran during 2026. Waiting until spring 2027 would miss the normal test cycle. For schools moving their test into Year 5, check the timetable earlier.

One page, one date, one entry year. If a source cannot give you all three, it cannot tell you which test your child is sitting.

If a summary disagrees with the school, use the school’s current policy and ask its admissions team to clarify the conflict. To review completed learning activity and topic progress, start a free account and use progress tracking. Check the school's own specification separately when planning what to cover.

Re-check the school’s own current admissions page before registering. An announced change for a future entry year is not the format used by the present cohort.