Royal Grammar School Guildford

Entry points and who can apply

Registration for September 2027 entry closed on Thursday 15 October 2026. If your child is in Year 5 now, this guide is mainly for you: you will be applying next year, for September 2028 entry.

RGS Guildford is an independent day school for ages 11 to 18. It is a boys' school today and is becoming co-educational. The school says "in September 2028 we will welcome our first intake of girls to Year 7". So the 11+ for September 2027 is for boys, and the 11+ for September 2028 is open to boys and girls.

• 11+ (Year 7, which the school calls First Form). This is the main entry point. The school says it traditionally has over 400 applicants from over 130 schools for the 150 places in First Form. The entrance procedure is mainly for children who are 11 on 31 August in the year they join, so those normally in Year 6.
• Year 9 and other years. The school has no main 13+ entry point. It says occasional places are available in Years 8, 9 and 10. If your child is in Year 7 or 8, contact the Head of Admissions before you register. Children who sat the 11+, whether or not they got a place, can re-apply later. The school's pages give two answers on how soon (Year 9 entry or Year 10 entry), so check with the admissions team.

You register online and pay a non-refundable fee of £120, or £240 for children currently studying overseas. The school's admissions policy says the deadline is in mid-October before the year of entry. It has not yet published the exact date for September 2028. If your child has a disability or special educational need, give the school full details after registering and before the entrance exam.

The assessment: what your child will sit

The 11+ has four parts, plus a confidential reference from your child's current headteacher. The school requests that report before the exam and takes it into account alongside the results.

For September 2027 entry, RGS's own 11+ assessments are on Saturday 7 November 2026, and the ISEB Common Pre-Tests are at its test centre on Friday 13 November 2026. The school does not say which parts happen on which day.

The school says children at primary schools usually sit them at one of their intended senior schools, and children at prep schools usually sit them at their own school. RGS will host them if that isn't possible. The school says it makes "absolutely no difference" where they are sat. Every candidate comes to RGS for the interview and the creative writing task.

At RGS, the Pre-Tests are taken on desktops or ultra-books, each with a mouse. Children living overseas may take the tests at their current school.

What this means in practice

• It is a long session on screen. The Pre-Tests take about two and a quarter hours, all multiple choice.
• The content is familiar. The school says the assessments "follow closely" what children have been learning in Year 5.
• It is not only a test. Writing, teamwork and the interview all count, and so does the headteacher's report.

Second interviews and the decision

The admissions policy says the results, creative writing and interview sort candidates into three groups:

• those who seem likely to flourish from the start, who are offered a place with no further interview
• those whose scores are too low for further consideration
• the rest, who are called back for a second interview and offered a place if the school feels they have the potential to do well

The school says the second interview, held in January, gives "all the benefit of doubt". For September 2027 entry, second interviews are on Wednesday 13 January 2027.

Offers go out by email in mid-February, on a date agreed by the Trinity Group schools, and are unconditional. Families accept by early March and pay an acceptance deposit of 25% of the first term's fees. For 2026–27, the termly fee for First and Second Forms (Years 7 and 8) is £9,252 including VAT, and lunch, which is compulsory in those years, is £370 a term. The school does not give exam marks to parents.

The school holds its Open Day in October each year. It also runs small group tours in the Trinity (summer) term, which it says are for families of children currently in Year 5.

Help with fees: bursaries and scholarships

Means-tested bursaries are available at 11+ and 16+, from 5% to 100% of the fees. An independent company, Bursary Assessment Associates, assesses each family's finances. As a broad guide, the school says families with a total annual income over £120,000 are unlikely to be eligible. Tell the Head of Admissions when you register that you plan to apply. The school sends the application link in late October to families who register interest or ask for it. For 2027 entry, the deadline is Friday 27 November 2026. Bursaries are confirmed with the offer of a place and reviewed every year.

At 11+ the school offers academic, art, drama, music and sport scholarships. After the entrance papers are marked, the top 30 candidates are invited to sit harder academic scholarship papers in English and maths, with an interview. These take place in mid-January. For 2027 entry, scholarship assessments run from Monday 18 to Friday 22 January 2027. The admissions policy describes the others:

• Art: a portfolio of about 10 pieces, an interview and a timed practical test.
• Drama: a short reference, an interview and a short monologue.
• Music: a principal instrument at about Grade 5, plus singing or a second instrument at about Grade 3.
• Sport: county level or equivalent in rugby, hockey, cricket or netball, then an assessment day if shortlisted.

For 2027 entry, the deadline for asking for information about art, drama, music and sport scholarships was 20 October 2026, and applications close on Friday 27 November 2026. If you missed the first deadline, contact admissions before 27 November. The school's website does not say what a scholarship is worth.

How to prepare

The school says no special preparation is needed for the Pre-Tests. Asked whether it recommends tutoring, it answers "Absolutely not". With that in mind, here are some practical steps.

1. Make Year 5 work secure. The school says the assessments "follow closely" what children have learned in Year 5, so keep everyday maths and English secure.
2. Read widely and talk about it. Talk together about books, news and ideas your child finds interesting.
3. Build screen stamina. Practise working steadily at a computer with a mouse for longer stretches.
4. Write short pieces often. Practise a short composition from a prompt, then read it back together and look at structure, word choice and punctuation.
5. Do things in a team. The teamwork task involves challenges that rely on collaboration, so group projects, clubs and games where children solve problems together are familiar territory.
6. Don't script the interview. The school says the interview is to "gain insight into each students' interests" and to see how they respond to questions they have not prepared for. Let them talk about what they enjoy.
7. Get the admin right. Register before the mid-October deadline, flag a bursary application when you register, and tell the school early about any access needs.

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