Torquay Girls’ Grammar School
ADMISSION ARRANGEMENTS
Admission policy for year 7 in September 2014
Torquay Girls’ Grammar School is a selective girl’s school with Academy status and is therefore responsible for managing
its own admissions. This is done in co-operation with the Local Authority to ensure that as many parents as possible
obtain a place for their daughter at the school of their choice. Admission is based on academic ability and this is
determined through a number of tests. The Planned Admission Number (PAN) for Year 7 in September 2014 is 128 girls
and is determined by a number of considerations including the physical space available for teaching.
Open Day and Tours
An Open Day and Evening for entry to Y7 will be held on 25th June 2013. There are two possible sessions; one in the
afternoon and one in the evening. The admissions procedure will be explained and you will have a chance to tour the
school, meet the staff, speak to the girls and ask questions. Times will be posted on this website in the summer term. If
you are unable to make this date then please contact the Headteacher’s PA to organise an individual tours which take
place fortnightly or attend a further Open day on Tuesday 10th September 2013
APPLICANTS:
Candidates will be female.
Candidates will be girls in Year 6 at the time of taking the test:
(Applicants for September 2014 will be born between 1 September 2002 and 31 August 2003)
Candidates qualify to take the tests by virtue of her chronological age not the year of their school placement.
The admissions tests take place at Torquay Girls’ Grammar school on consecutive Saturdays;
the 21st and 28th September 2013
Applicants must complete the Test Registration Form issued by the School and return by Friday 13 September 2012.
The Form can be accessed from the school website or by contacting the school. It enables us to inform you of all the test
arrangements.
The Selection Tests
The current test setup is as follows:
Saturday 21st
Verbal Reasoning Test 1
English Test
Saturday 28th
Verbal Reasoning Test 2
Mathematics Test
There will be two Verbal Reasoning tests, one Mathematics paper and one English paper. Girls who are achieving in the
top 25% of their age group at Primary School should be able to cope with the tests. For example if a girl's teacher
believes she is likely to achieve Level 5's in her KS2 English, Maths and Science SATs at the end of Y6 then this would be
a good indicator that she will be of a sufficient standard.
Verbal Reasoning Tests are supplied by GL Assessment, and will be marked in accordance with their regulations. These
are multiple choice tests. The higher Verbal Reasoning Score attained, of the two papers, will be regarded as the final
mark for that element. Results will be standardised to take into account age differentials.
The English and Mathematics tests will be set by Torquay Girls' Grammar School in collaboration with Churston Ferrers
Grammar School and Torquay Boys' Grammar School in accordance with the Attainment Targets of the National
Curriculum Key Stage 2. The English paper has both reading and writing components. The Maths is a free response
paper. These tests will be marked internally.
Children who are unable to take the tests on either of these dates, due to illness or other significant acceptable reason,
will be offered the opportunity to take the tests at a later date. This must be discussed with the school at the earliest
opportunity.
If the parent chooses to name the school on the CAF for a child who has not taken the selective test, there will be no
score to rank and therefore a place will not be offered. The child will be deemed not to have met the entry criteria.
Allocation of Places
Category A :
Places will be offered to those girls who meet the required standard in all 3 tests, ie



NFER Verbal Reasoning (the selective score being that achieved by the 120th candidate.)
A minimum of 50% of available marks in Mathematics
A minimum of 50% of available marks in English
Should more than 120 girls meet the required standard in all 3 tests places will be awarded by rank order of total score.
Category B :

If less than 120 girls meet the required standard in all 3 tests: those who are successful in meeting 2/3
conditions will be offered places in rank order of total score up to the 120th place.
Category C :
Candidates are considered unsuccessful if they pass fewer than two of the three tests. Places will not be offered to
students in this category.
NOTIFICATION OF GUIDANCE
Parents will be provided with a guidance letter about the suitability of an application to the selective schools
in Torbay before the deadline for submission of the CAF (October 31 st 2013). At this stage of the process this
will not be an offer of a place at a selective school, it will give an indication of whether an application is likely
to be successful.
The Guidance letters will be issued on 18 October and parents must then apply for a school place using a
Common Application Form from the Local Authority in which they live (deadline 31 October). They can make
up to three ranked preferences.
ALLOCATION OF PLACES
At the conclusion of the allocation process the Local Authority will be sent a ranked list of the children.
Parents of successful candidates will be informed in the first instance by the Local Authority on National
Allocation day (March 3rd 2014) and then by letter from the school. The scores of the successful candidates
will not be revealed.
POST ALLOCATION
Parents have the right to appeal against this decision to an Independent Panel, whose decision is binding on
the parents and the school.
Application should be made to the Democratic Services Department of Torbay Local Authority. The School can
assist with contact information.
TIMETABLE FOR ADMISSION FOR YEAR 7 IN SEPTEMBER 2013
25th June 2013
10th September 2013
Open Day and Evening at the School
Open Day and Evening at the School
13th September 2013
Deadline for receipt of the Test Registration Form by the
School.
Saturday 21st September 2013
Verbal Reasoning Test 1
English Test
Saturday 28th September 2013
Verbal Reasoning Test 2
Mathematics Test
7th October and 8th October 2013
Tests arranged for children unable to take the examinations
in September
18 October 2013
Guidance letters sent to parents
31 October 2013
Deadline for receipt of the Common Application Form by
the LA
December 2013
Admissions Panel meets to determine the rank order of
candidates
3rd March 2014
Local Authority advise parents of results
4th April 2014
Deadline for parents to submit an Appeal Request to Torbay
LA Democratic Services
Summer Term 2014
Independent Appeals Panel meets to discuss Parental
Appeals
Late Admission Procedures
1. For Y7 from ‘National Allocation Day’ to the end of the Autumn term of that year
After places have been allocated the 11+ results will form the waiting list until end of the autumn term of the
admission year. If places become available during this time the next girl on the list will be contacted and
offered a place.
After this time girls who have satisfied the following criteria can apply for any places that become available at
the end of the Spring and Summer terms. Please contact the school for place enquiries and dates of tests or
view the website.
2. Key Stage 3
(Years 7-8):


achieved levels 5,5 and 4 (in any combination) in the English, Mathematics and Science SATs at Key
Stage 2 or equivalent.
made demonstrable progress in National Curriculum subjects since leaving primary school in line with
that achieved by girls already in the relevant year group at TGGS. This will assessed through selection
tests in English, Maths and Verbal Reasoning.
The highest scoring student who passes this exam suite will be offered a place.
(Year 9)
The PAN for Year 9 in September 2014 will be 130


achieved levels 5,5 and 4 (in any combination) in the English, Mathematics and Science SATs at Key
Stage 2 or equivalent.
made demonstrable progress in National Curriculum subjects since leaving primary school in line with
that achieved by girls already in the relevant year group at TGGS. This will assessed through selection
tests in English, Maths and Non-Verbal Reasoning.
The highest scoring students who pass this exam suite will be offered places.
3. Key Stage 4 (Years 10-11):


achieved levels 7,7 and 6 or above (in any combination) in English, Mathematics and Science at Key
Stage 3 or equivalent.
made demonstrable progress in National Curriculum subjects at KS4 in line with that achieved by girls
already in the relevant year group at TGGS. This will assessed through selection tests in English, Maths
and Science.
The highest scoring student who passes this exam suite will be offered a place.
SEN
Children with a statement of Special Educational Need, where Torquay Girls’ Grammar School is named on the
statement, have an entitlement to attend.
Tied places
For ties in both 120th place in Y7 and in the late admissions tests the order of priority will be;
 A child in care or an adopted child
 Children Eligible for Free School meals at the time of the test

Children of staff working at the school at the time of the test (subject to meeting the criteria in the Admissions
Code)


A girl with a sister at the school
By direct line distance from home to the school at the time of application.