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The Portsmouth Grammar School

School typeIndependent

Also known asPGS, Portsmouth Grammar

AddressHigh Street, Portsmouth, Hampshire, England, PO1 2LN

The Portsmouth Grammar School is a co-educational independent school in Hampshire that admits pupils into Year 7 using a two-stage 11+ process. The assessment features Quest Admissions exams alongside an interview stage. Located in Old Portsmouth, the school operates Years 7 and 8 as a distinct Middle School before pupils transition to the Upper School.

The Portsmouth Grammar School is co-educational, takes children from two and a half to eighteen, and sits in the middle of Old Portsmouth with around 970 pupils. Years 7 and 8 are run as a Middle School of their own, a school within the school, with subjects taught across each other rather than in separate boxes, before pupils move up into the Upper School at Year 9.

The listed main building went up around 1855 as the officers' quarters and mess of Cambridge Barracks, and Historic England notes it is the last of the barracks that once stood by the old Portsmouth Lines. The school moved in during the mid-1920s. The foundation is older still: Dr William Smith, a physician and former mayor of the town, left money for a school in his will in 1732, and it took twenty-one years to open its doors, in 1753.

The naval connection is not decoration. The Cadet Corps dates from 1863, the school does much of its sport at HMS Temeraire, and the Second Sea Lord still nominates one of the governors. The four houses are named after the founder and the benefactors who rescued the school in the nineteenth century. Phones are collected at the start of the day from Year 3 to Year 8. Parents told the Good Schools Guide it is 'a traditional school that's forward thinking and offers a huge range of options'. It suits a child who likes having a city around them.

Key facts

Gender

Mixed

Annual fees

Year 7 £25,614 per year (£8,538 per term) for 2026/27, including VAT. Registration fee £120 per child; deposit £500, refunded against the first term's invoice on acceptance.

Website

Visit school website

Admissions

Open day

Nov, Mar

Admissions contact

admissions@pgs.org.uk

Admissions phone

023 9236 4269

What this school tests

11+ Entrance Assessments

English17 question types

GrammarPunctuationReading Comprehension - ComparisonReading Comprehension - EvaluationReading Comprehension - Grammar and punctuationReading Comprehension - Inference and DeductionReading Comprehension - Information RetrievalReading Comprehension - Language Techniques and ImageryReading Comprehension - Sentence-level ComprehensionReading Comprehension - SequencingReading Comprehension - Structure, Form, Voice and ToneReading Comprehension - SummarisingReading Comprehension - Text Classification and PurposeReading Comprehension - Types of Words and PhrasesReading Comprehension - Word Meaning / ChoiceSpellingVocabulary

Maths21 question types

AlgebraAngles and DegreesBIDMASCoordinate GridsEstimation and RoundingFactors and MultiplesFractions, Decimals and PercentagesMeasurementMoneyNumber and Place ValueOperationsPerimeter, Area and VolumePosition and DirectionProperties of ShapesRatio and ProportionReflection, Rotation and SymmetrySequencesSpecial NumbersSpeed, Distance and TimeStatisticsTime

Non-verbal Reasoning12 question types

Figure AnalogiesFigure MatricesFigure SeriesGrid MatricesHorizontal CodesMatch to a Group of FiguresMost Like Three FiguresOdd Figure OutOdd Shaped MatricesStar MatricesTriangle MatricesVertical Codes

Verbal Reasoning23 question types

Alphabet LogicAnagramsCompound WordsEmbedded WordsForm a WordInsert 2 / 3 LettersInsert a LetterLetter AnalogiesLetter SequencesMove 1 / 2 LettersOrdering WordsRhyming SynonymsShuffled SentencesSynonymsWord / Logic PuzzlesWord AnalogiesWord CompletionWord MatchWord OppositesWord PairsWord RelationshipsWord SwapWords and Codes

Spatial Reasoning14 question types

2D Rotations2D View of 3D Shape3D RotationsBlock CountingBuilding BlocksCombining ShapesDiagonal ReflectionsFigure Missing from ImageFold and PunchFolding CubesHidden ShapesMissing Face of CubeNets of 3D ShapesShape Completion

Critical Thinking7 question types

Logical & Deductive ReasoningInference & EvaluationExtracting & Distilling InformationVisual SourcesComparison & OrderingData AnalysisCodes & Decoding

Creative Writing

English4 question types

Creative Writing - DescriptiveCreative Writing - NarrativeCreative Writing - PersonalCreative Writing - Persuasive

Previous exam results

GCSE results

2025: 22.6% of grades at 9, 43.4% at 9-8 and 62.8% at 9-7 (school's own published figures).

A-level results

2025: 25% of grades at A*, 60.5% at A*-A and 85.9% at A*-B (school's own published figures).

Frequently asked questions

What exam board does The Portsmouth Grammar School use for the 11+?

The school uses Quest Admissions for its independent 11+ entrance assessments.

Does The Portsmouth Grammar School interview as part of the 11+?

Yes, there is an interview stage as part of the school's two-stage 11+ admissions process.

Is The Portsmouth Grammar School co-educational or single-sex?

The Portsmouth Grammar School is a co-educational (mixed) school.

What are the Year 7 fees for The Portsmouth Grammar School?

For the 2026/27 academic year, Year 7 fees are £25,614 per year (£8,538 per term), including VAT. There is also a £120 registration fee and a £500 deposit.

What is the website for The Portsmouth Grammar School?

The official website is https://www.pgs.org.uk/.

Location

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