Thousands of practice questions and up to 6 mock papers, all in the exact Altrincham Grammar School for Girls 11+ format, on one simple plan. It starts with a free diagnostic.
Thousands of practice questions and up to 6 mock papers, all in the exact Altrincham Grammar School for Girls 11+ format, on one simple plan. It starts with a free diagnostic.
If you want your daughter stretched but also genuinely looked after, Altrincham Grammar School for Girls is the kind of place that manages both. Known to most families as AGGS, it is a selective girls' grammar in Bowdon, on the southern edge of Greater Manchester, and it happens to be the largest single-sex state grammar in the country. What strikes you is how lightly it carries that scale. The Good Schools Guide calls it "a school intent on helping able high achievers reach their starry goals," and the day-to-day feel matches that: ambitious, but warm and grounded rather than pressured, with a strong streak of service to the wider community.
Academic life is full, but it is not the whole picture. Music, sport and the creative arts run right through the timetable, and dance has a particularly strong following, with a dedicated studio and a long-established performance troupe. The school sits within the Bright Futures Educational Trust, which gives it links to a wider family of schools across the North West. Generations of former pupils have gone on to lead in their fields, and the school is open about wanting current girls to follow them.
AGGS suits a curious, hard-working girl who wants to be challenged in a school that takes pastoral care as seriously as it takes ambition. It has been led since 2014 by headteacher Stephanie Gill, a Cambridge natural sciences and maths graduate who taught across both the state and independent sectors before taking the role. The thing parents tend to mention is that their daughter comes home confident, not frazzled.
Yes
Yes. While the official catchment radius is 8 miles, the school is highly oversubscribed. Over recent years, the cut-off distance for actual offered places has tightened significantly to within 5.5 to 5.7 miles approx.
Altrincham Grammar School for Girls (AGGS) uses the GL exam board for its 11+ entrance exam.
No, there is no interview stage as part of the 11+ admissions process for AGGS.
Altrincham Grammar School for Girls (AGGS) is a single-sex school for girls.
The official website for Altrincham Grammar School for Girls is https://aggs.bright-futures.co.uk/.
Yes, AGGS has a catchment area. Recent offers for 11+ places have been within approximately 5.5 to 5.7 miles.
First a child needs to reach the required standard in the Trafford consortium test, sat in Sept of Year 6. Qualifying does not guarantee a place. If more girls qualify than there are places, priority goes in order: looked-after and previously looked-after children; Pupil Premium girls inside the 8-mile catchment; girls in catchment with a sister at the school; other in-catchment girls by distance; then Pupil Premium, sibling and other out-of-catchment girls by distance. You must also name the school on your council form.
If your child is unwell on or just before test day, keep her at home and do not bring her in. Contact the consortium admissions officer and complete the Special Circumstances Form in the week after the test, and the schools will try to arrange another date for the paper she missed. One thing to know: if she starts a paper and then goes home unwell, she cannot return to finish that paper, only sit one not yet started. Access arrangements such as extra time are agreed in advance with the school for children who need them.
