Know exactly where your child stands for The Portsmouth Grammar School
Thousands of practice questions and up to 6 mock papers, all in the exact The Portsmouth Grammar School 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 The Portsmouth Grammar School 11+ format, on one simple plan. It starts with a free diagnostic.
The Portsmouth Grammar School
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
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.
Admissions
Admissions contact
admissions@pgs.org.uk
Admissions phone
023 9236 4269
Registration form
Sibling policy
What this school tests
11+ Entrance Assessments
English
- Grammar
- Punctuation
- Reading Comprehension - Comparison
- Reading Comprehension - Evaluation
- Reading Comprehension - Grammar and punctuation
- Reading Comprehension - Inference and Deduction
- Reading Comprehension - Information Retrieval
- Reading Comprehension - Language Techniques and Imagery
- Reading Comprehension - Sentence-level Comprehension
- Reading Comprehension - Sequencing
- Reading Comprehension - Structure, Form, Voice and Tone
- Reading Comprehension - Summarising
- Reading Comprehension - Text Classification and Purpose
- Reading Comprehension - Types of Words and Phrases
- Reading Comprehension - Word Meaning / Choice
- Spelling
- Vocabulary
Maths
- Algebra
- Angles and Degrees
- BIDMAS
- Coordinate Grids
- Estimation and Rounding
- Factors and Multiples
- Fractions, Decimals and Percentages
- Measurement
- Money
- Number and Place Value
- Operations
- Perimeter, Area and Volume
- Position and Direction
- Properties of Shapes
- Ratio and Proportion
- Reflection, Rotation and Symmetry
- Sequences
- Special Numbers
- Speed, Distance and Time
- Statistics
- Time
Non-verbal Reasoning
- Figure Analogies
- Figure Matrices
- Figure Series
- Grid Matrices
- Horizontal Codes
- Match to a Group of Figures
- Most Like Three Figures
- Odd Figure Out
- Odd Shaped Matrices
- Star Matrices
- Triangle Matrices
- Vertical Codes
Verbal Reasoning
- Alphabet Logic
- Anagrams
- Compound Words
- Embedded Words
- Form a Word
- Insert 2 / 3 Letters
- Insert a Letter
- Letter Analogies
- Letter Sequences
- Move 1 / 2 Letters
- Ordering Words
- Rhyming Synonyms
- Shuffled Sentences
- Synonyms
- Word / Logic Puzzles
- Word Analogies
- Word Completion
- Word Match
- Word Opposites
- Word Pairs
- Word Relationships
- Word Swap
- Words and Codes
Spatial Reasoning
- 2D Rotations
- 2D View of 3D Shape
- 3D Rotations
- Block Counting
- Building Blocks
- Combining Shapes
- Diagonal Reflections
- Figure Missing from Image
- Fold and Punch
- Folding Cubes
- Hidden Shapes
- Missing Face of Cube
- Nets of 3D Shapes
- Shape Completion
Critical Thinking
- Logical & Deductive Reasoning
- Inference & Evaluation
- Extracting & Distilling Information
- Visual Sources
- Comparison & Ordering
- Data Analysis
- Codes & Decoding
Creative Writing
English
- Creative Writing - Descriptive
- Creative Writing - Narrative
- Creative Writing - Personal
- Creative Writing - Persuasive
Catchment area
Selection review and safety net
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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