The exam at a glance
Newport Girls' High School Academy uses the West Midlands Grammar Schools entrance test for Year 7 entry, and for 2028 entry the verified format is a GL Assessment paper taken on paper. The test covers Maths, English, Verbal Reasoning and Non-Verbal Reasoning, so preparation needs to stay balanced across all four areas rather than focusing too heavily on just one.
For parents, the most useful thing to know early is that this is not an exam where one strong subject can easily carry everything else. Children need steady accuracy, sensible pacing and confidence switching between different question styles. Because it is a standard timed GL-style assessment, the best preparation is regular practice in short, manageable bursts, gradually building towards timed work.
On the day itself, families should expect a formal test session run through the West Midlands Grammar Schools process, with candidates invited after registration. The school publishes practical arrangements such as invitations and test-day information in the admissions timeline. As this is a paper-based test, children should be comfortable working neatly on paper, marking answers carefully and checking that they are on the right question throughout.
- Board: GL Assessment via West Midlands Grammar Schools
- Format: one GL Assessment paper covering four tested areas
- Subjects: Maths, English, Verbal Reasoning, Non-Verbal Reasoning
- Delivery: paper based
- Best preparation style: balanced practice, regular timing work and careful answer-sheet habits
If your daughter is in Year 5 now and aiming for September 2028 entry, treat the year as a long build-up: first secure core skills, then add timing, then increase familiarity with full mixed papers nearer the test.
Registration and key dates
Registration is handled through the West Midlands Grammar Schools process rather than a separate Newport-only school test. Newport Girls' High School Academy's admissions page directs families to the shared testing arrangements and publishes the annual timeline on its entrance test page.
For the current published cycle that we could verify, the registration portal for September 2027 entry opened on 5 May 2026 and the deadline to register was 26 June 2026. The school's admissions page also gave a 12 June 2026 deadline for reasonable adjustments evidence, invitation letters by 7 September 2026, the test on 14 September 2026, results by 16 October 2026, the local authority preference deadline of 31 October 2026 and National Offer Day on 1 March 2027.
For 2028 entry, parents should be careful not to assume the dates are identical until the new cycle is published. Based on the latest verified timeline, registration usually opens in May, closes in late June, and the test is typically in mid-September. Results have recently been issued in mid-October. Check the school's entrance test page and the West Midlands Grammar Schools portal as soon as the new round opens.
When registering, families should be prepared to complete the online form and, where relevant, submit supporting evidence by the published deadline if requesting reasonable adjustments. If your child may be considered under a Pupil Premium criterion or another admissions priority, read both the school policy and the registration instructions carefully so nothing is missed.
If you want a simple place to monitor updates, keep an eye on The Newport Girls' High School Academy 11+ guide (format, catchment, dates): /schools/newport-girls-high-school-academy and sign up for Free email alerts for this school's key dates: /school-alerts?school=newport-girls-high-school-academy.
Who can apply: catchment and admissions
Newport Girls' High School Academy is a girls' grammar school and has 120 Year 7 places. The school states that the previous catchment area still applies to its admissions policy. For parents, that means catchment is an important part of the admissions picture and should be checked directly against the current policy rather than relying on hearsay from older forums or local conversations.
The verified policy detail we have is that up to 15 places are reserved for pupils for whom their primary school receives Pupil Premium funding. That is a significant point for eligible families and worth checking carefully in the school's admissions policy and supplementary guidance when the 2028 arrangements are published.
As with all grammar school applications, sitting the test is only one part of the process. Families must also complete the local authority school preference form by the published deadline if they want to be considered for an offer. Test registration alone does not count as an application for a school place.
Newport Girls' High School Academy's Ofsted judgement is Outstanding. That does not change the admissions rules, but it helps explain why interest is often strong and why timely registration and a realistic preparation plan matter.
The school website is the right place to check the latest admissions policy, oversubscription criteria and catchment wording for the relevant year of entry. If a family is moving house, sharing parental responsibility or applying under a priority category, it is especially important to read the policy line by line and keep copies of any required documents.
A month-by-month preparation plan
For a Year 5 child aiming at the autumn 2027 test for 2028 entry, a calm, steady plan works far better than a last-minute rush. The goal is to build habits and confidence over time.
January to March of Year 5
Keep it light: around 2 to 3 hours a week split across short sessions is enough for most children at this stage. Focus on core arithmetic, reading comprehension, vocabulary growth, mental maths, and basic reasoning patterns. There is no need for lots of full papers yet. Instead, use untimed or gently timed practice to identify weaker areas.
April to May of Year 5
Increase to about 3 hours a week. Start mixing subjects within one week so your child gets used to switching gears. Introduce GL-style question formats in Verbal and Non-Verbal Reasoning alongside continued work in English and Maths. If registration is due to open in May, set a reminder and read the school's admissions page carefully.
June of Year 5
Work at around 3 to 4 hours a week. Begin more deliberate timing on short sections. The aim is not speed for its own sake, but learning how long a question should take before moving on. This is also the month to make sure registration is completed on time if the published pattern is similar to the latest verified cycle.
July of Year 5
Keep practice steady at 3 to 4 hours a week. Start joining topics together in mixed sets. For example, one session might include ten Maths questions, one short comprehension, one verbal reasoning set and one non-verbal set. This helps children adapt quickly, which matters in GL-style assessments.
August before Year 6
This is often the best month for a slightly more structured push, but still keep it realistic: about 4 to 5 hours a week for most children. Begin regular timed sections and introduce the first full or near-full mixed papers if your child is ready. Review mistakes carefully. One paper teaches very little unless you go through why answers were wrong.
September of Year 6, before the test
In the final weeks, keep work focused and calm at around 4 to 6 hours a week, depending on your child's stamina. Use a small number of timed mixed papers, revise error patterns and practise answer-checking routines. Do not flood the week before the exam with new materials. Familiarity, confidence and good sleep matter more than squeezing in extra worksheets.
A good rule of thumb is this: start timed papers once the underlying method is secure. For some children that is early summer of Year 5; for others it is later in the summer holiday. Starting too early can damage confidence if every session feels rushed.
Subject by subject: what to practise
Maths
For GL-style grammar school tests, Maths practice should cover secure Key Stage 2 number skills, arithmetic accuracy, fractions, decimals, percentages, ratio, measures, time, money, basic geometry and word problems. The main challenge is often not the content itself but doing familiar work quickly and carefully. Practise short mixed sets, mental maths warm-ups and multi-step problems where children must decide which operation to use. Encourage neat working and quick checking, especially for place value and careless slips.
English
English preparation should include both reading comprehension and the language skills that underpin it: vocabulary, inference, retrieval, authorial tone, sequencing and choosing evidence from a passage. Build reading stamina through regular independent reading, but also do explicit comprehension practice so your child gets used to answering in the way these tests require. Vocabulary matters a great deal, so keep a running word bank and revisit unfamiliar words in context rather than learning lists in isolation.
Verbal Reasoning
Verbal Reasoning often tests how well children handle patterns in language and number using short, highly structured question types. Practice may include codes, letter and number sequences, word relationships, finding hidden words, synonyms and antonyms, and logic-based comparisons. The key is familiarity. Once a child knows the common question styles, confidence rises quickly. Work on one question type at a time first, then mix them together under timed conditions.
Non-Verbal Reasoning
Non-Verbal Reasoning focuses on patterns, shape transformations, symmetry, rotation, reflection, similarity, nets and visual logic. Many children improve simply by learning what to look for: changes in shape, position, shading, size and direction. Start untimed so your child can explain the pattern aloud, then move to timed sets once methods are secure. If one type causes repeated trouble, isolate it for a week before putting it back into mixed practice.
Across all four subjects, the most effective approach is short review loops: practise, mark, discuss errors, then revisit the same skill a few days later. That spacing helps accuracy stick.
Practice papers and mock exams
Practice papers are most useful when they are used as a learning tool rather than simply a score generator. Start with short topic-based sets, then move to mixed sections, then a limited number of full papers nearer the exam. After each paper, spend at least as long reviewing it as completing it. Ask:
- Which questions were wrong because of knowledge gaps?
- Which were wrong because of rushing?
- Which question types are still unfamiliar?
- Did my child leave anything blank through timing?
Keep a simple error log by subject. This often shows patterns quickly: for example, fractions in Maths, inference in English, one specific Verbal Reasoning code type, or rotation questions in Non-Verbal Reasoning. That tells you what to practise next.
If your child benefits from formal rehearsal, a mock exam can help with stamina, timing and nerves. The best time is usually once your daughter has already seen the main question types. A mock taken too early can feel discouraging; a mock taken at the right point can be very helpful.
For home practice, use these resources exactly as part of your plan:
- Free Newport Girls' High School Academy practice papers (one per tested subject, with answers): /schools/newport-girls-high-school-academy-mock-tests
- The Newport Girls' High School Academy 11+ guide (format, catchment, dates): /schools/newport-girls-high-school-academy
- Free email alerts for this school's key dates: /school-alerts?school=newport-girls-high-school-academy
A simple paper routine works well: one timed section, a short break, then marking and discussion. Stop before your child is exhausted. Consistency beats marathon sessions.
On the day
Keep the morning calm and predictable. Lay out everything needed the night before, leave in good time and avoid last-minute drilling in the car. Most children do better with reassurance than revision on the morning itself.
Encourage your daughter to listen carefully to instructions, check that she is on the correct section, and keep moving if one question seems stubborn. In a GL-style paper, one difficult item should not be allowed to steal time from easier marks elsewhere.
- Have a normal breakfast and plenty to drink, without changing the routine too much.
- Arrive with time to spare so there is no sense of rush.
- Remind her that some questions are meant to feel stretching.
- If she gets stuck, she should make the best choice she can and move on, following the instructions given on the day.
- Use the final moments of a section to check skipped items, alignment and obvious slips.
The emotional tone at home matters. The message should be: do your best, use what you have practised, and let the paper come to you one question at a time.
After the exam: results, allocation and appeals
After the test, families usually receive the result before the local authority school preference deadline. In the latest verified Newport Girls' High School Academy timeline for September 2027 entry, results were due by 16 October 2026 and the local authority preference deadline was 31 October 2026. National Offer Day was 1 March 2027.
The important practical point is that the test result and the school application are linked but separate. Even if your child sits the entrance test, you still need to submit your local authority preferences on time if you want to be considered for a place.
If your daughter is not offered a place on National Offer Day, the next steps may include remaining on the waiting list and, if appropriate, considering an appeal. The school's admissions authority and your home local authority will explain the process for that admissions round. Appeals are about whether the admission arrangements were correctly applied and, where relevant, whether there is a strong case for a place despite prejudice to the school.
Because cut-off scores and ranking details can vary from year to year, parents should be cautious about relying on old online discussions. If the school does not publish a figure for your admissions round, treat any unofficial number as rumour and check the admissions page instead.
What has changed recently
For the period covered by the most recent available admissions information, Newport Girls' High School Academy states that it uses the West Midlands Grammar Schools entrance test and that the previous catchment area still applies. We also found the published timeline for the September 2027 entry round, including registration, test and results dates, on the school's entrance test page.
We did not find any separately announced recent change on the official pages we reviewed to the school's published Year 7 place number of 120, nor to the verified point that up to 15 places are reserved for pupils for whom their primary school receives Pupil Premium funding. Parents should still check the latest determined admissions arrangements for 2028 entry when they are published, as grammar school admissions documents are updated annually.
Frequently asked questions
What exam does Newport Girls' High School Academy use for 2028 entry?
It uses the West Midlands Grammar Schools entrance test, with a GL Assessment paper covering Maths, English, Verbal Reasoning and Non-Verbal Reasoning.
Is the Newport Girls' High School test computer based?
No. The verified format for 2028 entry is paper based.
How many Year 7 places are there at Newport Girls' High School Academy?
There are 120 Year 7 places.
Does catchment matter for Newport Girls' High School Academy?
Yes. The school states that the previous catchment area still applies to its admissions policy, so parents should read the latest policy carefully.
Are there places reserved for Pupil Premium applicants?
Yes. Up to 15 places are reserved for pupils for whom their primary school receives Pupil Premium funding.
When should my child start timed 11+ papers?
Usually once the main methods and question types are familiar. For many children, that is around the summer term of Year 5 or the summer holiday before Year 6.
Sources
- Newport Girls' High School Academy - Entrance Test: School admissions page; use of the West Midlands Grammar Schools entrance test; previous catchment area still applies; published timeline for September 2027 entry including registration opening on 5 May 2026, reasonable adjustments deadline 12 June 2026, registration deadline 26 June 2026, invitatio
- Newport Girls' High School Academy: School identity as an all-girls grammar school in Newport, Shropshire; official school website reference.
- West Midlands Grammar Schools: Shared registration and testing process for schools using the West Midlands Grammar Schools entrance test.
Preparing for other schools in Telford and Wrekin
- How to prepare for the Haberdashers' Adams 11+ · practice papers
- The Retreat · practice papers
- Thomas Telford School · practice papers
- Wrekin College · practice papers
Written by ElevenReady from the school's published information and reviewed by a person before publishing. Last reviewed 4 October 2026. Exam arrangements change. Check the school's admissions page for the current year.