Admission to Year 7 

Our main entry point is in the Autumn term for Year 7, although entry is possible to other year-groups or at other times of the school year, dependent on the availability of spaces.  

Admission to Plymouth High School for Girls is made through Plymouth City Council, on their website https://www.plymouth.gov.uk/school-admissions.  

Pupils are selected through academic ability with all candidates required to sit the 11-plus examination.  The examination is designed to measure a child’s academic ability and determine whether they would be suited to a grammar school education. 

The 11-plus examinations assess your child’s academic ability by using GL Assessment English Comprehension and Mathematics paper. 

To apply for the 11-plus examination in September please see details further down this page.  

Plymouth High School’s published admission number (PAN) for Year 7 is 120. For the last few years, the school has received more applications than places available. There may be places available for students seeking transfer in years 8, 9, 10 and 11. 

Further details of this procedure and information to help you apply for a Year 7 secondary place within Plymouth can be found in the ‘Next Step Parents Guide’ which is available from the Plymouth City Council website https://www.plymouth.gov.uk/school-admissions.  

The registration forms for this year's Real and Practice 11-plus examinations will go live here:

The 11+ Examination Process  

The 11-plus examinations will take place in September before the closing date for submission of the secondary application form for a year 7 school place. Parents / carers are required to register their child to take the 11-plus examination. Please see the "Timeline for 11+ Entry for September 2025" above for the next point of entry.

Students can take the examinations at either Plymouth High School for Girls or Devonport High School for Girls. They are the same examinations, taken on the same days. You can then apply for a place at either (or both) grammar schools, regardless of where the student took the test. E.g. A student could sit the examinations at DHSG but apply for a place at Plymouth High School for Girls. 

Applications for secondary school places in Plymouth for a September 2025 start must be made to Plymouth City Council by 31/10/24.  In order to apply for a place at either Plymouth High School for Girls, or DHSG, candidates must sit the 11-plus examination.  In order for the examination to be sat and results passed to parents, the 11-plus examinations are held in September. 

The grammar schools also run a mock 11-plus examination in the July prior to students sitting the real tests in September. This helps students familiarise themselves with the test and exam venues. 

The test papers are provided by GL assessment. GL Assessment have released free familiarisation materials on their website for parents and students who would like to see the layout prior to the main 11+ examinations, (see below): 

It is still possible to sit the 11-plus examination for a September 2024 start, but the results would not be ready for the Plymouth City Council's 31/10/23 deadline.  This means that a candidate who sits the 11-plus examination at PHSG after the September round will NOT be considered in the initial round of allocations to PHSG or DHSG.  Every year, PHSG and DHSG are full at the first round of allocations, but parents of children who take the test after the September round are able to appeal should they wish.

If you would like your child to sit the 11-plus examination at PHSG, and you understand that the score will not be available for the first round of allocations, please complete the form here.  You should not do this if your child has already sat an 11-plus examination at either PHSG or DHSG since September 2023.

Our strategy to attract more students from disadvantaged backgrounds into Plymouth High School for Girls: 

We believe it is essential that everything possible is done to raise aspirations and provide support to families whose children are eligible for pupil premium funding within the education sector. We are keen to increase the number of children from disadvantaged backgrounds attending our grammar schools so that they can benefit from a selective education if it is the right choice for them. 
 
In addition to the free online guides and familiarisation resources offered by GL Assessment available above, we are offering girls, eligible for pupil premium funding, further support and are delighted to announce that we have funded an online course for them which has been put together by the Grammar School Heads’ Association. The course includes video content, practice questions and advice about taking the 11-plus assessment. There are 8 one-hour lessons available which children can work through independently. 
 
Our hope is that by working through the tasks online, students will become more familiar with the type of questions that they will be required to complete during the 11-plus assessment. 

If you are interested in being included in this programme of support, and your daughter is eligible for pupil premium funding, please email: anettleship@dhsg.co.uk. 

For further information regarding Pupil Premium, please click here.

11+ Practice Examination 

Plymouth High School will be running a Practice 11-plus test on Saturday 6th July 2024. 

Registration will open from 3:00pm on 15th April 2024 and will close when all 170 places are filled or at 11.00am on 22 May 2024, whichever is the soonest.  

The cost of sitting the examination is £40.00. The online application form contains details about how to pay for the examination. Please note, it may take a few days for your payment to be acknowledged due to staff working days.

The results of the 11-plus Practice examination results will be emailed on 16 July 2024.  

Please note:  

• You do not have to take the Practice 11-plus examination in July in order to take the real 11-plus examination in September.  
• Registration for the Practice 11-plus examination does not automatically register your child for the real 11-plus examination. There is a separate registration process for each. 

In Year Admissions - Key Stages 3 & 4 (Years 7 – 11) 

In-year admissions are made via an application through Plymouth City Council and the satisfactory completion of a school-set admissions test to clarify candidates’ ability and aptitude.  

Plymouth High School’s published admission number (PAN) for each year group is 120.  There may be places available for students seeking transfer in years 8, 9, 10 and 11. 

Key Stage 5 (Sixth Form) 

Plymouth High School for Girls welcomes applications from students transferring from other schools.  Applications should be made direct to the school by the end of the Autumn Term. The admission arrangements apply equally to those seeking admission from year 11 within the school to those seeking transfer from other schools. 
  

Acceptance into the Sixth Form is by interview and by fulfilment of the general requirements of an overall average point score at GCSE of 6 or higher from the student’s best 8 GCSEs (including at least a 6 grade in Maths and English). In addition, for subject specific entry requirements, students will require a minimum grade of a 6 for the subjects they wish to study. If a student narrowly misses out on achieving an average point score of 6 but does however achieve a 6 or above in the subjects they wish to study, we will look at each case on an individual basis. For specific entry requirements, please see the Sixth Form prospectus or contact the school on 03333 602230. 

The Sixth Form Prospectus and application forms to apply to join the sixth form, can be found on our Prospectus Page

Virtual Tour of the School

We have created an open day webpage, which provides a virtual tour of the school offering visitors the opportunity to familiarise themselves with the grounds.

Please click on the button below to start our general virtual tour.