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://new.plymouth.gov.uk/school-admission).  

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 she 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://new.plymouth.gov.uk/school-admission).  

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 below, 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+ 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+ 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.

The 11+ Examination Process  

The 11-plus examinations will take place before the closing date for submission of the application form for a school place. Parents / carers are required to register their child to take the examination. Please see the timeline below 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. 

We also run a mock 11+ examination in the July, prior to students sitting the real tests in September. This helps students familiarise themselves with the test and exam venues. 

Free familiarisation papers: 

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): 

The registration forms for both the Practice and the real 11+ tests will go live on this page on the dates shown in the timeline below.

 11+ Practice Examination 

Plymouth High School will be running a Practice 11+ test on Saturday 1 July 2023. 

Registration will open from 3.00pm on 17 April 2023 and will close when all 170 places are filled or at 11.00am on 24 May 2023, whichever is the soonest.  

The cost of sitting the examination is £40.00. Once you have applied online, you will receive a payment request email which will include payment details. Please note, it may take a few days for the email to arrive due to staff working days.  

Practice examination results will be emailed on 17 July 2023. Please note the candidate numbers issued for the admission examinations in September 2023 will not be the same as those used for the practice examination. 

Please note:  

You do not have to take the Practice examination in July in order to take the real 11-plus examination in September.  

However, registration for the Practice exam does not automatically register your child for the real 11+plus exam. 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 a 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 our Prospectus Page

Virtual Tour of the School

Due to the current restrictions imposed due to COVID-19, regretfully we are not able to welcome students for visits into the school at this time. We have created a open day webpage, which provides a video welcome address given by the Headteacher Simon Underdown and a virtual tour of the school offering visitors the opportunity to meet some of the staff and familiarise themselves with the grounds.

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