Ashlawn School 11+ guide

Are you thinking about applying to Ashlawn School? Find out everything you need to know about the selective entry process and how to prepare for the 11+ exam.

Key information for Ashlawn School

• School type: co-educational partially selective school
• Location: Rugby, Warwickshire
• Admissions contact: [email protected]
• Number of selective places in Year 7: 31 (via the 11+ selective test) plus up to 25 modern languages aptitude places
• 11+ exam: West Midlands Grammar Schools Entrance Test
• Catchment area: yes

Important dates for 2027 entry

• Thursday 7th May 2026: test registration opens
• Tuesday 30th June 2026: test registration closes
• Saturday 12th – Sunday 13th September 2026: entrance test (your child will be allocated one session across these two days)
• Friday 16th October 2026: parents receive test results
• Saturday 31st October 2026: deadline to apply for secondary school places
• Monday 1st March 2027: secondary school national offers day

How to apply to Ashlawn School

Ashlawn School is a partially selective school. This means that a proportion of Year 7 places — 31 in total — are offered to children who reach the required standard in the 11+ selective test. A further 25 places are offered to children who score most highly in a separate modern languages aptitude test. The remainder of the school's 256 Year 7 places are non-selective.

This guide covers the selective 11+ route. If you are interested in the modern languages aptitude places, check Ashlawn School's admissions policy for details of the separate aptitude test process.

In the West Midlands, the 11+ is known as the West Midlands Grammar Schools Entrance Test. 19 grammar schools use this test to select children for Year 7 places. If you would like your child to be considered for a place at more than one grammar school in the West Midlands, they will only need to take the test once.

You must register your child for the test. A link to register will be available on the participating schools’ websites during the registration window.

Registration opens on Thursday 7th May 2026 and closes on Tuesday 30th June 2026. You will be allocated a test venue and a session across Saturday 12th or Sunday 13th September 2026 — keep both days free until you receive your allocation.

Your child's results will be sent to you by Friday 16th October 2026. If they meet the qualifying standard for Ashlawn School's selective places, you can apply by naming the school on your common application form. This must be submitted to your home local authority by Saturday 31st October 2026.

Important note: passing the test doesn't guarantee that your child will be allocated a selective place. After the 31st October deadline, schools use admissions criteria to allocate places.

We've outlined the process for Ashlawn School below.

What will my child be tested on?

Ashlawn School uses the West Midlands Grammar Schools Entrance Test.

The test is provided by GL Assessment and consists of two papers, each approximately 50–60 minutes long, including time for instructions and example questions. All questions are multiple-choice, and your child will record their answers on a separate answer sheet.

The papers are divided into individually timed sections covering four areas:

• English comprehension: reading and understanding a passage of text
• Verbal reasoning: problem-solving using written information such as words, letters, numbers and symbols
• Maths: questions based on Key Stage 2 content
• Non-verbal and spatial reasoning: problem-solving using abstract visual information such as shapes and diagrams

Your child's marks are weighted across the sections: 50% for English and verbal reasoning, 25% for maths, and 25% for non-verbal and spatial reasoning. These weighted scores are then age-standardised to ensure that younger children aren't disadvantaged.

For more details, take a look at our guide to the West Midlands Grammar Schools Entrance Test.

How are places allocated at Ashlawn School?

By Friday 16th October 2026, you'll receive your child's test results. These will confirm whether they have met the required qualifying standard for one of Ashlawn School's 31 selective places.

If their results meet the required standard, you must name Ashlawn School as a preferred school on your common application form to be considered. This must be submitted to your home local authority by Saturday 31st October 2026.

Places are allocated in a particular order. This is known as 'oversubscription criteria' and is specific to each school you apply to. Details are available in Ashlawn School's admissions policy.

Does Ashlawn School have a catchment area?

Yes. For the selective places, Ashlawn School uses a priority system based on location. Of the 31 selective places, up to 15 are allocated to pupils living in the Eastern Area of Warwickshire, and up to 16 are allocated to pupils living within a priority circle drawn from the Rugby Water Tower (radius 10.004 miles). Within each of these groups, children eligible for Pupil Premium are given priority, followed by other qualifying applicants in rank order of test score.

Children living outside these areas are still eligible to apply for selective places if they meet the qualifying standard, but will only be considered after all in-area applicants.

If you don't live close to the school, it's worth thinking about how your child will get there every day. How long will the journey take? What transport options are available? Will they be travelling independently or with support?

A longer or more complex journey can affect your child's daily routine, including how much time they have for homework, rest, and after-school activities. It's a good idea to think about how manageable the school run will be and whether it will work for your family day to day.

How can I help my child prepare for the test?

The West Midlands Grammar Schools Entrance Test can feel like a big milestone, but preparation doesn't have to be overwhelming. Here's how you can help your child prepare for test day.

Stay on track with a clear plan

One of the hardest parts of 11+ preparation is knowing what to focus on, when, and how to make steady progress without it taking over family life.

A clear, structured plan helps your child feel less overwhelmed and more in control. It ensures they build skills in the right order, cover everything they need, and avoid last-minute cramming.

Atom's exam plan makes this easier. Enter your child's target schools and exam dates, and we'll create a personalised weekly plan tailored to the topics they'll be tested on. It shows them what to work on and when, adapts as they improve, and helps them build progress in a calm, manageable way — little and often.

That means less guesswork for you, less stress for them, and a clearer path all the way to exam day.

Build smart exam technique

As your child's knowledge grows, practice tests can help them feel more comfortable with the real exam format.

Atom's 11+ practice papers are exact replicas of real 11+ exams. They're also unlimited — you can download the same paper again and again, and your child will get new questions each time. This helps them practise without repeating the same content.

We've made marking easy for you, too. Simply photograph your child's answer sheets and upload them to Atom. The papers are marked instantly, showing your child's standardised age score (SAS), where they're doing well, and what they should focus on next. You'll also learn how they compare to other children applying to the same school.

Encourage regular reading

Strong reading skills play a big role in 11+ preparation.

Encourage your child to read every day, even for just 10–15 minutes. The key is variety. Mix fiction and non-fiction, different genres, and a range of authors. This helps them become more confident in understanding tone, purpose, and meaning across different texts.

Over time, regular reading will broaden their vocabulary, improve comprehension and inference, and build confidence in tackling unseen texts.

Looking for inspiration? Atom's recommended reading lists have suggestions spanning fiction and non-fiction for Years 3–6.

Celebrate progress, not just scores

When you're supporting your child through 11+ preparation, what really matters is knowing they're moving in the right direction — not just how they scored on a single test.

Atom's progress tracking gives you a clear, simple picture of how your child is doing in each topic and the direction they're moving in. You can see where they're on track, where they might need more practice, and spot progress as it happens.

That makes it easier to give meaningful encouragement, keep motivation steady, and focus on what matters most: consistent improvement, not just one-off results.