Haberdashers' Adams 11+ guide

Atom Learning is partnered with Haberdashers' Adams. You can read more about our partnership here.

Thinking about applying to Haberdashers' Adams? Find out everything you need to know about admissions in 2025–2026 and how to prepare your child for success in the 11 plus entrance exam.

Key information for Haberdashers' Adams

• Address: High Street, Newport, TF10 7BD
• Number of pupils: 1,000+
• Admissions contact: [email protected]
• Number of places in Year 7: 135 day places, 15 boarding places
• 11+ exam: West Midlands Grammar School Entrance Test
• Catchment area: Yes

Dates for your diary

• Tuesday 6th May 2025: registration opens for the West Midlands Grammar Schools' Entrance Test
• Friday 13th June 2025: reasonable adjustments deadline
• Friday 27th June 2025: test registration closes
• Saturday 13th September 2025: West Midlands Grammar Schools’ Entrance Test
• Friday 17th October 2025: parents receive test results
• Friday 31st October 2025: secondary school applications close at 5pm
• Monday 2nd March 2026: secondary school national offers day

About Haberdashers' Adams

Haberdashers' Adams is a co-ed grammar school, founded in 1656. It has been educating pupils in Shropshire for approaching 375 years. While proud of its heritage, the school does not allow its history to dictate its future. Teachers are encouraged to use their own creativity and flair in the way they teach their lessons. The school's philosophy is to develop confident, articulate young people who are interesting, balanced and who care for each other.

Haberdashers' Adams is part of the Consortium of Grammar Schools in Shropshire, Walsall and Wolverhampton (SWW Consortium). Children only have to take one test to apply to any of these schools.

How to apply to Haberdashers' Adams

Haberdashers' Adams is a selective state school. This means that your child will need to take the 11 plus exam to be eligible for a place in Year 7.

Haberdashers' Adams is a member of the West Midlands Grammar Schools partnership. The partnership consists of 19 schools across Birmingham, Warwickshire, Shropshire, Walsall and Wolverhampton. All 19 schools share the same entrance test. This means that your child will only need to take the test once – even if you’re applying to multiple schools in the partnership.

The registration portal for the West Midlands Grammar Schools Entrance Test opens Tuesday 6th May 2025 and closes on Friday 27th June. After registration, your child will be invited to take the 11 plus exam at one of the participating schools. They will be allocated a test venue and a slot to take the test on Monday 15th September. You’ll then receive your child’s results in mid-October.

To apply to Haberdashers' Adams, you’ll need to name the school as one of your preferred schools on the secondary school common application form. This will be available on your home council website from early September and must be submitted by 31st October 2025.

Remember – passing the 11 plus doesn’t guarantee that your child will be allocated a place at your preferred school. Many grammar schools are often oversubscribed with qualified children. Schools and their admissions authorities work through admissions criteria to prioritise children for places. We’ve included the admissions criteria for Haberdashers' Adams below.

What subjects are on the entrance exam?

Haberdashers' Adams uses the West Midlands Grammar Schools Entrance Test.

The exam consists of two one-hour papers. These papers are divided into smaller, individually-timed sections which assess:

• English comprehension
• Maths
• Verbal reasoning
• Non-verbal reasoning

All of the questions in the West Midlands Grammar Schools’ Entrance Test are multiple-choice. Your child will have separate answer sheets which they will use to mark their answers. These are marked electronically.

How does place allocation work at Haberdashers' Adams?

Your child’s marks in the West Midlands Grammar Schools Entrance Test are weighted for each section:

• English and verbal reasoning: 50%
• Non-verbal reasoning: 25%
• Maths: 25%

These weighted scores are age-standardised to ensure that younger children aren’t disadvantaged.

Haberdashers' Adams will then set a qualifying score. This isn’t always decided until after the entrance test takes place.

If the number of children who have achieved the qualifying score exceeds the number of places available, Haberdashers' Adams applies oversubscription criteria.

Day places

When more than 135 children applying for day places achieve the qualifying score, places are allocated in this order:

1. Looked After or previously Looked After Children
2. Children who receive Pupil Premium and achieve no lower than 5% below the qualifying score
3. 35 primary schools across the borough of Telford & Wrekin, including all of the primary schools in the immediate Newport (TF10) area
4. All other children in order of their entrance test scores. If a tie break is needed, the child living closest to the school is prioritised

Boarding places

The school interviews all boarding applicants and their parents to consider whether a child presents any hazard to other boarders or whether they would cope with and benefit from a boarding environment. They take into consideration the report from the child's current school

If boarding places are oversubscribed, they are allocated in this order:

1. Looked After or previously Looked After Children
2. Children of members of the UK Armed Forces who qualify for Ministry of Defence financial assistance with the cost of boarding school fees
3. Children with a boarding need
4. Other children in order of their entrance test scores

The school defines 'boarding need' as:

• Children who live too far from the school to take advantage of it as a day pupil
• Children who will prosper where there is a firm external framework of support
• Children whose family background involves a great deal of movement or instability
• Children whose parents cannot, for example because of career demands, give them the time and attention they need and who would benefit from the range of extended activities offered through boarding

Haberdashers' Adams catchment area

Haberdashers' Adams does not have a catchment area as such, instead prioritising children who attend one of the 35 primary schools listed in their admissions policy. This includes all of the primary schools in the immediate Newport (TF10) area and others across the borough of Telford & Wrekin.

The full list of schools is:

Apley Wood Primary, Aqueduct Primary, Captain Webb Primary, Castle House School, Dawley CE Primary, Donnington Wood CE Juniors, Dothill Primary, Hollinswood Primary, Holmer Lake Primary, Ladygrove Primary, Lantern Academy (formerly Queenswood Primary), Lawley Primary, Lawley Village Academy, Lightmoor Village Primary, Lilleshall Primary, Meadows Primary, Millbrook Primary, Moorfield Primary, Muxton Primary, Newdale Primary, Newport CE Juniors School, Old Park Primary, Randlay Primary, St Luke’s Catholic Primary, St Patrick’s Catholic Primary, St Peters, Bratton, St Peter’s CofE Primary School, St Peter & St. Paul Catholic Primary, Short Wood Primary, Teagues Bridge Primary, Tibberton CE Primary, Windmill Primary, Wombridge Primary, Wrekin View Primary, and Wrockwardine Wood CE Junior.

Atom’s top tips for 11 plus preparation

The West Midlands Grammar Schools Entrance Test is designed to select the most academically able children in the area. Here are our top tips to help you and your child feel confident for exam day!

Bitesize learning

It’s important to build a good knowledge base before the 11 plus. Using a ‘little and often’ approach when learning is key – our brains encode new information more effectively when dealing with smaller ‘chunks’ of information. For children aged 10–11, child psychologists recommend regular study sessions of 20–30 minutes.

Atom Home makes learning a more enjoyable process for your child. They'll explore exciting worlds full of interactive questions, earning coins to spend in the Atom shop. Atom adapts to your child, showing them questions at just the right level of difficulty to keep them motivated.

Read widely

11 plus exams test your child’s ability to analyse and interpret written information. Regular reading is a great way to help your child build these skills.

Encourage them to read books from different genres and by a diverse range of authors. Increasing the variety of your child’s reading will help them understand different styles, tones and purposes. Meanwhile, reading a little every day will help widen their vocabulary, sharpen their analytical thinking, and enhance their imagination.

Refine exam technique

When your child feels confident with the topics they’ve learnt in Year 5, they’ll be ready to put their knowledge to the test.

Practice tests can help your child develop problem-solving skills and build confidence working under test conditions. They’re also a great way to consolidate learning and highlight knowledge gaps for further improvement.

With Atom Home, you'll unlock online mock tests and printable practice papers for the West Midlands Grammar Schools Entrance Test. Enjoy automatic marking and progress tracking with the online tests, and help your child get familiar with the real exam experience with printable practice papers.

Celebrate progress

Setting regular, achievable goals and celebrating your child’s progress – no matter how big or small – will help keep their motivation high.

Make sure to encourage a growth mindset. This means celebrating effort, as well as achievement! When your child makes mistakes or struggles to understand a particular topic, help them understand that they’ll improve through practice. Regular praise will help your child improve their resilience when tackling new and challenging topics.