Seven schools, one test
The seven Gloucestershire grammar schools (often called the G7) share one entrance test, so your child sits it once to apply to any of them:
- The Crypt School, Gloucester
- Denmark Road High School, Gloucester
- Marling School, Stroud
- Pate's Grammar School, Cheltenham
- Ribston Hall High School, Gloucester
- Sir Thomas Rich's School, Gloucester
- Stroud High School, Stroud
From September 2028 entry, the test is written and marked by Future Stories Community Enterprise (FSCE), an 11+ test provider that is a trading company of Reading School.
Key dates for September 2028 entry
- Registration opens: Monday 8 February 2027 at 12 noon.
- Registration closes: Friday 19 March 2027 at 12 noon.
- The test: Saturday 3 July 2027, in the summer term of Year 5.
- Familiarisation materials: FSCE's guides for children and for parents are on each school's admissions page.
If your child is in Year 5 this school year (2026 to 2027), this is their test. These dates come from the schools' admissions pages, linked below; check your chosen school's page before you register.
How it differs from the old test
Under FSCE the test is in the summer term of Year 5, not September of Year 6 as it was before. That is only about two months earlier on the calendar, but it falls before the summer holiday rather than after it, so plan on your child being ready by early July of Year 5. Families also get their results earlier.
The content changed too. Every question draws on what children are taught at school up to the end of Year 5, across English, maths and the other Key Stage 2 subjects. There is no non-verbal reasoning, and FSCE says the test values applying what children know to new situations over remembering facts.
The three papers
- Adventure: English and maths, with multiple choice answers.
- Beacon: English and maths, answered with short written answers.
- Compass: multiple choice questions from the subjects children learn at school: art and design, computing, design and technology, English, geography, history, languages, maths, music, PE and science.
Each paper typically lasts 45 to 60 minutes, and they may be sat in any order, with a break possible between them. There is no creative writing paper in the Gloucestershire test. Answers are marked by machine, with people checking anything unclear, and FSCE age-standardises the results.
How to prepare
FSCE's own advice for families is to help children:
- work well at primary school, with good attendance;
- read widely and often, paying attention to meaning;
- practise mental arithmetic in everyday situations, and problem-solving puzzles;
- play reasoning and logic games that need imagination;
- use the official Familiarisation Guides from the schools or FSCE.
FSCE says children should not need tutoring or hours of past papers, and it endorses no commercial practice material. We agree that steady work matters more than drilling. What practice can do is make the format familiar, so nothing on the day is a surprise, and show where a child's Year 3 to 5 knowledge has gaps while there is still time to fill them.
How Keystral helps
- Daily practice that adapts: short sessions in Key Stage 2 maths and English that find gaps and go back over them.
- Practice papers in FSCE's format: three sets each of Adventure, Beacon and Compass, timed and marked straight away, with an explanation for every question.
- Writing practice too: creative writing is not in the Gloucestershire test, but it is still worth practising, and our short writing tasks get AI-generated feedback pitched at your child's age.
- Progress you can see: a parent view of what your child has covered and where they need help.
Keystral is independent of FSCE and of the Gloucestershire grammar schools. Our practice papers follow FSCE's published format but are written by us: they are not FSCE's papers, and FSCE does not endorse them. Sources: Pate's Grammar School, Year 7 September 2028 entry, and FSCE's FAQs for Gloucestershire parents, linked from the schools' pages.