Apply to Calday Grange Grammar School, in plain English.
Calday Grange is a selective boys' grammar in West Kirby on the Wirral (with a co-educational sixth form) that admits on the Wirral 11+ — you register for the test with Wirral Council separately from your council application, and the deadline is 1 June 2026. There is no catchment area: any child who reaches the qualifying score of 236 can be considered. With around 357 children applying for the 210 places, a qualifying score does not guarantee an offer — after a few small priority groups, the remaining places go to the children living nearest the school.
The three things to know first.
If you read nothing else on this page, read these.
You sit one test — the Wirral 11+ — and you register with Wirral Council by 1 June 2026.
The Wirral 11+ (the Secondary Transfer Test) is run by Wirral Council and shared by the four secular Wirral grammars — Calday Grange, West Kirby, Wirral Boys and Wirral Girls. Children sit two papers — verbal reasoning, non-verbal reasoning and mathematics — on Tuesday 15 September 2026. You register through Wirral Council, separately from your council's school application, and the window closes at 12 noon on 1 June 2026. A combined standardised score of 236 or above reaches the grammar school standard.
There is no catchment — but distance decides most of the places.
Calday Grange has no designated catchment area, so a qualifying child from anywhere can apply. But beyond the qualifying score the test result is not a rank: after a few small priority groups (children in care, a medical or social need, up to 15 Free School Meal places, then siblings), the remaining places — the large majority of the 210 — go to the qualifying children who live nearest the school. So where you live matters a great deal.
Up to 15 places are reserved for Free School Meal children — claim it on the council form.
Of the 210 places, up to 15 are set aside for qualifying children eligible for Free School MealsFree School Meals (FSM)Children eligible for free school meals at the time of application. Calday Grange offers up to 15 places to qualifying FSM children, ranked among themselves by shortest walking distance. Details are verified by Wirral's Children & Young People's Department. at the time of application, ranked among themselves by shortest walking distance. You name Calday Grange on your home council's application form by 31 October 2026 — passing the test is not an application on its own.
Five steps — starting now.
If more qualifying children apply than there are places, these criteria decide.
Only children who reach the qualifying score of 236 are considered. Among them, places are allocated in the order below; the last and largest group is decided by shortest walking distance. Tap any criterion to see the exact wording.
In plain English: A child currently in council care, or who left care through adoption, a child arrangements order or a special guardianship order, gets first priority — provided they reached the qualifying score. In practice this is a small group.
What the document says: Looked After Children (a child in the care of a local authority or being provided with accommodation in the exercise of social services functions under section 22(1) of the Children Act 1989). A previously Looked After Child is one who immediately moved on from that status after becoming subject to an adoption, child arrangement or special guardianship order.
In plain English: Next come qualifying children with a genuine medical or social reason for needing a place at this particular school, supported in writing by a doctor, social worker or other appropriate professional. This is uncommon and the evidence must be specific to Calday Grange.
What the document says: To those children with a valid medical or social reason supported in writing by a doctor, social worker or appropriate professional person.
In plain English: Up to 15 places are reserved for qualifying children eligible for Free School Meals at the time of application, ranked among themselves by shortest walking distance. You must provide the details to Wirral's Children & Young People's Department, who verify eligibility.
What the document says: Up to 15 places for children on Free School Meals at the time of application who achieve the qualifying score in rank order of the shortest walking distance from the school. Details must be provided to Wirral's Children & Young People's Department and this information will be verified.
In plain English: Qualifying children who will have a brother or sister at the school at the time they start come next. This covers full, half, step and adopted siblings living in the same household.
What the document says: To those children who will have a sibling at the school at the time of admission. A sibling is defined as a brother or sister by the same parents; a half brother or sister; a step-brother or sister; or an adopted child living in the same household.
In plain English: All the remaining places — the large majority — go to the qualifying children who live closest to the school, measured by shortest walking distance using Wirral's computer mapping system. This is where most places are decided, so living near the school is the biggest factor once your child has qualified.
What the document says: By reference to geographical factors, preference will be given to children with the shortest walking distance from the school as measured by the Local Authority computer mapping system.
Tie-breaks: Where two children cannot be separated by the criteria above — for example, the same walking distance for the last place — a random allocation process is used, supervised in line with the School Admissions Code.
No boundary — but distance decides most of the places.
Calday Grange has no designated catchment, so a qualifying child from anywhere can be considered on equal terms. But beyond the qualifying score of 236 the test result is not a rank: after a handful of small priority groups (children in care, a medical or social need, up to 15 Free School Meal places, then siblings), the remaining places — the large majority of the 210 — go to the qualifying children who live nearest the school. So reaching 236 gets you into the running; how close you live then decides most of the offers.
Distance is measured as the shortest walking distance from your home to the school, using Wirral's computer mapping system — not as the crow flies, and not by car. The displayed circle on our map is illustrative only; it is not a real boundary, and no fixed cutoff distance is published.
See Calday Grange's location on the GrammarBound mapOnce you qualify, the nearer child wins.
Child A scored well above 236 but lives a long way from West Kirby. Child B only just cleared 236 but lives close by. Because the test is pass/fail, not a rank, a higher score gives Child A no advantage once both have qualified — so in the distance criterion the closer Child B is offered a place first. A strong score gets you considered; proximity then does most of the work.
You have two routes, and you can use both.
Waiting list
Qualifying children who were not offered a place are held on a waiting list, ranked by the same oversubscription criteria and re-ordered each time a name is added or removed. A place can come up at any point if a family declines its offer or moves away.
The waiting list is run through Wirral's co-ordinated admissions scheme.
Appeal
If your child reached the qualifying standard but was not offered a place, you have the right to appeal to an independent panel, which follows the statutory School Admissions Code. Appealing does not remove your child from the waiting list — you can do both.
Joining Year 12 from outside.
Calday Grange has a large co-educational sixth form and welcomes a number of external students each year alongside its own Year 11s.
The grade floor.
Entry is by GCSE results. You need a minimum of five GCSEs at grade 5, including grade 5 in GCSE English Language or Literature and in Mathematics, plus the published subject entry requirements for each A level you intend to take. Full subject-by-subject requirements are set out in the Sixth Form prospectus.
Apply direct to the school.
Existing students have priority, but the school welcomes external applicants each year. External students apply directly to Calday Grange through the school's Applicaa platform (linked from the Sixth Form section of the website). There is no fixed cap on external entry as long as admissions do not prejudice efficient education, and offers are confirmed once GCSE results meet the requirements.