Apply to Churston Ferrers Grammar School, in plain English.
Churston Ferrers is a selective, co-educational grammar near Brixham that fills its 160 Year 7 places on the shared Torbay 11+ score — its admissions policy defines no catchment area, though it does give priority to disadvantaged children, staff children and pupils at 15 named feeder primaries. You must register your child for the 11+ directly with one Torbay grammar by midday on 2 September 2026, then name the school on your council's Common Application Form by 31 October 2026. The English and Maths papers are sat on one Saturday in September.
The three things to know first.
If you read nothing else on this page, read these.
One shared Torbay 11+, used by all three Torbay grammars — register by 2 September 2026.
Churston Ferrers selects on the shared Torbay 11+ — English and Maths papers (set by GL Assessment) used by all three Torbay grammars (Churston Ferrers, Torquay Girls' and Torquay Boys'). Your child sits the test once, at one named school, and the standardised result is considered by each Torbay grammar you apply to. You register directly with the test school; registration opens in January 2026 and the deadline is midday on 2 September 2026.
Places go by score — inside a set of priority bands. There is no catchment.
Once every eligible child's standardised, moderated score is known, the school works through its oversubscription categories: the very highest scorers (at or above the score of the 75th-ranked child) are placed first, then a "social justice" group — Pupil Premium children, staff children and pupils at 15 named feeder primaries — then everyone else by score. There is no catchment area: where you live only ever breaks a tie between equal scores.
Pupil Premium, staff and feeder-school priority are real — but the sibling clause was dropped for 2027.
Eligibility for the Pupil Premium (free school meals now or in the last six years), being a child of school staff, or attending one of the 15 named feeder primaries each gives a genuine priority band — flag any that apply at registration and provide evidence. Note Churston has removed its sibling priority for September 2027 entry: a higher-scoring child without a sibling is no longer leap-frogged. There is no faith priority.
Five steps — starting now.
How places are decided — in order.
Only children who reach an eligible score are considered. Eligible children with an EHCP naming the school are admitted first; the remaining places are then filled by working down these categories in order until the 160 places are full. Tap any criterion to see the exact wording.
In plain English: An eligible child whose Education, Health and Care Plan formally names Churston Ferrers is admitted before any of the bands below, even if it reduces the number of places left for everyone else. The child still has to reach the eligible score in the test.
What the document says: Eligible children with an EHCP that formally names the School will be admitted to the school.
In plain English: An eligible child who is, or was, in council care (including those who ceased to be looked after through adoption, a child arrangements order or special guardianship) is placed in the top category. This group is small in practice.
What the document says: Category A (Statutory Priority) — Looked After and Previously Looked After Children who have achieved a qualifying score.
In plain English: After the categories above, the next places go to the very top of the rank order — every eligible child whose score is at least as high as the score of the 75th-ranked child. This reserves a block of places for the highest performers, wherever they live and whatever their circumstances.
What the document says: Category B (Highest Qualifying Children) — Eligible children with a qualifying score equal to or higher than the score of the 75th ranked child.
In plain English: The school's "Social Justice Priority" group is worked through in turn, and disadvantaged children come first within it. This covers any eligible child entitled to free school meals now or in the last six years, the Pupil Premium, or the Service Pupil Premium for armed-forces families. Tell the school at registration and provide evidence.
What the document says: Category C (Social Justice Priority), applied sequentially — a. Children who qualify for Free School Meals or Pupil Premium or Service Pupil Premium at the time of the test.
In plain English: Next within the Social Justice group come children of people who work at the school — provided the member of staff has been on a permanent contract for at least two years, or was recruited to fill a post for which there is a genuine skill shortage.
What the document says: Category C(b) — Children of staff employed by the school at the time of the Selection Test (employed on a permanent contract for at least two years and/or recruited to fill a vacant post for which there is a demonstrable skill shortage).
In plain English: The last group in the Social Justice band is eligible children on the roll, when the test is taken, of one of Churston's 15 named feeder primaries — its "Priority Admission School Group". This is a priority for those pupils; it is not a catchment area, and your home address has no bearing on it.
What the document says: Category C(c) — Children on the roll of one of the 15 named feeder primary schools (Priority Admission School Group) at the time of the Selection Test: Brixham C of E Primary; Collaton St Mary C of E Primary; Curledge Street Academy, Paignton; Eden Park Primary, Brixham; Furzeham Primary, Brixham; Galmpton Primary; Hayes Primary, Paignton; Kings Ash Academy, Paignton; Oldway Primary, Paignton; Preston Primary, Torquay; Roselands Primary, Paignton; Sacred Heart RC Primary, Paignton; St Margaret Clitherow Primary, Brixham; St Michaels C of E Academy, Paignton; White Rock Primary, Paignton.
In plain English: Any remaining places are filled by every other eligible child in rank order of test score, wherever they live. Most places end up here, so for the majority of families a higher score simply ranks higher. There is no catchment area.
What the document says: Category D (Other Eligible Children) — Eligible children who do not meet any of the criteria listed in Categories A, B or C, ranked by the Selection Test score.
Tie-breaker: for Category D, or for a tie in the final Category C sub-group, priority goes to the child living closest to the school — measured as a straight-line distance from the home address using Torbay Council's mapping system. Where two children live an equal distance away, a random allocation supervised by someone independent of the school decides.
No geographic boundary. Score and priority bands decide.
Churston Ferrers has no catchment area and no geographic restriction — its admissions policy answers a flat "No" to whether it gives priority to children living within a defined area. A child in Brixham, Paignton, Torquay, Newton Abbot or Teignmouth competes on exactly the same terms. Priority for the 15 named feeder primaries is about the school you attend, not where you live, and it sits below the top-scorer and Pupil Premium bands. The circle drawn on our map is illustrative only — it is not a real boundary.
Distance is used only as a tie-breaker — between two children with identical scores in Category D, or in the final feeder-school sub-group: the one living closer, by straight-line measurement to the school, ranks higher, and if still equidistant, a supervised random allocation decides. For everyone else, home address has no bearing on the outcome.
See the school's location on the GrammarBound mapTwo children ranked by score — not by where they live.
In Category D, Child A scored 238 and lives far from school; Child B scored 225 and lives close by. Child A ranks above Child B because score — not proximity — decides. Distance would only matter if their scores were exactly equal.
You have two routes, and you can use both.
Waiting list
Children not allocated a place are held on a waiting list, ranked by the same categories and tie-breaker — not by when you applied. The list is re-ranked every time a name is added or a place is offered, so a child's position can move down as well as up, and the length of time on the list does not affect their place on it. Churston Ferrers keeps a waiting list for every year group throughout the whole school year, with no closing date.
Responses and waiting-list requests are made through Torbay Council's School Admissions Team. Children placed under the local authority's Fair Access Protocol take precedence over the waiting list.
Appeal
You have the right to appeal to an independent appeals panel, whose decision is binding. For a selective school the panel must be satisfied your child reached the required academic standard, so successful appeals are uncommon. Full details, including the deadline and where to send the appeal, are set out in the refusal letter; appealing does not remove your child from the waiting list.
Joining Year 12 from outside.
Churston Ferrers has a co-educational sixth form and admits external students into Year 12 alongside its own Year 11. Entry is by GCSE grades, not the Year 7 test — the selective 11+ criteria do not apply.
The grade floor.
The Minimum Academic Entry Criteria are a GCSE grade 6 in at least five subjects, plus grade 5 or better in both GCSE English Language and Mathematics. Individual courses then add their own subject-specific entry grades (for example, grade 7 GCSE Maths for A-level Maths), set out in the prospectus. Applicants who narrowly miss the overall criteria may still be considered at the Governors' discretion.
Apply direct to the school.
Apply directly to the school's sixth form. Up to 50 external candidates are admitted each year in addition to those continuing from the school's own Year 11. External applications close on 15 February 2027, and you confirm your place on GCSE results day. If external applicants who meet the criteria outnumber the places, looked-after children come first, then those who applied by the deadline, with the highest Attainment 8 score as the final tie-breaker.