Apply to Heckmondwike Grammar School, in plain English.
Heckmondwike Grammar School is a co-educational selective grammar in Kirklees that offers up to 210 Year 7 places through its own entrance examination. Children first have to reach the standard the test sets; after that, a small slice of places is reserved as priority for Pupil Premium children and for families living in the school's WF16/WF15 catchment, but the large majority of places are simply filled in order of test score, wherever you live. Register for the test by 22 June 2026 — a separate step from naming the school on your council application.
The three things to know first.
If you read nothing else on this page, read these. They're the bits that catch parents out.
Register for the test by 22 June 2026 — when your child is in Year 5.
Heckmondwike's entrance test is sat in September 2026, at the start of Year 6, but you must register your child online with the school by noon on 22 June 2026 — before the end of Year 5. This is completely separate from the application you send your home council in the autumn. Miss this deadline and your child cannot sit the test; late registrations are not accepted.
Pass the test, and most places go to the highest scorers.
Selection has two stages. First the test sets a standard your child must reach to be considered at all. Then, once a handful of priority groups are placed, the rest of the 210 places are filled in order of overall test score — so among children who qualify, a higher mark genuinely helps, wherever you live.
The catchment is a small priority head, not a boundary.
Living in the school's catchment — WF16 (Heckmondwike), WF15 6/7 (Liversedge) and part of WF15 8 (Roberttown) — gives priority for a slice of the places, sitting just below children in care and Pupil Premium children. But it is a small group: most places are filled by open score rank, so families well outside the catchment are admitted every year on the strength of their test result.
Four steps — and two separate deadlines.
Test registration (step 1) closes on 22 June 2026, when your child is in Year 5; your council application (step 4) closes on 31 October 2026, in Year 6. They are different forms sent to different places — you need both. Miss the test registration and there is no route to a place for 2027 entry.
If more children pass than there are places, these criteria decide.
Only children who reach the required standard in the test are considered at all. After children in care come Pupil Premium children, then children living in the catchment, then siblings, then children of staff, then a small music group — and once those are placed, every remaining place is filled in order of test score. Tap any criterion to see the exact wording.
In plain English: Looked-after and previously looked-after children of selective ability come first among the oversubscription criteria, as long as they reach the required standard in the test. This covers children in council care, and those who left care through adoption, a residence order or a special guardianship order — in or outside England.
What the document says: Criterion 1 — "Children of selective ability who are in public care (in or outside of England) or have previously been in public care." A child who reaches the standard and whose EHC plan names the school is placed first of all, ahead of the oversubscription criteria.
In plain English: Qualifying children who are eligible for the Pupil Premium (broadly, children entitled to free school meals or who have been in the recent past) are placed ahead of the catchment and everyone below it. You must send proof of eligibility to the school by noon on 26 June 2026 for it to count.
What the document says: Criterion 2 — "Children of selective ability who are eligible for the Pupil Premium." Proof of Pupil Premium is required and must be submitted by 12 noon on Friday 26 June 2026.
In plain English: Qualifying children whose permanent home is inside the catchment get the next slice of places, ahead of siblings, staff children and the open score pool. The catchment is small — Heckmondwike, Liversedge and Roberttown — so this priority helps families on the school's doorstep, but it does not fill the school: most places still go by open score rank.
What the document says: Criterion 3 — "Children of selective ability who reside in the catchment area (a map of the catchment area is available on the school's website). The place of residence is the child's permanent address on the date of sitting the entrance exam." The published catchment is WF16, WF15 6, WF15 7, WF15 8A and WF15 8BA–8BE. Proof of residence is required.
In plain English: Qualifying children with a brother or sister already at Heckmondwike — including in the Sixth Form — who will still be on roll when the younger child starts, are placed next, below the catchment but above staff children and the open score pool.
What the document says: Criterion 4 — "Children of selective ability who already have siblings in the school, including the Sixth Form, where those siblings will remain on roll when the child is admitted." Sibling covers children at the same address with a parent in common, related by a parent's marriage, or whose parents live as partners at that address.
In plain English: Qualifying children of staff who have worked at the school for two or more years, or who were recruited to a post with a recognised skill shortage, come next — above the open score pool but below the catchment and sibling groups. It applies to relatively few families each year.
What the document says: Criterion 5 — "Children of selective ability who have a parent who is employed by the school and has been so for two or more years at the time of sitting the entrance examination, or who has been recruited to a post where there is a recognised skill shortage."
In plain English: A small musical-aptitude category sits last among the priority criteria. Qualifying children who hold a certificated grade 2 or above on an instrument or in voice get priority — but no more than 5% of all offers are made this way, and if too many qualify, the highest test scorers among them are chosen. You must send the original certificate to the school by 11 September 2026.
What the document says: Criterion 6 — "Children who have gained grade 2 or above in Music. The percentage of children offered a place under this criterion shall not exceed 5% of the total number of offers made. If more candidates meet the criterion for Music, places will be offered to those children scoring highest on the entrance examination." The grade-2 award must be a solo performance qualification (instrument or voice) from an OFQUAL-regulated body such as ABRSM or Trinity.
In plain English: Once the priority groups above are placed, all the remaining places — the large majority of the 210 — are filled in order of overall test score, regardless of where you live. This is the route most children take, so among qualifiers a higher mark is what counts.
What the document says: "Once criteria 1 to 6 have been applied, the remaining places will be offered on the basis of overall performance in the entrance examination. The criteria will be used to create a ranked list of selected students which will be forwarded to the Local Authority."
A small catchment-priority head — then the test score decides the rest.
This is the bit parents most often get wrong, in both directions. Heckmondwike does have a catchment — WF16 (Heckmondwike), WF15 6/7 (Liversedge) and part of WF15 8 (Roberttown) — and living in it gives priority for a slice of places, sitting just below children in care and Pupil Premium children. But it is not an exclusion boundary: the catchment, siblings, staff and the music group together account for well under a tenth of the intake, and most of the 210 places are filled in open order of test score, wherever the child lives.
So two things are true at once: a family on the school's doorstep gets a genuine leg-up, and a family miles away is admitted every year on the strength of a strong test result. There is no published distance cut-off and no fixed pass mark — the standard moves each year with the cohort. The map shows the catchment as a real boundary built from the WF16 and WF15 postcode districts; for an address right on the edge of WF15 8, check the school's own catchment map.
See the catchment area on the GrammarBound mapIn catchment gives priority — but a strong score wins from anywhere.
All three children passed the test. Child A lives in the catchment, so is offered a place under criterion 3 — the priority head. Child B lives well outside the catchment but scores 238, high enough to be offered one of the many open places filled by score. Child C, also outside the catchment, scores 206 — below the line where the open places run out that year — so misses out. Out of catchment, the score is what counts.
You have two routes, and you can use both.
Waiting list
The school runs two Year 7 waiting lists. If your child reached the required standard but wasn't offered a place, they go automatically onto waiting list 1, ranked by the same oversubscription criteria — children in care, Pupil Premium, catchment, sibling, staff, music, then test score. Places are filled from list 1 first. Waiting list 2 is for children who did not meet the standard or missed the test, and is used only in the rare event list 1 is empty, when those children are invited to sit a test. List 1 runs throughout Year 7.
To keep your child on the list, confirm with the school by 19 March 2027.
Appeal
You have a statutory right of appeal against the local authority's decision not to offer a place, regardless of where you ranked the school on your application. Appeals are heard in June by an independent panel whose decision binds the school and the parents; appealing does not affect your child's waiting-list position. Details of the process are published on the school website after 1 March.
A separate route in at 16.
Year 7 is the main entry point, but Heckmondwike also admits external students into its co-educational Sixth Form. There is no entrance test — applicants apply direct to the school and are judged on GCSE achievement, then on the entry requirements for each A-level course.
The grade floor.
The minimum for a Year 12 place is grade 5 in GCSE Mathematics and grade 5 in GCSE English Language or Literature (a grade 6 is preferred in both), plus three further GCSEs at grade 6 or above. Many A-levels then need a higher grade in the related GCSE — for example a grade 7 in the subject for Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Mathematics — so check each course in the Sixth Form prospectus.
Apply direct to the school.
External Sixth Form applications go straight to Heckmondwike — not through the local-authority form — by the school's published closing date, with places confirmed on GCSE results day. Current Year 11 students at the school are considered automatically. See the school's Sixth Form pages for the application form and the current prospectus, which lists the academic criteria for each course.