Apply to Lancaster Girls' Grammar School, in plain English.
LGGS is a selective grammar for girls (ages 11–18) that fills its 145 Year 7 places through its own 11+ entrance test. Girls must reach a pass mark, are then ranked by test score, and those living in the school's City of Lancaster priority area are placed ahead of girls further afield. Register directly with the school by 9 September 2026 — separately from, and weeks before, the October Common Application Form deadline.
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 LGGS 11+ by 9 September 2026 — directly with the school.
Lancashire runs no county-wide test, so LGGS sets its own 11+. Your daughter sits two standardised tests on the same day, both covering English and Mathematics, reflective of the Key Stage 2 curriculum — no preparation expected. You must complete the school's own test registration form by 12 noon on Wednesday 9 September 2026 (registration opens 1 June 2026). This is completely separate from the Common Application Form you send your home council.
Reach the pass mark, then the City of Lancaster priority area ranks first.
Girls must reach a pass mark in the test (set each year by the Admission Committee, depending on the cohort — there is no published numeric score). Among girls who pass, those whose home is inside the City of Lancaster are ranked ahead of girls living elsewhere. Within every group, places go in order of test score.
Living outside the City of Lancaster does not rule your daughter out.
The priority area confers priority, not exclusion. After the in-city girls, the criteria reach out-of-area girls — first those eligible for Pupil Premium, then all other applicants — every group ranked by test score. A high enough score wins a place from beyond the city.
Five steps — the first deadline is September, not October.
Test registration (step 1) closes on 9 September 2026 — weeks before the Common Application Form deadline that catches most families out. Miss it and there is no route to a place at LGGS for 2027 entry until after National Offer Day.
If more girls pass than there are places, these 6 criteria decide.
Only girls who reach the pass mark in the entrance test are considered at all. If more pass than the 145 places, they are placed in the order below — and within every category girls are ranked strictly by their total test score. An exact tie on score is settled by straight-line distance to the school (then a supervised random lottery). Tap any criterion to see the exact wording.
In plain English: Looked-after and previously looked-after girls come first, as long as they reach the pass mark — or score up to and including 5% below it. This covers children in council care, and those adopted from care (including from state care outside England).
What the document says: Criterion (a) — "Looked after and previously looked after children who have achieved the pass mark or who score up to and including 5% below the Pass Mark or have achieved the MAEC." A girl with an EHC plan naming the School who qualifies is admitted before the oversubscription criteria are applied.
In plain English: Girls whose home is in the City of Lancaster and who attract Pupil PremiumPupil PremiumGirls registered for free school meals at any time in the 6 years before the application, confirmed with the child's current school. funding come next, ranked by test score (including those scoring up to 5% below the pass mark).
What the document says: Criterion (b) — "Applicants whose home address is located in the City of Lancaster at the time of application who are eligible for Pupil Premium and who have achieved the Pass Mark or who score up to and including 5% below the Pass Mark or who have achieved the MAEC." A home is in the City of Lancaster if it falls within the boundaries of the district council.
In plain English: Girls whose permanent home is inside the City of Lancaster and who reach the pass mark, ranked by test score. This is the criterion that places most in-area girls, and it sits above the out-of-area girls below.
What the document says: Criterion (c) — "Applicants whose home address is in the City of Lancaster at the time of application." A home is in the City of Lancaster if it can be found within the boundaries of the district council.
In plain English: Girls whose parent is a current member of LGGS staff — teaching or non-teaching, full or part time — employed for at least two years at the time of application, ranked by test score.
What the document says: Criterion (d) — "Children of staff members employed by Lancaster Girls' Grammar School." The staff member must have been employed for at least two years at the time of application; the criterion covers a birth, adopted or step-child (subject to the cohabiting conditions in the policy) and must be supported by a letter from the staff member's HR manager.
In plain English: The same Pupil-Premium (Free School Meals) priority, now for girls living outside the City of Lancaster, ranked by score and including those up to 5% below the pass mark.
What the document says: Criterion (e) — "Applicants whose home address is outside of the City of Lancaster who are eligible for the Pupil Premium and who have achieved the pass mark or who score a maximum of 5% below the Pass Mark or who have achieved the MAEC."
In plain English: Every other girl who reached the pass mark — wherever she lives — ranked by test score. These places are filled after Criteria 1–5, so a high score can still win a place from well outside the city.
What the document says: Criterion (f) — "All other applicants … who have achieved the Pass Mark or MAEC and are not included in any of the criteria above will be allocated places in this criterion." Within the criterion, applicants are ranked by test score (§11.1), with straight-line distance to the school the same-score tie-break (§11.2).
A priority area — not a catchment wall.
This is the bit parents most often get wrong, in both directions. The priority area is the City of Lancaster — the local-government district covering Lancaster, Morecambe, Heysham, Carnforth and Silverdale. Girls living there are ranked first (Criteria 2–3), ahead of girls living anywhere else (Criteria 5–6). Within every group, ranking is by total test score.
There is no distance cut-off: distance only ever breaks a tie between two girls on the same score (a straight-line, radial measurement using Ordnance Survey co-ordinates), and an exact distance tie is settled by supervised random lottery. The map shows the City of Lancaster priority area as a real boundary.
See the priority area on the GrammarBound mapInside the city: priority. Outside it: still in the running on score.
Girl A lives in Morecambe, inside the City of Lancaster, so a qualifying score places her under Criterion 3 — ahead of every out-of-area girl. Girl B lives in Preston, outside the city, so she ranks under Criterion 6 — behind the in-city girls, but still in the running for any places left. Both are ranked on test score within their group; a higher score never loses to a lower one in the same criterion.
You have two routes, and you can use both.
Waiting list
If your daughter passed the entrance test but wasn't offered a place, she is held on the waiting list. When a place comes free it goes to the girl ranked highest under the same oversubscription criteria — not first-come-first-served — so a later joiner in a higher criterion or with a higher score can move above you.
The home local authority co-ordinates the waiting list under the Lancashire scheme.
Appeal
You have a statutory right of appeal against the decision not to offer a place, following formal notification by the local authority. Appeals are heard by an independent panel whose decision binds the Trust Board, and appealing does not affect your daughter's waiting-list position.
A separate, girls-only route in at 16.
Year 7 is the main entry point, but LGGS also admits external girls into its Year 12 (PAN 95, including internal transfers). External applicants apply direct to the school, not through the council form, and are judged on GCSE achievement against the Minimum Academic Entry Criteria.
The grade floor.
The Minimum Academic Entry Criteria are at least five GCSEs at grade 6, plus at least grade 4 in both GCSE English Language and Mathematics, plus the specific subject requirements for each A-level course. Individual courses set their own higher grades, so check the requirement for each subject your daughter wants to study.
Apply direct to the school.
External Sixth Form applications go straight to LGGS — not through the Common Application Form — by 27 January 2027, with conditional offers on predicted grades by 12 February 2027 and firm offers confirmed on GCSE results day. See the school's Sixth Form admissions page for the form and subject requirements.