Apply to Pate's Grammar School, in plain English.
Pate's is a co-educational super-selective grammar in Cheltenham: every child must reach the qualifying standard on the shared Gloucestershire Grammar School test, and the 150 places are then offered in test-rank order — with the bulk reserved for children who live locally in Gloucestershire, and a minimum of 45 kept open UK-wide. You must register for the test by 26 June 2026 at midday, then name the school on your council's Common Application Form by 31 October 2026. Disadvantaged children qualify at a lower standardised score.
The three things to know first.
If you read nothing else on this page, read these.
One shared test, used by all seven Gloucestershire grammars — register by 26 June 2026 at midday.
Pate's uses the Gloucestershire Grammar School Admission Test (the G7 test), set by GL Assessment for 2027 entry. You register once and the same score is used by every G7 school you apply to. The test is sat on Saturday 12 September 2026; registration closes at noon on 26 June 2026 and there are no re-sits.
Where you live matters: 105 of the 150 places are reserved for local Gloucestershire children.
Unlike most super-selectives, Pate's splits its places once children have qualified. Up to 105 places go to qualifying children who live in Gloucestershire (or hold a GL postcode), in rank order of score, and a minimum of 45 places stay open UK-wide. Meeting the qualifying standard does not guarantee a place — it only makes your child eligible to be ranked.
Disadvantaged children qualify at a lower score — flag it on the registration form.
The qualifying standard for children who are Pupil Premium, looked-after or previously looked-after is set lower than for other children, and up to 15 "Priority Places" are set aside for them. You must declare eligibility on the test registration form; the school then verifies it with the local authority. There is no sibling, faith, staff-child or feeder-school priority.
Five steps — starting now.
If more children qualify than there are places, these 4 groups decide.
Only children who meet the qualifying standard are considered. The 150 places are then offered to four groups in this order; within each group, the highest test score comes first. Tap any criterion to see the exact wording.
In plain English: Children who are or were in council care (including those adopted from care or under a special guardianship / child arrangements order) get the highest priority, provided they meet the qualifying standard — or score within 15% of the 150th-ranked score. This group is small in practice.
What the document says: 1. All Looked After Children, Previously Looked After Children and Internationally Adopted Previously Looked After Children who achieve the Qualifying Standard, or who achieve a score within 15% or better of the 150th ranked standardised score.
In plain English: Up to 15 "Priority Places" are reserved for disadvantaged children — those eligible for Pupil Premium (broadly, registered for income-related free school meals at any point in the six years before the test registration deadline). They qualify at a lower standardised score, and are ranked first by the most deprived Cheltenham postcodes, then the rest of Cheltenham Borough, then GL postcodes. Declare eligibility at registration; the school verifies it with the local authority.
What the document says: 2. Priority Places — a maximum of 15 places, allocated in order: (i) Pupil Premium children with a home postcode in Appendix 1 (IDACI deciles 1–3 within Cheltenham Borough); (ii) Pupil Premium children within the Cheltenham Borough boundary (Appendix 2); (iii) any home postcode in Appendix 1; (iv) Pupil Premium children with a GL postcode (Appendix 3); (v) all other Pupil Premium children. Disadvantaged children qualify with a score within 15% of the 150th ranked score.
In plain English: This is the main local-priority group. Once the looked-after and Priority Places are filled to a running total of 105, the remaining "Local" places go to the highest-scoring qualifying children who live in Gloucestershire or hold a GL postcode (GL1–GL56), in rank order of test score. This is the catchment shaded on our map — but note it is a priority area, not a hard cut-off.
What the document says: 3. Non-Priority Places (Local) — allocated until the total of looked-after, Priority and Local places reaches 105, to students meeting the Qualifying Standard by rank order who live in Gloucestershire or have a home postcode in Appendix 3 (GL1–GL56).
In plain English: A minimum of 45 places are kept open to the highest-scoring qualifying children wherever they live — so a child outside Gloucestershire can still win a place on score alone. Distance is used only to separate two children with exactly the same score (see the worked example below).
What the document says: 4. Non-Priority Places (UK wide) — a minimum of 45 places allocated to students meeting the Qualifying Standard with a home postcode anywhere within the UK, by rank order.
Tie-breaker: if two children have an equal combined score, the higher rank goes to the one living closest to the school, measured in a straight line from their front door to the front entrance of the school. If that still cannot separate them, places are decided by supervised random allocation (drawing of lots).
Gloucestershire children get priority for most places.
Pate's is not a pure score-only school. After children qualify on the test, the 150 places split into a "Local" pool of up to 105 — for qualifying children who live in Gloucestershire or hold a GL postcode (GL1–GL56) — and a UK-wide pool of at least 45 open to anyone. The shaded area on our map is the Local priority area: the administrative county of Gloucestershire, covering Cheltenham, Gloucester, Stroud, the Cotswolds, Tewkesbury and the Forest of Dean. It is a priority area, not a hard boundary — a high-scoring child from outside can still take a UK-wide place.
Within each pool, children are ranked purely by combined standardised test score. Distance is used only as a tie-breaker between two children with identical scores: the one living closer (straight-line, front door to front entrance) ranks higher, and if still tied, a supervised random draw decides.
See Pate's local-priority area on the GrammarBound mapLocal pool vs UK-wide pool — both ranked by score.
A child in Cheltenham, Gloucester or the Cotswolds competes for the 105 Local places; a child from outside Gloucestershire competes for the minimum 45 UK-wide places. Both must first meet the qualifying standard, and within each pool the highest score wins. Distance only breaks an exact-score tie.
You have two routes, and you can use both.
Waiting list
If the school is oversubscribed, a Year 7 waiting list is held and prioritised by the same rank order (the tie-breaker applies if needed), irrespective of when you applied. Only children who met the qualifying standard can join it. The list is held until 31 December 2027.
Request via the school's Admissions Office.
Appeal
You have the right to appeal to an independent appeals panel. Note that for a selective school the panel must be satisfied your child met the qualifying standard, so successful appeals are uncommon. Appealing does not remove your child from the waiting list.
Joining Year 12 from outside.
Pate's offers a minimum of 80 external places into Year 12 alongside its own Year 11. The same minimum GCSE requirements apply to internal and external applicants.
The grade floor.
You need a "Best 8" GCSE points score that meets the minimum published in the Sixth Form Prospectus (each grade scores its own number on the 9–1 scale). You must also have at least grade 6 in GCSE English and Mathematics, and at least grade 7 in any subject you want to study at A Level. Offers are conditional on there being capacity in each subject.
Apply direct to the school.
A minimum of 80 external places are available for September entry. Apply directly to Pate's via the Sixth Form website; the Year 7 admissions criteria do not apply. Where external applicants are oversubscribed, looked-after children rank first, then Pupil Premium applicants, then others by total "Best 8" GCSE points. Provisional offers are made by the end of April and confirmed on results day.