Apply to Poole Grammar School, in plain English.
Poole Grammar is a selective boys' grammar on Gravel Hill in Poole that admits 180 boys a year through the shared BCP Consortium 11+ — one set of GL Assessment papers used by all four Bournemouth, Christchurch & Poole grammar schools. Every boy must first reach the qualifying standard; places then run through looked-after children, Pupil Premium boys, staff children and finally the rest, with boys living in the school's relevant area — the historic Borough of Poole and its postcodes — ranked above those outside it. Register by 4 September 2026, separately from and weeks before the October 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.
You register for the BCP 11+ directly with the school — by 4 September 2026.
Poole Grammar does not run a test of its own. It uses the shared BCP Consortium 11+ — one set of GL Assessment papers in Verbal Reasoning, Maths and English, sat by all four Bournemouth, Christchurch & Poole grammar schools. You register on the Poole Grammar admissions page; registration closes at 12 noon on 4 September 2026. Your son sits the test once, at one of the two boys' testing venues (Poole Grammar or Bournemouth School), and the result is shared across all four schools. Registering for the test is separate from naming Poole Grammar on your council form — you must do both.
Where you live shapes most of it — in-area boys rank above those outside.
Passing the test only gets your son into the ranking. Poole Grammar gives priority to its relevant area — the historic Borough of Poole, or Poole postcodes BH12, BH13, BH14, BH15, BH16, BH17, BH18 and BH21 3. For the main competition (boys not on the Pupil Premium and not staff children), in-area boys are placed by score before any out-of-area boy. Only a small number of Pupil Premium and staff places sit above that line. Living inside the relevant area is the single biggest factor after the test itself.
Pupil Premium boys get priority — ahead of the general in-area pool.
Qualifying boys entitled to the Pupil Premium are placed near the top — in-area Pupil Premium boys first, then out-of-area Pupil Premium boys — before the general in-area ranking. Poole Grammar's definition of the Pupil Premium includes children of service personnel in the last six years, so forces families qualify under the same criterion. You must provide documentary evidence at the point of test registration — it can't be added later.
Four steps — the first deadline is summer, not October.
Registering for the BCP 11+ (step 1) closes on 4 September 2026 — weeks before the council application deadline that catches most families out. Registering for the test is not the same as naming Poole Grammar on your council application; you must do both.
If more boys pass than there are places, this order decides.
Boys with an EHCP naming Poole Grammar are admitted first, before the 180 are allocated. Everyone else must reach the required standard in the BCP test; qualifying boys are then placed in the order below, with the highest scorers offered first within each group. Tap any criterion to see the exact wording.
In plain English: A boy whose Education, Health and Care Plan names Poole Grammar, and who has met the required standard, must be admitted before the oversubscription criteria are applied.
What the document says: Boys with an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) issued by a local authority naming Poole Grammar School as the school where they should receive their education and who have achieved the academic standard required will be admitted to the school before preferences are considered for admission in September 2027.
In plain English: A boy who is in local-authority care, or who left care through adoption, a child arrangements or a special guardianship order, is the first oversubscription category once he has met the required standard — ahead of the relevant-area groups.
What the document says: a. Eligible boys who are classed as "Looked After" or have previously been "Looked After", whether in England or another country, in rank order of the entrance test scores.
In plain English: The first slice of places goes to qualifying boys who live in the Borough of Poole (or postcodes BH12–BH18, BH21 3) and are entitled to the Pupil Premium — which the policy defines to include children of service personnel in the last six years. You must provide documentary evidence at the point of test registration.
What the document says: b. Eligible boys who live within the historic Borough of Poole or Poole postcodes BH12, BH13, BH14, BH15, BH16, BH17, BH18 and BH21 3 and who currently receive Pupil Premium, in rank order of the entrance test scores.
In plain English: Pupil Premium priority reaches beyond the relevant area too — qualifying out-of-area boys on the Pupil Premium are placed by score before the general in-area ranking and before staff children.
What the document says: c. Eligible boys who live outside the historic Borough of Poole or Poole postcodes BH12, BH13, BH14, BH15, BH16, BH17, BH18 and BH21 3, who currently receive Pupil Premium, in rank order of the entrance test scores.
In plain English: A qualifying boy whose parent has worked at Poole Grammar for at least two years at the time of application is placed next, ahead of the general in-area ranking. This is the only "connection to the school" priority — there is no sibling priority.
What the document says: d. Eligible boys who are the sons of current members of staff where the member of staff has been employed at the school for two or more years at the time when the application for admission to the school is made, in rank order of the entrance test scores.
In plain English: The bulk of places go to qualifying boys whose home is in the relevant area, offered to the highest scorers first. This is the criterion most local parents are competing under — and it sits above every out-of-area boy who is not on the Pupil Premium.
What the document says: e. Eligible boys who currently live within the historic Borough of Poole or Poole postcodes BH12, BH13, BH14, BH15, BH16, BH17, BH18, and BH21 3 and who do not receive Pupil Premium, in rank order of the entrance test scores.
In plain English: Whatever places remain go to the highest-scoring boys living outside the area, wherever they live. For an out-of-area boy who is not on the Pupil Premium, this is the route — and it takes a high score.
What the document says: f. Eligible boys who live outside the historic Borough of Poole or Poole postcodes BH12, BH13, BH14, BH15, BH16, BH17, BH18 and BH21 3 who do not receive Pupil Premium, in rank order of the entrance test scores.
A postcode boundary — in-area boys rank above those outside.
Poole Grammar's catchment is not a radius but a defined area: the historic Borough of Poole, or Poole postcode districts BH12, BH13, BH14, BH15, BH16, BH17, BH18 and BH21 3 — Parkstone, Branksome, Canford Cliffs, Penn Hill, Poole town, Hamworthy, Upton, Creekmoor, Broadstone and Merley. For the main competition — qualifying boys who are not on the Pupil Premium and not staff children — every in-area boy is ranked by score ahead of every out-of-area boy. Score sets your son's rank within his group, but living inside the area is what puts him ahead of outside applicants for the bulk of the places. (A small set of Pupil Premium and staff places sit above that in-area/out-of-area line.)
Distance only breaks a final tie: where boys have identical scores competing for the 180th place, the place goes to whoever lives nearest the school, measured along the shortest safe practicable walking route to the nearest pedestrian entrance (BCP Council's GIS), with a random draw for genuinely equal distances. A special rule covers homes on islands in Poole Harbour and journeys via the Sandbanks/Studland chain ferry.
See the relevant area on the GrammarBound mapInside the area: in the race. Outside: a high score only.
Boy A lives in Poole (BH15), inside the relevant area, so his score puts him straight into the running for the bulk of the places. Boy B lives in Bournemouth, outside the Poole area: unless he is on the Pupil Premium, even a higher score competes only for the places left over after the in-area boys are placed. Distance never moves an out-of-area boy ahead of an in-area boy.
You have two routes, and you can use both.
Waiting list
A boy who met the required standard but isn't offered a place can be added to a waiting list, ranked by the same oversubscription criteria — not first-come-first-served, and time spent on the list does not count. When a place comes free below the 180, it goes to the highest-ranked boy on the list. The waiting list operates until the end of the academic year for which the application was made, after which it lapses.
Meeting-the-standard status lasts 18 months from the test date for Year 7; to stay on the list for the next academic year you submit a new application to BCP Council from 1 June.
Appeal
You have a statutory right of appeal against the decision not to offer a place. A place may be refused on one of two grounds: your son did not meet the required standard, or he met the standard but the school is oversubscribed. In both cases you can make your case to an Independent Appeal Panel whose decision binds both sides; appealing does not affect your son's waiting-list position.
Joining Year 12 at Poole Grammar.
Poole Grammar has a co-educational Sixth Form and admits external students into Year 12 alongside its own Year 11 boys. The relevant area does not apply: Sixth Form entry is decided on GCSE results. External applicants apply directly to the school, not through the council, by 1 February 2027.
The grade floor.
Applicants need a mean grade of 5.5 across their best seven full-course GCSEs (or level 2 equivalent), and at least grade 5 in GCSE English Language and grade 5 in GCSE Mathematics. Individual A level courses then carry their own subject-specific entry requirements, set out each year in the Sixth Form Subject Directory.
Apply direct to the school.
Up to 30 external students are admitted into Year 12 (the Year 12 admission number is 30), meeting the same academic requirement as Poole Grammar's own students; a place on a particular A level also depends on course capacity. Where external applicants are oversubscribed, selection follows the same oversubscription criteria as the main school (except that Pupil Premium is judged on Year 11 eligibility). Applications go straight to the school by 1 February 2027 — see the Joining the Sixth Form pages for the current form and subject requirements.