Apply to Torquay Boys' Grammar School, in plain English.
Torquay Boys' Grammar School is a selective boys' grammar in Shiphay, Torquay that fills all 168 Year 7 places in rank order of the shared Torbay 11+ score — its admissions policy defines no catchment area. You must register your son for the 11+ directly with one Torbay grammar by the final deadline of midday on 4 September 2026 (the school prefers 15 July), 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 4 September 2026.
Torquay Boys' Grammar School selects on the shared Torbay 11+ — English and Maths papers used by all three Torbay grammars (Torquay Boys', Torquay Girls' and Churston Ferrers). Your son sits the test once, at the School or another selective school in the area, and the standardised result is considered by each Torbay grammar he applies to. You register directly with the test school; registration opens 1 March 2026 and the final deadline is midday on 4 September 2026 (the school prefers midday on 15 July 2026).
Places go in rank order of test score — there is no catchment.
Once every eligible boy's standardised, moderated score is known, the Admissions Panel ranks them and offers all 168 places from the highest score down, wherever they live, until the places run out or the pass threshold is reached. Reaching an eligible score does not guarantee a place — it only makes your son eligible to be ranked, and the school fills to its admission number of 168.
The priority criteria only break a tie when two boys have the same score.
Because places are allocated strictly by score, the oversubscription criteria — looked-after children, then Pupil Premium, then everyone else — come into play only to separate two or more boys with an identical score for the last place. If your son qualifies for the Pupil Premium (free school meals now or in the last six years), flag it at registration and provide evidence. There is no sibling, staff, faith or feeder-school priority.
Five steps — starting now.
Places go by score — these 3 criteria only break a tie.
Only boys who reach an eligible score are considered, and places are offered strictly in rank order of that score until the 168 places are full. These three criteria come into play only to separate two or more boys with exactly the same score for the last available place; within each group, the one living closer to school comes first. Tap any criterion to see the exact wording.
In plain English: If two boys tie on score for the last place, a boy who is or was in council care (including those who ceased to be looked after through adoption, a child arrangements order or special guardianship) takes priority. This group is small in practice.
What the document says: Looked after and previously looked after candidates.
In plain English: Among boys with the same tied score, the next priority goes to those eligible for the Pupil Premium — currently registered for free school meals, or registered for them at any point in the last six years, or a previously looked-after child. You must complete a Supplementary Information Form and provide evidence; the school may confirm eligibility. Note the TBGS Pupil Premium does not include a separate Service Premium for armed-forces families.
What the document says: Candidates who are eligible for the Pupil Premium. Parents must complete and submit a Supplementary Information Form for inclusion in this category.
In plain English: Every boy who is not in the two groups above sits here. Remember this list matters only for boys whose scores are tied for the last place — for everyone else, the higher score simply wins. There is no catchment area, so where you live makes no difference except as the tie-breaker below.
What the document says: All other candidates.
Tie-breaker: within any of the three categories above, priority goes to the boy living closest to the school — measured as a straight-line distance between the home address and the school. Where two boys live an equal distance away, a random allocation supervised by someone independent of the school decides.
No geographic boundary. Rank order decides everything.
Torquay Boys' Grammar School 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. Once every eligible boy's standardised score is known, the Admissions Panel allocates all 168 places from the highest score down, regardless of where they live. A boy in Torquay, Paignton, Brixham, Newton Abbot or Teignmouth competes on exactly the same terms. 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 boys with identical scores for the last place: 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 boys ranked by score — not by where they live.
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
Boys not allocated a place are held on a waiting list, ranked by score with the oversubscription criteria and tie-breaker separating equal scores — not by when you applied. The list is re-ranked every time a name is added or a place is offered, so a boy's position can move down as well as up, and the length of time on the list does not affect his place on it. Torquay Boys' Grammar School 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 son 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 son from the waiting list.
Joining Year 12 from outside.
Torquay Boys' Grammar School has a mixed sixth form and admits external students — boys and girls — 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 at least 36 points across your best six GCSEs (grade 9 scores 9 points down to grade 1 scoring 1 — an average of grade 6), including at least grade 5 in both GCSE English Language and Mathematics. Individual courses then add their own subject-specific entry grades, set out in the Sixth Form Prospectus. Meeting the core floor is the starting point; check the grade each chosen subject asks for.
Apply direct to the school.
Apply directly to the school's sixth form using its Sixth Form Admission Application Form. Up to 40 external candidates are admitted each year in addition to those continuing from the school's own Year 11. Applications close in late January and places are not offered until GCSE results day in August — attend with proof of your results to have the offer confirmed. If external applicants who meet the criteria outnumber the places, looked-after children come first, then rank order, with straight-line distance as the tie-breaker.