Trafford retains a partially-selective system — children sit the Trafford Consortium Test to qualify for the borough's grammar schools.
Every grammar school here sits GL Assessment, so our GL papers are the right format. Where to start depends on how close the exam is.
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Explore Adaptive →Trafford is the largest selective borough in Greater Manchester. Children sit the Trafford Consortium Test in September of Year 6; the standardised score is shared across the borough's grammar schools.
Several of the Trafford grammars sit in the top quartile of state schools nationally — Altrincham Boys' and Girls' in particular consistently rank among the best-performing schools in England.
The Trafford Consortium — Trafford's grammar schools cooperate via a single consortium test administered by the local authority.
The Trafford Consortium Test uses GL Assessment papers. Children sit Verbal Reasoning, Non-Verbal Reasoning, Mathematics, and English papers across one test day.
Each paper is multiple-choice, separately timed, and standardised by age. The combined score determines qualifying rank.
Balance the four subjects. Children who excel at reasoning sometimes leave themselves under-prepared on English; conversely strong readers can struggle with the speed-and-accuracy demands of NVR.
Use GL-format past papers and time the practice sessions strictly — Trafford's test is highly time-pressured and pacing technique is half the battle.
Yes — the consortium test result applies across all six borough grammars, though each school then applies its own oversubscription criteria for final place allocation.
Yes. Trafford grammars admit substantial numbers from surrounding Greater Manchester areas; place priority is decided by distance from the school and other oversubscription rules.
Trafford uses a standardised qualifying score (historically around 121). Each year's cohort sets the cut-off; check the Trafford schools' admissions pages for the most recent year.
Registration typically closes in early July of Year 5 — well before the September test. Late entries aren't generally accepted, so put this on the calendar at the start of Year 5.
Free taster papers in Verbal Reasoning, Non-Verbal Reasoning, Mathematics. Worked answers on every question. No payment needed to start.