How to Apply

Making a Year 7 application

Co-ordinated Admission Scheme

William Hulme's Grammar School is part of the Manchester Local Authority Co-ordinated Admission Scheme in compliance with the 2021 School Admissions Code. This is intended to simplify the admission process for parents. Children coming up to Year 6 will receive an admissions pack from their own Local Authority during August/September.  Parents should refer to the information provided by their Local Authority for an explanation of how the Co-ordinated Admission Scheme works.

Common Application Form (CAF)

Applicants will be required to complete a Common Application Form (CAF) online, following the guidelines provided by their Local Authority.  To apply for a place at WHGS in Year 7, applicants MUST name this school as one of their preferences on the CAF.

Please note that the WHGS is unable to consider applicants who do not name the school on their CAF. Applicants should read the Local Authority information carefully to help them decide the order in which to place their school preferences.

Applicants MUST email, post or bring to school any relevant supporting documents if applying under the LAC/PLAC or exceptional circumstances criterion, or a copy of their EHCP (if applicable).

Supplementary Information Form (SIF)

Please complete a Supplementary Information Form (SIF),  in addition to the CAF, if one of the following applies:

• You would like your child to take the optional Modern Foreign Languages (MFL) Aptitude Test.
• Your child has SEN or health issues we need to be aware of when making arrangements for them to take the non- verbal reasoning (NVR) assessment.
• Your child is a Looked After or Previously Looked After Child.

You do not need to complete the SIF if none of these applies to your child. If you have completed the SIF, make sure you have ticked the relevant boxes and you have also applied on the CAF via your home Local Authority.

The SIF is available to complete online under the Year 7 tab of this website. Paper copies can be collected from our secondary school reception.

Application Closing Date

The closing date for Year 7 applications is 31st October in the academic year before your child starts Year 7. For example, the closing date for Year 7 in September 2026 would be 31st October 2025.

Late applications received by the Local Authority will only be considered after all on-time applications, unless the Academy admissions team considers that there are exceptional circumstances (supported by third party evidence received in writing) for the late application.

Assessment Day

Assessment Day for Year 7 2026 is on Thursday 4th December 2025. We will write to all applicants by the end of November 2025 with a time to bring your child on this date. 

By publishing the date of Assessment Day in July 2025, the school expects pupils to be available on the specified date and time, and only in very exceptional circumstances will an alternative date be given. Family holidays or clashes with exams at other schools are not considered to be exceptional circumstances.

The Non Verbal Reasoning assessment is compulsory for all applicants, but it is not a pass or fail test and it is not necessary to prepare for the test. After the test, the students are put into five equal ability bands and places are allocated fairly in each ability band.

The Modern Foreign Language Aptitude Test (MFL test) is an optional extra test you may  choose for your child to take on Assessment Day. The school will offer places to the 12 highest scorers on this test. To apply for your child to take the MFL test you MUST apply on the SIF (see above) by 31st October.

Nursery Class September 2026 intake

Applications for the Nursery Class 2026/27 will open on 01 September 2025 for children with a date of birth between 01 September 2022 and 31 August 2023. You will be able to apply on an online form or on a paper form available from the school office. 

Nursery Application Form 2026

We are not able to process applications for children with a date of birth outside the above range.

Nursery Offers

We will offer 52 places for the Nursery 2026/27 class. Nursery places at William Hulme's Grammar School are for 25 hours per week, free of charge to parents. Places are offered strictly in line with our Admissions Policy 2026/27 which can be found on our website. 

The first wave of Nursery 2026 applications will close on Friday 13 February 2026. You will receive a letter from the school whether or not your child has been offered a place, by the end of February. We will continue to make offers up until July 2026 from the waiting list, if vacancies arise. Parents may apply, via the Nursery 2026 application form, to join the waiting list at any point until the end of July 2026.

Nursery Class 2025-2026

All the places for Nursery 2025 have now been allocated. However, if you would like to apply for the waiting list, please email us on admissions@whgs-academy.org or collect an application form from the primary or secondary reception. If a vacancy arises during the academic year, we would contact you to offer the place.

Nursery Class applicants for 2025-2026 must have a birth date between 1 September 2021 and 31 August 2022. Please do not complete the 2024-25 form if your child's date of birth is outside these dates.

If you wish to apply under the Medical and Social Needs (exceptional circumstances) criterion, you will need to provide written evidence to the school of your child’s significant social or medical needs, addressed to the Admissions Officer, William Hulme’s Grammar School, Spring Bridge Road, Manchester, M16 8PR. 

Examples of significant medical or social circumstances which the Academy may be able to take into account would be:

• Your child has a sensory impairment and needs to walk to the closest school for safety reasons.
• Your child has a serious physical disability which means they are unable to walk long distances or use public transport, and this is your nearest school.

Please note that being in WHGS Nursery Class does not guarantee your child a place in Reception, because there is no automatic transfer from Nursery to Reception. You must make a separate application for a Reception place in the appropriate year. 

Reception Class September 2026 intake 

We will offer 60 Reception places for September 2026 entry. Applications must be made through the child's home local authority, by naming this school as one of the preferences on the Common Application Form (CAF). The closing date for Reception 2026 applications is Thursday 15 January 2026.

You must mention on the CAF if your child has an older sibling already attending the Academy. If you do not tell us about a sibling, we will not be able to take this into account when allocating places.

If your child is already at William Hulme's Grammar School Nursery, you still need to apply on the CAF via your local authority. 

PLEASE REMEMBER, THERE IS NO AUTOMATIC TRANSFER FROM THE NURSERY TO RECEPTION CLASS 

Applicants for Reception Class September 2026 entry must have a birth date between 01 September 2021 and 31 August 2022. Please see our Admissions Policy for information regarding the admission of children outside their normal age group. 

If you wish to apply under the Medical and Social Needs (Exceptional Circumstances) criterion, you will need to provide written evidence to the school of your child’s significant social or medical needs, addressed to the Admissions Officer, William Hulme’s Grammar School, Spring Bridge Road, Manchester, M16 8PR.  This must be sent directly to the school by the closing date of Thursday 15 January 2026.

Examples of significant medical or social circumstances which the Academy may be able to take into account would be:

• Your child has a sensory impairment and needs to walk to the closest school for safety reasons.
• Your child has a serious physical disability which means they are unable to walk long distances or use public transport, and this is your nearest school.

Please note that being in WHGS Nursery Class 2025-26 does not guarantee your child a place in Reception because there is no automatic transfer from Nursery to Reception.

Local authorities will communicate primary offers to parents/carers on Thursday 16 April 2026.

Year 7 Open Evening

Our Year 7 Open Evening will take place on Thursday 2 October 2025 from 4.30 - 7.00pm. No need to book, just turn up.

Year 7 2026: Information for applicants

• To apply for WHGS Year 7, you must apply on the Common Application Form (CAF) through your local council and name WHGS as one of your preferences. Most councils now have an online application portal. 
• The closing date for on-time applications is Friday 31 October 2025.
• Our Published Admission Number for Year 7 is 120. An additional 60 places will be offered to WHGS Year 6s.
• If your child has an older sibling at the school, who will still be in Years 7 – 11 in September 2026, you must put their details on the form. A sibling is a full, half, step or foster brother or sister who lives at the same address. 
• If you do not include sibling information on your form to the council, the application will not be considered under the sibling criterion.
• In late November, the school will write to you with a time to attend Assessment Day on Thursday 4 December 2025. Applicants who do not attend the Assessment Day will only be considered after those who have attended. 
• To apply for the Modern Foreign Languages (MFL) Aptitude Test, you must also complete the Supplementary Information Form (SIF). This test will also take place on Assessment Day, Thursday 4 December 2025.
• If your child has a Special Educational Need or is a Looked After/Previously Looked After Child (LAC or PLAC), please tell us on the Supplementary Information Form (SIF).
• Year 6 children in William Hulme's Grammar School Primary Phase are entitled to an automatic transfer to Year 7 with no need to take the NVR test. You must still apply through your local council by the closing date.
• After the closing date of 31 October, the school will send an invitation letter to every applicant to attend Assessment Day. 
• William Hulme's Grammar School is very oversubscribed every year. Parents should research their school preferences carefully and make sure they use all the preferences on the council form.
• Year 7 SIF

• If you wish to apply under the Medical and Social Needs criterion (also known as Category 2 by the council) criterion you will need to apply on the Supplementary Information Form (SIF) above.

• You must also provide written evidence to the school of your child’s significant social or medical needs, addressed to the Admissions Officer, William Hulme’s Grammar School, Spring Bridge Road, Manchester, M16 8PR. This is in addition to any information you have provided to your local council. 

• Examples of significant medical or social circumstances which the Academy may be able to take into account would be:

  • Your child has a sensory impairment and needs to walk to the closest school for safety reasons.
  • Your child has a serious physical disability which means they are unable to walk long distances or use public transport, and this is your nearest school.

   ASSESSMENT DAY

• Assessment Day will take place on Thursday 4 December 2025 at the academy. By publishing this date in July 2025,  the school expects all students to be available on the specified date. 
• Your child will take a series of short Non Verbal Reasoning (NVR) tests, lasting around 45 minutes in total.
• No preparation is needed because this is not a pass or fail test. The students are divided into five equal ability bands following the test. Places are offered fairly from each band.
• If your child has additional needs or requires extra time for the NVR test, please let us know by completing the Supplementary Information Form (SIF). This will be availalbe here from the end of July 2025. 

Offers for Year 7 2026

Your local council will write to you to advise where your child has been offered a place. Letters to successful applicants will be sent out from William Hulme's Grammar School in early March 2026. If your child has been refused a place at William Hulme's Grammar School, under the terms of the Education Act 1998, there is a right of appeal to an Independent Appeals Panel. If you wish to exercise your right to appeal, please download the Appeals Form from our website or come in to school to collect a paper form. If you have questions about why your child has been refused a place, please email admissions@whgs-academy.org

Sixth Form Applications

We offer students a wide range of subjects taught by highly-skilled specialists, excellent pastoral support, careers advice and facilities and enrichment opportunities, including:

• A dedicated Sixth Form Centre with excellent study facilities
• Sixth Form café and common room
• Small class sizes
• Private study room
• Sixth Form laptops available from the Flexible Learning Space
• Individual support and mentoring, both academic and personal
• Extensive range of co-curricular activities including volunteering, DofE, MUN, Bar Mock Trial, sport
• Specialist support for entry to Oxbridge, Law, Medicine and Dentistry

Destinations of this year's Y13 leavers include the universities of: Manchester, Leeds, Oxford and Cambridge, amongst others. We have students going on to study subjects, such as Law, Biomedical Science, Engineering, Architecture, Psychology, International Business Management, Medicine, Computer Science, Maths and many more.

We hope that you will take the opportunity to come and visit us and choose William Hulme’s as the place to continue your path to academic success.

If you require any additional information, please contact the Sixth Form Administrator: 

Miss N Valvona
Telephone 0161 241 1480
Email nichola.valvona@whgs-academy.org 

In-Year Applications (to Any Other Year Group Outside the Normal Admissions Round)

At the present time there are no vacancies in any year group at this school.

From 1 September 2023, in-year applications will be dealt with in the following way:

If you are considering moving your child from their current school to this or any other Manchester school, you must contact Manchester City Council School Admissions on school.admissions@manchester.gov.uk or 0161 245 7166. They will be able to advise you about vacancies in other schools and assist you in making an In-Year application. More information can be found on the council's website: www.manchester.gov.uk/admissions.

Once an application is submitted, it is considered against the oversubscription criteria by the academy.  If a place can be offered, the academy will contact you to arrange admission.  If a place cannot be offered, your child’s name will be added to the waiting list.  If you are not offered a place at an academy you state a preference for, you have the right of appeal against the decision.

We will only allocate a place from the waiting list if a child leaves the school in that year group, creating a vacancy. Places are allocated from the waiting list according to our admissions criteria and not by the length of time spent on the list.

Waiting lists will be held in criteria order according to the oversubscription criteria. Waiting lists will not be operated on a “first come, first served” basis.  The amount of time an applicant is on a waiting list will not affect their position on it. 

For In Year applications, waiting lists will be held for the remainder of the academic year in which the application was made.  At the end of each academic year, all applicants will be removed from all waiting lists.  The only exception to this will be if the applicant has not been offered a place at any school.  In this circumstance the applicant will be kept on the waiting list for the next term.

Enquiries about the waiting list

We appreciate that many parents are extremely anxious to get their child into this school. If a place for a child does become available we will always contact the parent immediately by phone and/or letter to offer the place. If you have not heard from us, it is because your child has not been offered a place.

We would ask your co-operation in not telephoning the school to ask about the waiting list because of the huge volume of calls this generates which prevents us from doing other admissions work. If you would like to make an enquiry about your child's position on the waiting list, please email admissions@whgs-academy.org with the following information:

• Your child's full name
• Your child's date of birth
• The school year  your child is currently in
• The first line of your address

The Admissions Officer will respond to your query as soon as possible. Please bear in mind that it can be very busy at certain times of year.

How do I apply for a place for my child who has an EHCP?

No pupil will be refused admission to school on the basis of his or her special educational need. In line with the Equality Act 2010, disabled children are not discriminated against in respect of admissions for a reason related to their disability. Best endeavours will be made to provide effective educational provision. William Hulme’s Grammar School will ensure that students with SEN are admitted on an equal basis with others in accordance with its admission policy. Where necessary in the Secondary phase, support will be given to enable students to access the Fair Banding Assessment and Modern Foreign Languages Aptitude Test for Year 7 applicants. The Director of SEND is frequently consulted in advance of application by parents of students with Special Educational Needs and is always willing to offer appropriate advice. Those accepted by the school are visited in their Primary Schools or previous settings and their needs discussed with parents and teachers in order to ascertain appropriate provision.

Where a Local Authority proposes to name WHGS in an Education Health Care Plan (EHCP) made in accordance with section 324 of the Education Act 1996, the school will be sent a consultation and will outline whether the pupils needs can be met and whether a place will be offered or not. If it is deemed that it would be incompatible with the provision of the efficient education of other children, this will be outlined in the consultation response to the Local Authority. The school shall admit any child in whose Education Health and Care Plan it has been appropriately named. In deciding whether a child’s inclusion would be incompatible with the efficient education of other children, the school shall have regard to the relevant guidance issued by the Secretary of State to maintained schools. In the event of any disagreement between the school and the Local Authority over the proposed naming of WHGS in an Education Health and Care plan, the school may ask the Secretary of State to determine whether it should be named. The Secretary of State’s determination shall be final.

How do pupils get a place in a Resourced Provision? 

As part of the assessment process for an Education, Health and Care plan (EHCP), discussions will take place between parents, schools, educational psychologists and the Statutory Assessment Team regarding provision. 

For pupils with an EHCP, this provision is discussed as part of the annual review process. A review can be held at any time where there is a significant change in circumstances.

Places at a Resourced Provision are allocated by the Local Authority.

Additional Support and Advice

• Information, Advice and Support Manchester (IASM) offer free, impartial information, advice and support to families of children and young people with SEND.
  Email: parents@manchester.gov.uk 
  Website: IASM webpage
• Local Offer drop-ins are friendly and informal, Early Help SEND Drop Ins are a great way to get good information and advice about SEND.
  Website: Local Offer Drop-ins
• Parent Support Groups.
  Website: Local Offer
• GM Autism Consortium
  Website: https://www.autismgm.org.uk/

You can contact the school's SEND team by email at: SEND@whgs-academy.org.