Admissions

Year 7 Applications

Year 7 2026: Information for applicants

  • Applications for Year 7 2026 have now closed. If you have not yet applied for a secondary school, you should contact your local council to make a late application.
  • Applications for Year 7 2026 are now being processed by the school and local councils. 
  • If you have named WHGS as one of your preferences, you will receive a letter in the post from the school with all the details of Assessment Day in due course.
  • If you have not received your child's Assessment Day invitation letter by Thursday 27 November 2025, please contact the Admissions Officer by email on the address below.
  • Please help us at this very busy time by not ringing the school. We are not able to discuss the progress of any applications.

Assessment Day - Thursday 4 December 2025

  • 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.
  • To apply for the MFL Aptitude test, where we offer 12 places to the top scorers, please fill in the Supplementary Information Form (SIF) on this page. There is no need to prepare for this optional test. 
  • 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) Year 7 SIF

Offers for Year 7 2026 and your right to appeal

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

Year 7 general information on applications

  • The closing date for on-time applications is 31 October in the year your child is in Year 6.
  • 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 when the Year 7 child starts, 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.
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.

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