Grammar schools in Liverpool

The Blue Coat School uses a two-phase, fully COMPUTER-BASED assessment (keyboard and mouse required — very different from the paper tests used in most grammar areas): Phase 1 (early July, end of Year 5) — an online adaptive test of about 1 hour 40 minutes: five 20-minute modules including reading (word recognition, decoding, comprehension) and other core skills, using CEM's Primary Insight platform. All registered children sit Phase 1. Phase 2 (mid-September of Year 6) — for children who pass Phase 1: verbal reasoning, numerical reasoning and non-verbal reasoning via the Cambridge Select Insight test. Results arrive in mid-October; qualifying children can then name the school on the Common Application Form by 31 October.

Liverpool's only grammar school is The Blue Coat School (mixed). It runs its own two-phase COMPUTER-BASED entrance assessment — registration is direct with the school, and note the unusually EARLY timeline: Phase 1 is sat at the start of July while the child is still in YEAR 5 (most areas test in September of Year 6), with Phase 2 in mid-September for those who qualify. Children living outside Liverpool can register — the school draws from across Merseyside and beyond. Apply via your home LA's Common Application Form by 31 October; results arrive in mid-October. Check the school's oversubscription criteria for distance effects.