Schools near Cheltenham
69 open schools in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire · Ofsted ratings, catchment areas and admission criteria · see all Gloucestershire schools · grammar schools in Cheltenham
Cheltenham has 69 state schools: 50 primary, 12 secondary, part of Gloucestershire's wider catchment. 60 have a published Ofsted rating, and 50 of those are rated Good or Outstanding. 1 is a state grammar school and sets an entrance test.
Undersubscribed schools rated Good or Outstanding
These schools didn't fill on first preference in the latest admissions year, despite an Ofsted rating of Good or Outstanding — worth a look if you're chasing the same handful of famous names everyone else applies to.
How places are allocated in Gloucestershire
Primary schools: Explicit: 'Generally, there are no catchment areas for primary schools' — straight-line distance is the tiebreaker for community/VC schools. Voluntary aided/academy/foundation schools may still set their own catchment. (source)
Most schools use the local authority's default scheme rather than a school-specific catchment map — see each school's page for its own designated/catchment area where one is published.
Gloucestershire entrance test format
Two multiple-choice papers (GL Assessment style), covering verbal ability (English and verbal reasoning), numerical reasoning (maths), and non-verbal reasoning. Each paper takes around an hour including instructions and worked examples. A qualifying rank on the test is not itself an offer — you must also list the grammar school(s) on your home LA's secondary school application form by the normal 31 October deadline.
Key dates
| Entry year | Event | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Sept 2028 | Application deadline | 2027-10-31 |
| Sept 2028 | Primary application deadline | 2028-01-15 |
| Sept 2028 | Offer day | 2028-03-01 |
| Sept 2028 | Primary offer day | 2028-04-17 |
| Sept 2027 | Registration opens | 2026-05-18 (passed) |
| Sept 2027 | Registration closes | 2026-06-26 (passed) |
| Sept 2027 | Test date | 2026-09-12 |
| Sept 2027 | Application deadline | 2026-10-31 |
| Sept 2027 | Primary application deadline | 2027-01-15 |
| Sept 2027 | Offer day | 2027-03-01 |
| Sept 2027 | Primary offer day | 2027-04-16 |
| Sept 2026 | Test date | 2025-09-13 (passed) |
| Sept 2026 | Application deadline | 2025-10-31 (passed) |
| Sept 2026 | Primary application deadline | 2026-01-15 (passed) |
| Sept 2026 | Offer day | 2026-03-01 (passed) |
| Sept 2026 | Primary offer day | 2026-04-16 (passed) |
Out-of-area applications
Gloucestershire's seven grammar schools (Pate's, Cheltenham's Ladies' College is independent; the state grammars include Sir Thomas Rich's, Marling, Gloucester Academy, Ribston Hall, Denmark Road, and Stroud High) accept applications from children outside Gloucestershire. Registration: out-of-county families register directly with Gloucestershire County Council for the grammar school test. Registration typically opens in May/June for a September/October test. Applying for a place: apply via your home LA's Common Application Form by 31 October, listing the Gloucestershire school(s) you want. Criteria impact: Gloucestershire grammar schools are score-ranked — places go to the highest-scoring eligible children. There is no fixed pass mark and no distance tiebreaker in the ordinary sense. Out-of-county children compete purely on test score, on equal terms with local children.
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