If South Wilts Grammar School is on your daughter's list, preparation should be shaped around how this particular school actually selects — not generic 11+ advice. South Wilts admits by the Wiltshire grammar test, a GL Assessment paper, and the most useful thing you can do this year is match every practice session to the exact skills that test measures. This guide sets out what South Wilts is, how its entrance test works, what to practise, and a realistic term-by-term plan — all pointing at free resources on Quest Arena, with no account needed to start.
About South Wilts Grammar School
South Wilts Grammar School is the girls' grammar school in Salisbury, and the sister school to Bishop Wordsworth's (BWS), the boys' grammar in the same city. Salisbury is unusual in having two state grammar schools, each with its own admissions test, so families here often prepare for one specific paper rather than a shared county exam. South Wilts selects entirely by the Wiltshire grammar test set by GL Assessment.
- Location: Salisbury, Wiltshire
- Intake: Girls
- Founded: 1927
- Type: Academy grammar school
- Admissions test: Wiltshire grammar test (GL Assessment)
You can read the full school profile on Quest Arena, and you should always confirm this year's admissions policy, registration dates and open evenings on the school's own site: swgs.wilts.sch.uk. The school website is the authority on deadlines and any rule changes; treat this guide as preparation advice, not the official policy. You can also compare South Wilts alongside other selective schools in our grammar school directory.
How selection works at South Wilts Grammar School
Entry to South Wilts is by the Wiltshire grammar test, which is produced by GL Assessment — the board that now dominates 11+ testing across most of England. GL papers have a clear advantage for families: the question types are published, stable and predictable, so focused practice translates directly into marks. Unlike written county exams such as Essex's CSSE, GL papers are multiple-choice, tightly timed at roughly a minute per question, and sat without a calculator, with answers marked on a separate sheet.
A GL selective test typically assesses the recognised 11+ skill areas — some combination of English/comprehension, Maths, Verbal Reasoning (VR) and Non-Verbal Reasoning (NVR). The exact papers, subject weighting and qualifying arrangements for Salisbury's grammars are set locally, so the single most important step is to check the current admissions details directly on the school's website rather than relying on last year's hearsay. We do not publish an invented cut-off score, because pass marks vary by year and cohort; what does not change is that GL rewards children who know every question type cold and can work at pace.
Scores on GL tests are usually reported as age-standardised scores rather than raw marks. Age standardisation adjusts for how old a child is on the test day, so a summer-born pupil and an autumn-born pupil with the same raw mark can receive different standardised scores — the younger child is given a small uplift. That means there is no advantage or penalty attached to your daughter's birth month; the fairest thing you can do is prepare her thoroughly and let the standardisation take care of the rest.
What to practise for this test
Because South Wilts uses GL, the winning strategy is systematic, type-by-type practice followed by full timed papers. Work through each of these strands:
- Verbal Reasoning: GL draws on around 21 named question types — letter and number sequences, hidden words, codes, analogies, odd-one-out, closest-meaning and opposite pairs, compound words, move-a-letter and simple logic. Drill each type until it is automatic. Vocabulary is the single best predictor of VR and comprehension scores, so build a word-a-day habit alongside the drilling.
- Non-Verbal Reasoning: series, matrices, analogies, odd-one-out, reflections, rotations, and cube nets/folding. These are visual-logic patterns, largely outside the school curriculum, so exposure and repetition matter enormously.
- Maths: secure the KS2 curriculum up to Year 5 — times tables to 12×12, fractions, decimals, percentages, ratio, and multi-step word problems — then practise doing it quickly and accurately under the clock.
- English/comprehension: regular reading of demanding fiction and non-fiction, plus timed comprehension questions that ask her to justify answers from the text.
Start with our free GL Assessment practice papers, then use the worksheet library to shore up whichever subject a first timed paper exposes as weakest. When she is ready for full-length rehearsal, move to timed mock papers, and in the final stretch use centre-specific mocks matched to the local test format. Everything is free, and no sign-up is needed to practise.
A realistic preparation timeline
Good preparation is spread over two or three years of gentle habit-building rather than crammed into one panicked term. Use this as a flexible frame and adjust to your own child.
- Year 4 and the summer before Year 5: daily reading for pleasure, tables to 12×12, and mental-maths games. No formal papers yet — the goal is a child who is confident and curious, not exam-weary.
- Year 5 autumn: begin 15–20 minutes of daily topic practice with our free worksheets, introducing VR and NVR question types one at a time.
- Year 5 spring — register: registration windows for grammar schools commonly open in the spring or early summer of Year 5. Check the exact dates on swgs.wilts.sch.uk and our key dates page, and diarise the deadline — missing it is the most avoidable way to lose a place.
- Year 5 summer into early Year 6: one full timed mock paper a week, reviewing the mistakes far more carefully than the total score. The test is usually sat in the autumn term of Year 6.
- Final six weeks: switch to centre-specific papers in this test's format so the layout, answer sheet and timing feel familiar. Ease off in the last few days — a rested, calm child outperforms an over-drilled one.
On the day and after
By test day the real work is done; your job is to protect her composure. A child who has sat ten timed mocks at the kitchen table walks into the hall treating the real paper as the eleventh. Keep the practical side simple and steady:
- A normal bedtime the night before and a proper breakfast — sleep and food beat last-minute revision.
- Pack the essentials calmly: pencils, an eraser, water, and anything the school asks her to bring.
- Remind her of pacing: about a minute a question, and if one is hard, mark it, move on, and return to it — never let one question eat the last third of the paper.
- On a multiple-choice GL paper, checking that the answer number matches the question number matters as much as the answer itself.
Afterwards, resist the temptation to interrogate her about every question. Results arrive to a published timeline, and the school's site will confirm when. Whatever the outcome, the reading, reasoning and resilience she has built are worth having in their own right. If you would like a wider revision plan, our revision hub pulls the subjects together.
Frequently asked questions
Does South Wilts use GL or CEM?
South Wilts selects by the Wiltshire grammar test, which is set by GL Assessment. CEM's separate paper 11+ was discontinued around 2023, and GL is now the board used across most regions — so prepare for GL-style, multiple-choice question types.
Is South Wilts the same test as Bishop Wordsworth's?
Salisbury has two state grammars — South Wilts for girls and BWS for boys — and each runs its own admissions test. If your child is a candidate for both, confirm each school's current arrangements separately on their own websites.
What score does my daughter need to pass?
Pass marks are not fixed and vary by year and cohort, and GL results are reported as age-standardised scores rather than raw marks. We do not publish a specific cut-off; check the school's admissions policy on swgs.wilts.sch.uk for the current qualifying arrangements.