Trafford has more grammar schools than any other Greater Manchester borough: seven selective state schools spread across two admissions consortia. Together they are the most sought-after secondary destination for high-achieving Year 6 children in the North West, which makes the Trafford 11+ one of the most competitive regional tests in England. This guide explains who runs the test, what it looks like now, how scoring works, and how to prepare without paying a penny.
Current state, 2026: the CEM myth
Older tutoring pages still describe Trafford as a CEM region. That advice is now stale. CEM's separate paper 11+ was wound down around 2022-2023, and the brand moved online under Cambridge University Press & Assessment. Like most former CEM areas, Trafford's selective schools have moved their entrance testing to GL Assessment-style single-subject papers. The practical upshot for parents is simple: prepare for tightly-timed, mostly multiple-choice papers with a separate answer sheet, not the old blended CEM format. Providers can and do change, so always confirm the exact arrangement for your child's cohort directly with each school and with Trafford Council before you register.
Trafford's two consortia
The seven grammars group into two testing arrangements. A child can sit one or both, depending on which schools you apply to.
- Altrincham group — Altrincham Grammar School for Boys, Altrincham Grammar School for Girls, Loreto Grammar School and Stretford Grammar School.
- Other Trafford grammars — Sale Grammar School and Urmston Grammar (with Stretford Grammar also participating in the wider arrangement).
You apply for a secondary place through Trafford's Common Application Form (CAF), but you must register separately for the 11+ entrance tests directly with the schools or consortium in the summer term of Year 5. Missing the registration window is the single most common avoidable mistake here.
Test format
Children sit the assessment in early September of Year 6, usually across two papers on one or two mornings:
- English and Verbal Reasoning — comprehension, vocabulary, and VR question types, around 45-50 minutes.
- Maths and Numerical Reasoning — arithmetic plus multi-step worded problems, around 45-50 minutes.
Some schools also include a Non-Verbal Reasoning element. Papers are timed to roughly a minute a question, there is no calculator, and answers are usually marked on a separate multiple-choice sheet. Speed and accuracy under pressure matter as much as raw knowledge. Our GL-style paper guide breaks down each section, and the mock library lets your child rehearse the exact timing.
The four skill areas explained
Whichever combination a school uses, the questions come from four families. All maths and English content sits within the Key Stage 2 curriculum up to about Year 5; the reasoning strands sit outside the national curriculum, which is why targeted practice pays off.
- English — a reading comprehension passage with inference, vocabulary, spelling, punctuation and grammar questions.
- Maths — number, fractions, ratio, measure and worded problem solving, dressed up as numerical reasoning.
- Verbal Reasoning (VR) — around 21 GL question types including letter codes, hidden words, analogies, closest-meaning and opposite pairs, compound words, move-a-letter and number series. Example: if CODE is written as DPEF, each letter has shifted forward one place, so FISH becomes GJTI.
- Non-Verbal Reasoning (NVR) — series, matrices, analogies, odd-one-out, reflections, rotations and cube nets, all worked from shapes rather than words.
You can drill every one of these for free on our worksheets and inside the revision hub.
How scoring works
Trafford scores are age-standardised. A child's raw mark is converted to a standardised age score (SAS) on a scale where 100 is the national average and most children fall between about 69 and 141. Crucially, younger, summer-born children receive a small uplift so they are not penalised for being months behind older classmates in the same year group.
Worked example: two children each score 42 raw marks. Anya was born in September and Ben the following August. After age standardisation Anya might land on 118 while Ben, the younger child, lands on 122 for the identical raw mark. The offer, though, depends on a combined total across papers and on catchment distance. For the most oversubscribed schools, distance from the school gate is the decisive tiebreaker, so a qualifying score never guarantees a place.
| Stage | Roughly when |
|---|---|
| Test registration opens | Summer term, Year 5 |
| Registration closes | Around July, Year 5 |
| Tests sat | Early-mid September, Year 6 |
| CAF secondary deadline | 31 October, Year 6 |
| Results / outcomes | National Offer Day, 1 March |
Confirm every date on Trafford Council's admissions pages, as they shift slightly each year.
Preparing the smart way
Because the format is now GL-style, the winning strategy is question-type drilling plus timed full papers. Break VR and NVR into their named types, master each one, then rehearse under exam timing so your child never runs out of clock. Quest Arena's centre-specific mocks include Altrincham and Sale-style sets, and our full mock papers mirror the real timing and answer-sheet layout. Everything is free, with no account needed to start practising.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Trafford 11+ GL or CEM?
Treat it as GL-style. CEM's paper 11+ was discontinued around 2023, and Trafford's schools now use GL-format single-subject papers. Always confirm the current arrangement with each school before you register.
Do I need to register separately from the council form?
Yes. You register for the entrance tests directly with the schools or consortium in Year 5, and you separately name your preferences on Trafford's Common Application Form by 31 October.
What score does my child need to pass?
There is no single fixed number, and pass marks vary by school and year. Scores are age-standardised around 100, and the most popular grammars set high thresholds, after which catchment distance decides borderline places.