Thank you for your interest in our school. Clitheroe Royal Grammar School is a free, state selective grammar school with academy status. Students normally join our school at one of two stages, Year 7 or Year 12.
Our school website is rich in information about our school, our partnerships and our wider community. Please take some time to explore the varied sections and resources. It will give you a flavour of what we value, the student experience and the facilities and support available to all. If reading more about our school prompts any questions, please email [email protected] at any time and we will be very happy to help.
Thank you again for your interest in our school.
Admission to Year 7
There are currently 810 students in our Main School.
From September 2023 we exceeded our published Pupil Admission Number by 30 places via a temporary expansion within existing accommodation and our Pupil Admission Number is 180. From September 2024 there is a permanent expansion of Clitheroe Royal Grammar School. The permanent expansion means our Pupil Admission Number is permanently increased to 180 with a 6-form entry in Year 7 from September 2024.
Pupils join our school from over 40 primary schools from within our catchment area and beyond.
Admission to the Main School is by Entrance Examination.
Consultation for Admissions Arrangements for entry in September 2026
We are consulting on our admissions arrangements for the academic year 2026-2027 and the consultation period will run for 6 weeks from 4th December 2024, ending on the 15th of January 2025. We would like your views on our admissions policy which is found here. If you would like to make any comments on these admission arrangements please email [email protected] by the 15th of January 2025.
Entry to Year 7 in September 2026
Thank you for considering Clitheroe Royal Grammar School as the next stage in your child’s education. Entry to the school is by selection at our Entrance Examination. Places will be offered to those children who, through the selection procedure, prove that they are suited to the type of education provided at Clitheroe Royal Grammar School.
To gain entry to Clitheroe Royal Grammar School pupils must take the Entrance Examination. This will take place on Saturday 27th September 2025.
Applications for the Entrance Exam will open on the 2nd of June 2025 and close at 12:00 noon on Friday 12th September 2025. The link to the application form will be provided here on the 2nd of June 2025.
On Wednesday 2rd July 2025 there will be an Open Evening at the school which will start at 5.30 p.m. until 7.30 p.m. and prospective pupils and their parents are encouraged to come along to view the school and pupils’ work, meet the pupils and staff and obtain further information.
Our Pupil Admission Number would be 180 with a 6-form entry in Year 7 for September 2026.
Pupils join our school from over 40 primary schools from within our catchment area and beyond.
Once consultation for the Admissions Arrangements for September 2026 has finished, we will publish our Determined Admissions Policy and Admissions Handbook for entry into Year 7 in September 2026 here.
Familiarisation materials are available to download free of charge from the GL Assessment website.
Additional sample entrance examination questions can be downloaded below.
Sample Entrance Examination Questions
Entry to Year 7 in September 2025
Thank you for considering Clitheroe Royal Grammar School as the next stage in your child’s education. Entry to the school is by selection at our Entrance Examination. Places will be offered to those children who, through the selection procedure, prove that they are suited to the type of education provided at Clitheroe Royal Grammar School.
To gain entry to Clitheroe Royal Grammar School pupils must take the Entrance Examination. This took place on Saturday 28th September 2024.
Applications for the Entrance Exam closed at 12:00 noon on Friday 13th September 2024.
On Wednesday 3rd July 2024 there was an Open Evening at the school which started at 5.30 p.m. until 7.30 p.m. and prospective pupils and their parents were encouraged to come along to view the school and pupils’ work, meet the pupils and staff and obtain further information.
Our Pupil Admission Number would be 180 with a 6-form entry in Year 7 for September 2025.
Pupils join our school from over 40 primary schools from within our catchment area and beyond.
Please find below the Determined Admissions Policy and Admissions Handbook for entry into Year 7 in September 2025.
- Determined Admissions Policy 2025-2026 (2025 entry)
- Admissions Handbook 2025-2026 (2025 entry)
Familiarisation materials are available to download free of charge from the GL Assessment website.
Additional sample entrance examination questions can be downloaded below.
Sample Entrance Examination Questions
LA Admissions
Parents / carers are required to express their secondary school preferences by completing a Local Authority (LA) Common Application Form by 31st October. For information, advice and the form click here: Lancashire County Council: Starting secondary school (Year 7).
Admissions Appeals (for entry to Year 7 in September 2025)
Please note that for entry into Year 7 in September 2025, parents / carers cannot submit an appeal until their child has formally received a secondary school place on 3rd March 2025, National Offer Day.
If parents / carers wish to make an appeal, they can contact the school to request the appeal form. We will provide parents / carers with the link to the Lancashire County Council online form. This can be found here: Lancashire County Council: Appeal for a school place. Once this online form is submitted the form is returned directly to the school. The school then prepares the case and returns the appeals form completed by the parents / carers and the school’s documentation to the Appeals Team. The deadline for lodging appeals for entry into Year 7 (September 2025) is 4.00pm on 31st March 2025. Appeals for a school place are heard by the Local Education Authority, Lancashire County Council.
Further guidance on the process of appealing against an admission decision and the online appeal form can be found on the Lancashire County Council website here: Lancashire County Council: Appeal for a school place.
If parents / carers wish to make any further enquiries about the appeals procedure to Year 7 please telephone 01200 423118 / 01200 423379 or email [email protected].
In-year Admissions
In-year admissions are admissions to school which take place outside the normal admissions rounds.
Our school is popular and usually oversubscribed, which means that the school is normally full in all year groups although, occasionally, space will arise due to family relocation or change of school.
If you are new to the area and require a school place at Clitheroe Royal Grammar School, or if you already reside in the area and you want to move your child from their current local school to our school, your application should be made directly to our school and we will advise if there are places available.
If you would like to make an application you are welcome to do so. All applicants are expected to sit admission tests to assess suitability. If more students taking the admissions tests reach the required standard than there are places available, then the oversubscription criteria will be used to determine which applicants are offered places.
The in-year application form for the tests is available to download here. Please send the completed form directly to the school via post or email it to [email protected]. We will respond to any applications for in-year places within 15 school days of receipt of the application form.
Advice about in-year admissions is available from Lancashire County Council here: Lancashire County Council: In-year admissions.
Admissions Appeals
If parents / carers wish to make an appeal, they can contact the school to request the appeal form. We will provide you with the link to the Lancashire County Council online form. This can be found here: Lancashire County Council: Appeal for a school place. Once this online form is submitted the form is returned directly to the school. Further guidance on the process of appealing against an admission decision and the online appeals form can be found on the Lancashire County Council website here: Lancashire County Council: Appeal for a school place.
Appeals for a school place are heard by the Local Education Authority, Lancashire County Council.
If parents / carers wish to make any further enquiries about the appeals procedure for in-year admissions please telephone 01200 423379 or email [email protected].
Admissions Handbooks and Policies
Determined Admissions Policy 2025-2026 (2025 entry)
Admissions Handbook 2025-2026 (2025 entry)
Determined Admissions Policy 2024-2025 (2024 entry)
Admissions Handbook 2024-2025 (2024 entry)
Determined Admissions Policy 2023-2024 (2023 entry)
Admissions Handbook 2023-2024 (2023 entry)
