Grammar Schools in Hertfordshire and the Consortium Entrance Test

If you search for "Hertfordshire grammar schools", you will find two Watford schools with Grammar in their names. They are part of the South West Herts Schools Consortium, which describes its seven schools as partly selective. Most Year 7 places at these schools do not depend on an academic test. The other important academic route is Dame Alice Owen’s School in Potters Bar, which runs its own entrance examination. Hertfordshire does not have one countywide 11+ test or one score that works at every school.

The South West Herts consortium publishes the shared test pathways and dates. The individual 2027 school policies linked below explain how each school uses the result. For the shared-test process, member schools and application steps in one place, see our South West Herts Consortium 11+ guide.

For September 2027 entry, the 2026 test-registration windows have closed. If you already have a result, the immediate decisions are which schools to name on your home council’s application and whether a South West Herts marking review is relevant. If you are planning for September 2028 entry, use the route comparison below, but check the schools’ new registration dates when they publish them. The dates in this article that fall in 2026 belong to the 2027-entry cycle.

What to do with a 2026 result

The consortium’s calendar gave 17 September 2026 for first-round music scores and 15 October for final scores. Its FAQ instead gives 16 October for final results, so check the parent portal for your child’s actual result. A score is not an offer or a single Hertfordshire pass mark. Each school applies its own published admission criteria after families name schools on their council form. The consortium’s historical-score sheet expressly says earlier last-offer scores are not pass marks for a later year.

If you live in Hertfordshire, the council’s 2027-entry page gives 31 October 2026 as the deadline for an on-time secondary application. You can list up to four schools. Put them in your genuine order of preference: Hertfordshire says schools do not see your ranking and that the council uses it only when more than one school could offer a place. If you live outside Hertfordshire, use your home council’s form and check its deadline, even when all your chosen schools are in Hertfordshire.

A South West Herts academic-paper marking review can be requested from noon on 15 October to 2 November 2026. The consortium’s review page states a £50 fee and expects replies in late November or early December. This checks the marking; it is separate from a later appeal against refusal of a school place. Do not wait for the review outcome before submitting the council application. The consortium’s FAQ on adverse circumstances gives a separate 31 October deadline for reporting a serious event immediately before or during the test. Use the consortium’s own instructions for either request.

If you missed the council’s 31 October deadline, Hertfordshire’s late-application guidance says to apply as soon as possible. It gives 1 December 2026 as the last date for a written explanation of exceptional lateness to be considered for on-time treatment. That is a request for consideration, not an automatic extension. Residents of another council should follow that council’s late-application process.

South West Herts Consortium: seven schools, different routes

One consortium test registration covered the school routes selected in the application for the 2027-entry cycle. That is different from naming schools on the later council form. Some schools also need their own information form so they can assess the relevant admission criterion. The consortium’s school list and each school's determined 2027-entry policy describe these routes:

• Watford Grammar School for Boys: academic and music. The school asks applicants to complete its School Information Form by 31 October 2026. 2027 policy.
• Watford Grammar School for Girls: academic and music. The school asks applicants to complete its School Information Form by 31 October 2026. School-hosted 2027 policy.
• Parmiter’s School: academic and music. The school asks families to complete its online supplementary form by 31 October 2026. 2027 policy.
• Queens’ School: academic, music and sport. Its information form is due by 31 October only for children-of-staff applications under Rule 3. 2027 policy.
• Rickmansworth School: academic and music. Its supplementary form is optional for a general application. To be considered for an academic or music place, the policy says you must put the consortium test reference on the form. Return it by 31 October 2026. 2027 policy.
• St Clement Danes School: academic and music. The school asks for a supplementary form by 31 October when applying under its staff, music or academic criterion. 2027 policy.
• Croxley Danes School: music only. The school requests a supplementary form by 31 October for staff or music applications. 2027 policy.

Croxley Danes is in the consortium but does not allocate places by academic selection. The consortium runs the academic, music and Queens’ sport routes, while each school decides admissions under its own policy. A child can be considered under a non-test criterion at a partly selective school, so a family should read the whole policy rather than assume that no test means no possible place.

The school information form, when relevant, is in addition to the application to the council where your child lives. A school's form deadline may be 31 October even if your home council accepts its own form on a different day. Use the school's current form and instructions rather than sending a consortium test confirmation in its place.

The academic assessment covers mathematics and verbal reasoning. The consortium’s 2027-entry page says test registration ran from 1 April to 5 June 2026. Its calendar gives the academic test as 5 September 2026. These dates are now past. Families targeting 2028 entry should watch the official consortium calendar for the next registration window instead of reusing the 2026 dates.

Dame Alice Owen’s: a separate application for its tests

Dame Alice Owen’s School is not a member of the South West Herts Consortium. The school says it admits pupils across the ability range and reserves up to 65 of 200 Year 7 places for academic selection and up to 10 for musical aptitude. Its academic examination has a verbal-reasoning first stage, followed by English and mathematics for invited candidates. These are its own test registration and assessments, so a consortium registration alone does not enter a child for Owen’s. Our Dame Alice Owen’s school guide sets out its reviewed admission route in more detail.

For 2027 entry, Owen’s registration page says the window closed on 10 June 2026 and that late test registrations cannot be accepted. Its determined 2027-entry arrangements placed the verbal-reasoning stage on 1 September 2026 and the English and mathematics stage on 26 September 2026. These dates are examples of how the routes differed this year, not dates for 2028 entry.

Owen’s also has Local Priority Area and Islington rules for test-based places. Check those rules before planning a future test registration. The school’s own policy, not the consortium’s, decides which candidates can be considered under its academic and music criteria.

Why the postcode and school policy matter

A test score does not have the same effect at every consortium school. In Parmiter’s 2027-entry policy, academic ability is one admissions criterion and music another. The school's Year 7 admissions page gives caps of 54 academic places and 21 music places out of 216. The policy reserves 95% of places available under those two criteria for its listed priority postcodes and 5% for other postcodes. Those percentages concern the selective criteria, not 95% of all school places.

Queens’ 2027-entry policy sets up to 94 of 270 places through academic ability within its named priority postcodes. It also has music, sport, sibling, staff and distance rules. A child outside those postcodes cannot use the academic criterion in that policy, but can still be considered under a different rule where eligible. Check the exact postcode and any street-sector qualification in the current policy rather than relying on a town name or distance alone.

The two Watford Grammar schools are also partly selective. For example, Hertfordshire’s Watford Boys directory entry records 56 academic places out of 224 in its recent allocation data. Watford Girls’ admissions page says all applicants are considered for a community place and points families seeking academic or music places to the consortium test. Neither school’s name means that all children must pass one exam to attend.

If either Watford school is on your list, check the specialist-place area for your exact postcode sector against its 2027-entry policy. This lookup does not decide whether you meet the school's full address or admission rules. The schools' policies linked above give the full place counts and form requirements.

A simple plan for 2028 entry

1. Choose schools first. Read their current admission policies to see whether your child could be considered by distance, sibling, academic, music or sport criteria.
2. Check the address rules for each school. Parmiter’s, Queens’, the Watford schools and Owen’s do not use one shared catchment rule.
3. If the school uses the South West Herts tests, check the consortium calendar for the 2028-entry registration window when it is published. If Owen’s is also on your shortlist, check its separate test-registration page.
4. Later, apply through the council where you live, listing schools in genuine preference order. Test registration alone is not a school application.

For the wider regional picture, use our guide to finding grammar schools near you. For the general distinction between test registration and a council school application, see how to register for the 11 plus. The current admissions policy and deadline on the school and home council sites remain the sources to check before you act.