Schools / St Anselm's College
St Anselm's College
- Grammar school
- Boys
- Day
- Ages 11–18
- 1,002 pupils
St Anselm's College is a selective grammar school for boys in Birkenhead, Wirral, educating around 1,000 pupils aged 11 to 18. It is a Roman Catholic school. Entry is through the college's own entrance examination in mathematics and English (the English paper includes compulsory creative writing) plus a verbal reasoning paper whose provider the college does not name.
RegionNorth West
DfE URN136780
The exam
Athena holds admission-route records for St Anselm's College. They are shown by entry cycle below; where the provider changes between cycles, each cycle keeps its own recorded exam.
2027 entry
Set by Individual schools / small consortia (no board)
Separate from the Wirral consortium. College's own entrance examination: school-set mathematics and English (English includes compulsory creative writing); the verbal reasoning paper's provider is not officially confirmed. Confirmation status (October 2026): the verbal reasoning paper's provider is not named in any source we could find; the subject mix (Maths, English with compulsory creative writing, verbal reasoning) is confirmed, the VR provider is not.
1038 published practice questions tagged for this exam
Route record: needs review · Athena schools expansion research 2026-10-27
2028 entry
Set by Individual schools / small consortia (no board)
Separate from the Wirral consortium. College's own entrance examination: school-set mathematics and English (English includes compulsory creative writing); the verbal reasoning paper's provider is not officially confirmed. Confirmation status (October 2026): the verbal reasoning paper's provider is not named in any source we could find; the subject mix (Maths, English with compulsory creative writing, verbal reasoning) is confirmed, the VR provider is not.
1038 published practice questions tagged for this exam
Route record: needs review · Athena schools expansion research 2026-10-27
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Key dates & preparation
2028 entry
Test: Autumn term of Year 6 (September–October) — see the route description for the sitting pattern
Results: Autumn term — outcomes are published to registered parents
Offers: National Offer Day — Wednesday 1 March 2028
When to start preparing: Start preparing in the spring term of Year 5 (the standing rule: about 18 months before the test).
General guidance: this follows the rule of thumb of starting about 18 months before the test. It is not the school's own published advice.
Source: official admissions information · checked 2026-10-28
2027 entry
Test: Autumn term of Year 6 (September–October) — see the route description for the sitting pattern
Results: Autumn term — outcomes are published to registered parents
Offers: National Offer Day — Monday 1 March 2027
When to start preparing: Start preparing in the spring term of Year 5 (the standing rule: about 18 months before the test).
General guidance: this follows the rule of thumb of starting about 18 months before the test. It is not the school's own published advice.
Source: official admissions information · checked 2026-10-28
Admissions rules
Places are allocated under the school’s published oversubscription criteria after its entrance assessment — the statutory priorities (EHCP and looked-after children) first. See the school’s admissions policy for its exact criteria. As a Catholic school, its criteria also give priority to Catholic applicants after looked-after children (see the policy for the exact faith tiers).
Read the school's admissions policy
Results & destinations
2025 results
GCSE: Attainment 8 score 57.2; 75.5% of pupils achieved grade 9-5 or above in English and maths GCSEs
DfE performance tables
A level: Average point score per A level entry 37.72 (average grade B-); 21.8% of A level students achieved AAB or higher
DfE performance tables
Source: official source · checked 2026-10-28
2024 results
GCSE: Attainment 8 score 55.6; 71.6% of pupils achieved grade 9-5 or above in English and maths GCSEs
DfE performance tables
A level: Average point score per A level entry 35.37 (average grade B-)
DfE performance tables
Source: official source · checked 2026-10-28
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