A selective boys grammar school in Wirral, Merseyside, serving ages 11-18 with a sixth form and around 1,479 pupils on roll.
Calday Grange Grammar School
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At a glance
Calday Grange Grammar School is a selective boys' grammar school in West Kirby, serving Wirral and the wider Merseyside area, with a current roll of about 1,479 including sixth formers. The school presents itself as a high-attaining grammar with a modern academic purpose: its curriculum page says Calday aims to offer more than an academic education, joining subject depth with cultural capital, personal development and the attributes pupils need beyond school.
The curriculum is broad enough to feel distinctive. In the lower school, practical creative subjects sit alongside the core academic timetable, and selected pupils can take part in the Mandarin Excellence Programme. At GCSE the school expects most pupils to work towards ten qualifications, with languages including Chinese, French, German, Spanish and Russian among the listed choices. In the sixth form, most students take three A levels, with a large subject menu that includes sciences, humanities, economics, law, politics, psychology, computing, design, music, PE and languages.
Calday's co-curricular identity is visible too: CCF, Duke of Edinburgh, private music lessons, classics, Oxbridge support, house groups, enrichment and a learning resource centre all appear in the school-life pages. The language of the school mission is concise - excellence, ambition, respect, responsibility, potential and success - and the High Performance Learning framework gives that ambition a recognisable classroom vocabulary.
For Year 7 entry, the published admission number is 210. Calday uses the shared non-faith Wirral grammar assessment: verbal reasoning in one paper, then mathematics and non-verbal reasoning in the second. Qualified applicants are not ranked by score alone; looked-after status, exceptional medical or social need, up to 15 free-school-meals places, siblings and shortest walking distance shape allocation. Recent official benchmarks record Ofsted Good, Progress 8 of +0.31, 95.4% grade 5+ in English and maths and 24.8% AAB or better at A level.
Latest 2024/25 KS4 measures compared with Wirral and England.
Recent published Attainment 8 scores compared with Wirral and England.
Latest 2024/25 Year 11 destination mix compared with Wirral and England.
January 2025 school census
Whole-school roll of 1,479 pupils; 1,467 had a recorded ethnic group.
| Recorded group | Share | Category | Pupils |
|---|---|---|---|
| White British | 77.9% | White | 1,152 |
| Indian | 5.2% | Asian | 77 |
| Any other White background | 3.6% | White | 53 |
| White and Asian | 2.6% | Mixed | 39 |
| Any other mixed background | 2.1% | Mixed | 31 |
| Chinese | 1.8% | Asian | 26 |
| Any other Asian background | 1.5% | Asian | 22 |
| Pakistani | 1.1% | Asian | 17 |
| African | 0.8% | Black | 12 |
| Irish | 0.8% | White | 12 |
| Unclassified | 0.8% | Unclassified | 12 |
| Any other ethnic group | 0.7% | Other | 10 |
| Bangladeshi | 0.3% | Asian | 5 |
| White and Black Caribbean | 0.3% | Mixed | 5 |
| White and Black African | 0.3% | Mixed | 4 |
| Any other Black background | 0.1% | Black | 1 |
| Traveller of Irish heritage | 0.1% | White | 1 |
The shared non-faith Wirral assessment applies. Qualified applicants are ranked by looked-after status, medical or social need, up to 15 free-school-meals places, sibling priority, then shortest walking distance.
No Calday catchment area is published in the 2027 policy. After the higher priority groups, qualified applicants are ranked by shortest walking distance from home to school.
Qualified looked after and previously looked after children are considered first.
After any EHCP allocations, priority starts with applicants who have reached the grammar standard and are looked after or previously looked after.
Qualified applicants with an exceptional medical or social need come next.
Applications under this criterion must be supported by independent professional evidence showing why Calday is the only suitable school.
Up to 15 qualified free-school-meals applicants are ranked next by walking distance.
This priority applies to children eligible for free school meals at the time of application and offer determination.
Qualified siblings are ranked after that by walking distance.
Sibling priority applies when the brother or sister will still be attending the school at the expected admission date.
All other qualified applicants are ranked by shortest walking distance.
The policy does not define a Calday catchment area for Year 7 admissions.
The shared Quest Assessments test applies for Wirral non-faith grammar schools, with age-standardised scoring across verbal reasoning, mathematics, and non-verbal reasoning.
Shared exam route
Calday Grange Grammar School uses the shared Wirral route. Use these common practice resources for the route, then check the full consortium guide for the complete set and current test guidance.
View all Wirral practice papersPaper 1
Verbal reasoning
Paper 1 verbal reasoning
Paper 1 is a multiple-choice verbal reasoning paper in the shared Wirral non-faith grammar assessment session.
Paper 2
Maths, Non-verbal reasoning
Paper 2 mathematics and non-verbal reasoning
Paper 2 combines multiple-choice mathematics and non-verbal reasoning questions in the same assessment session.
Maths, Verbal reasoning and Non-verbal reasoning are included in the published format.
English and Science are not listed in the current published format.
Maths
Verbal reasoning
Paper 1 is a multiple-choice verbal reasoning paper in the shared Wirral non-faith grammar assessment session.
Non-verbal reasoning
Paper 2 combines multiple-choice mathematics and non-verbal reasoning questions in the same assessment session.
English
Science
Registration opens
Friday 1 May 2026
PastRegistration closes
Monday 1 June 2026
PastThe current live registration deadline is 1 June 2026; older timetable and parent guide copies still show 31 May 2026.
Wirral grammar assessment
Tuesday 15 September 2026
Assessment results issued
Wednesday 21 October 2026
Secondary application deadline
Saturday 31 October 2026
National offer day
Monday 1 March 2027
Register for the Wirral grammar assessment
Registration opens on Friday 1 May 2026 and currently closes on Monday 1 June 2026.
Open Wirral registrationSit the shared non-faith Wirral assessment
Calday's Year 7 pages point families to the shared Quest assessment on Tuesday 15 September 2026 for non-faith grammar school applicants.
Open 11+ informationSubmit your Wirral secondary application
Name Calday on your local authority application by Saturday 31 October 2026. Taking the assessment does not count as the school application.
Open Wirral applicationsLatest official destinations data currently covers 2022/23 study leavers.
Recent trend
This follows the school's published overall GCSE score across the subjects pupils take. Higher is better.
| Year | This school | Grammar schools | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021/22 | 69 | 74.2 | 49.4 |
| 2022/23 | 66.1 | 71.8 | 47.0 |
| 2023/24 | 64.7 | 72.1 | 46.7 |
| 2024/25 | 68.1 | 72.3 | 46.8 |
Recent trend
This follows the published average A-level result for the school's sixth form. Higher is better.
| Year | This school | Grammar schools | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021/22 | B+ average (42.3 points) | 44.0 points | 37.5 points |
| 2022/23 | B- average (35.8 points) | 40.5 points | 33.7 points |
| 2023/24 | B average (39.8 points) | 41.3 points | 34.5 points |
| 2024/25 | B- average (38.3 points) | 41.8 points | 35.0 points |
Recent trend
This follows the share of pupils moving into a sustained destination after Year 11, such as education, apprenticeships, or employment.
| Year | This school | Grammar schools | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021/22 | 98% | 99.1% | 94.1% |
| 2022/23 | 98% | 98.9% | 93.9% |
| 2023/24 | 97% | 99.0% | 93.3% |
| 2024/25 | 98% | 98.7% | 91.8% |
Latest year breakdown
| In education | 95% |
|---|---|
| In apprenticeships | 2% |
| In employment | 1% |
Latest inspection: 26 September 2019
Local rivals appear first, followed by nearby alternatives where the journey and admissions route are still comparable.
Same Wirral area and similar boys' selective route
Same Wirral area with a comparable local commute
Same wider selective region and a similar admissions route
Same wider selective region and a similar admissions route
Closest comparable alternatives with a similar academic profile, so parents can weigh local fit and results together.
Similar Attainment 8 and Progress 8
Similar Attainment 8 and Progress 8
Similar Attainment 8 and Progress 8
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Related guides are still being added.
FAQ
Calday Grange Grammar School currently uses GL Assessment.
1. Register for the Wirral grammar assessment: Registration opens on Friday 1 May 2026 and currently closes on Monday 1 June 2026. 2. Sit the shared non-faith Wirral assessment: Calday's Year 7 pages point families to the shared Quest assessment on Tuesday 15 September 2026 for non-faith grammar school applicants. 3. Submit your Wirral secondary application: Name Calday on your local authority application by Saturday 31 October 2026. Taking the assessment does not count as the school application.
Registration opens: Friday 1 May 2026. Registration closes: Monday 1 June 2026. Wirral grammar assessment: Tuesday 15 September 2026. Assessment results issued: Wednesday 21 October 2026. Secondary application deadline: Saturday 31 October 2026. National offer day: Monday 1 March 2027
Calday Grange Grammar School is currently rated Good following the latest published inspection dated 26 September 2019.