Pate's Grammar School in Cheltenham is one of the highest-performing state schools in England — and the top-ranked outside London. It's a co-educational grammar that takes around 150 children into Year 7 each year.
The Pate's entrance test
Pate's uses a single-stage GL Assessment test, sat in mid-September of Year 6:
- Paper 1 — Verbal Reasoning (~50 min).
- Paper 2 — Non-Verbal Reasoning (~50 min).
- Paper 3 — Mathematics (~50 min).
Three papers across one morning, all multiple-choice.
Qualifying score and intake
Pate's standardises all three papers, then ranks applicants. The top 150 places go to the highest-scoring children, with a small number reserved for proximity-based emergency cases. The 2025 qualifying score sat around 235.
What's distinctive about Pate's selection
- No English paper — the entry test is fully reasoning + maths.
- That said, strong English from primary supports reasoning success significantly.
- Geography matters less than at London schools — Pate's accepts from a wide Gloucestershire catchment.
Preparation
Quest Arena's worksheet library has a 2,000-worksheet reasoning bundle ideal for Pate's-style preparation.