All ten of the top state schools in the latest Sunday Times Parent Power ranking are grammar schools. I prepare children for the entrance tests of several of them, and for each one the ranking is rarely the most useful thing to know.

Below is the latest top ten, followed by who each school admits, the test it sets and what I would look at beyond the table.

How Are Grammar Schools Ranked?

The ranking most parents quote is The Sunday Times Parent Power guide. Its 2026 edition was published in December 2025 and ranks schools on exam results from summer 2025. As The Sunday Times explains in its guide to how the schools were chosen, schools are ranked on the share of their GCSE and A-level entries awarded top grades.

It measures results. It does not show how much a school adds for each child. Grammar schools select children who already score highly, so their raw results will be strong. The government's usual "value added" measure for secondary schools, Progress 8, cannot be calculated for GCSE pupils in 2025 and 2026 because those year groups did not sit Key Stage 2 tests during the pandemic, as a University of Bristol briefing explains. So for now, the tables mostly show which schools have the highest-scoring pupils.

Other tables use different methods. In October 2026, The Telegraph published a ranking of England's grammar schools using eight criteria, including attendance and university destinations, according to Queen Elizabeth's School, which came top.

You can check any school's official results on the government's compare school performance service.

The Top 10 Grammar Schools in the UK

These are the top ten state schools in the Sunday Times Parent Power 2026 ranking, as published by The Sunday Times. All ten are grammar schools.

  1. Queen Elizabeth's School, Barnet
  2. Wilson's School, Wallington
  3. St Olave's Grammar School, Orpington
  4. Colchester Royal Grammar School, Colchester
  5. The Tiffin Girls' School, Kingston upon Thames
  6. Pate's Grammar School, Cheltenham
  7. King Edward VI Grammar School, Chelmsford
  8. The Henrietta Barnett School, London
  9. Altrincham Grammar School for Girls, Altrincham
  10. Reading School, Reading

The order moves from year to year. A small difference in one year's results can move a school several places, which is another reason not to read too much into the exact position.

Who Each School Admits

Before the test format, two things decide whether a school belongs on your list at all: whether it takes your child and whether you live close enough. This is what each school's admissions information says.

  • Queen Elizabeth's School: boys, with 180 places in Year 7. It has no catchment area, and distance is only used to separate tied scores.
  • Wilson's School: boys, with 186 places for 2027. Applicants living in the London Borough of Sutton are considered first, ranked by distance.
  • St Olave's: boys, with 124 places plus up to four through its Wakeham Choristership scheme. It has no catchment area.
  • Colchester Royal Grammar School: boys at Year 7, with boys and girls admitted to the sixth form. Its 2025 admissions policy set 128 places in Year 7.
  • The Tiffin Girls' School: girls, with 180 places for 2027. Priority goes to an inner area of named wards in Kingston and Richmond, then a wider designated area of 44 postal districts.
  • Pate's Grammar School: mixed, with 150 places for 2027. Some places are prioritised for children from listed disadvantaged postcodes, then for applicants living in Gloucestershire or listed nearby postcodes.
  • King Edward VI Grammar School: boys, with a mixed sixth form. It admits 150 boys into Year 7 and has a priority area of 12.5 miles, although from 2027 the first 120 places go to the highest-scoring boys.
  • The Henrietta Barnett School: girls, with 120 places for 2027.
  • Altrincham Grammar School for Girls: girls, with 204 places for 2027 and a catchment area of an 8-mile radius from the school.
  • Reading School: boys, and one of the few state grammar schools with boarding. A Schools Adjudicator decision in March 2026 gives 150 places for 2027, made up of 138 day and 12 boarding places, and the school has a catchment area.

Six of these schools are for boys, three are for girls and only Pate's is mixed, so for many families the list shrinks quickly. Places vary too, from 120 at Henrietta Barnett to 204 at Altrincham Girls.

How Each Top School Selects Pupils

This is the part of the table that matters most for preparation, because the top ten do not share one test. From the schools' own admissions pages:

  • Queen Elizabeth's School: two multiple-choice papers in English and maths, sat in a single session, with no second round.
  • Wilson's School: the Sutton Selective Eligibility Test (multiple-choice English and maths), then second-stage English and maths papers shared with Sutton Grammar and Wallington County.
  • St Olave's: a one-hour multiple-choice first stage in English, verbal and non-verbal reasoning and maths, then written English and maths papers.
  • Colchester Royal Grammar School and King Edward VI Grammar School: the CSSE English and maths papers, with no verbal reasoning paper.
  • The Tiffin Girls' School: a two-stage test. Stage one is English and maths marked by computer. Stage two, by invitation, is written English and maths.
  • Pate's Grammar School: for 2027 entry, two multiple-choice papers in verbal, numerical and non-verbal reasoning, provided by GL Assessment. From 2028 entry the school moves to FSCE, whose test draws heavily on Key Stage 2 content.
  • The Henrietta Barnett School: a first round in verbal and non-verbal reasoning and English, then a second round in English and maths.
  • Altrincham Grammar School for Girls: part of the Trafford consortium, with two GL Assessment tests of about an hour each in verbal and non-verbal reasoning and maths.
  • Reading School: an entrance test run by FSCE.

From the English side, the biggest difference is whether there is a written stage. Several of my students have sat the Sutton and Tiffin tests, and the written second stages are where I see the widest spread of marks. Children who are quick and accurate at multiple choice can still struggle to explain their answers in full sentences under time pressure. For the registration and application timeline, see my guide to 11+ exam preparation.

Leading Grammar Schools in Other Regions

The national top ten leaves out most of the country. The guide also names regional winners, and these schools have reported their results for the 2026 edition:

  • North: Ripon Grammar School says it was named the North's best state secondary school for the twelfth year.
  • West Midlands: King Edward VI School in Stratford-upon-Avon was named the region's state secondary school of the year in The Sunday Times West Midlands guide.
  • Northern Ireland: Strathearn School in Belfast says it ranked first of all grammar schools in Northern Ireland.

If you live outside these areas, your county's grammar schools will appear in the regional table for your part of the country, which is the more useful list to start from.

Grammar Schools in the UK: The Numbers

  • There are 163 grammar schools in England, with around 176,000 pupils, according to the House of Commons Library.
  • Under the School Standards and Framework Act 1998, no new grammar schools can be opened in England.
  • Northern Ireland also has academically selective schools, which use the SEAG entrance assessment.
  • Scotland and Wales do not have state grammar schools.

Grammar schools are concentrated in a few areas, including Kent, Buckinghamshire, Lincolnshire and parts of London, so for many families the real choice is between the two or three they can reach.

Is the Top-Ranked School the Right One for Your Child?

A school's position in a table is only one part of the decision. These are the other questions I suggest families ask:

  • Can your child get there every day? A long journey adds up over seven years. Some grammar schools also give priority to children living within a set area, so check the oversubscription criteria.
  • Does the test suit your child? Some children do better in multiple-choice tests and some in written papers. Check the format as well as the provider.
  • Will your child be happy there? Open evenings, the school's own website and talking to current families tell you more about this than a ranking can.
  • What is the back-up plan? Make sure the other schools on your application form are ones you would be glad to accept.

Pass Marks, Catchments and Registration

Is there a pass mark?

It depends on the school. Some areas set a qualifying score, such as 121 in Buckinghamshire or 111 in Slough. Many of the top schools rank every candidate by score and offer places from the top down, so the score needed depends on who applied that year. King Edward VI Grammar School, for example, offers its first 120 places to the highest-scoring boys.

Can we apply from outside the area?

Sometimes. Queen Elizabeth's and St Olave's have no catchment area. The Tiffin Girls' School, Altrincham Girls and Reading School give priority to children living in a defined area, which can make an out-of-area place unlikely even with a high score. Read each school's oversubscription criteria before you register.

When do we need to register?

In Year 5. Most of the tests above take place in September of Year 6, and registration closes before then. Reading School tested its in-catchment candidates in July 2026, while they were still in Year 5. Put every registration deadline in your calendar as soon as the school publishes it.

Building Your Shortlist

  1. Make a list of the grammar schools you can realistically reach.
  2. Look up each school's official results and its current admissions policy.
  3. Note the entrance test format for each one, including any second stage.
  4. Visit on open evenings in Year 5.
  5. Plan preparation around the test format, not the ranking.

Once you know which tests are on your list, I can help with the English papers through 11+ English tuition and 11+ mock exams set in the same format. The rest of what I teach is on my services page.