GL (PPTC) Transfer Test

Information

GL (PPTC) Transfer Test Assessment Information

The Post-Primary Transfer Consortium Ltd. is the consortium that has been formed to manage and administer the GL Assessment test. The test is also known as the GL Transfer Test or the PPTC test.

This page contains links to important documents including how to register for the GL assessment test, a list of participating GL Grammar Schools who use the GL Assessment Transfer Test, how the test is marked and scored and the arrangements for Special Circumstances / Provisions.

How to register for the GL Entrance Assessment Test

Registration forms for the Autumn 2022 tests.

The GL Transfer Test form for 2022-2023 must be completed and returned to the school which you have chosen as your test centre by 2.00pm on Friday 23rd September 2022.

There is no charge to sit the GL Assessment test. The PPTC provide very good advice on how to complete the GL Registration Form.

Time line.

Registration opens 4th May 2022
Registration closes 23rd September 2022

Saturday 12th November 2022 Entrance Assessment.
Saturday 10th December 2022 Supplementary Entrance Assessment.

Saturday 4th February 2023 Results of the Entrance Assessment posted (first class) to pupils’ homes. (provisional date)

Detailed information for parents can be found HERE

GL Consortium Schools

Schools

There are 34 schools offering the GL Assessment test and using it as part of the grammar school selection procedure of pupils into Year 8 (1st form), The links on the PPTC(NI) website schools page will take you to the website of the relevant school where you will find more information about the test procedures and any additional detail or advice provided by each school.

The schools are listed below.

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Emergency Access Arrangements

Access Arrangements

Access Arrangements are approved by the Assessment Centre before or at the time of the assessment and are intended to allow your child to demonstrate their full potential. Examples of Access Arrangements would be provision of an enlarged paper for a child with a visual impairment or the granting of extra time to a child with particular physical or learning needs.

(Access arrangements are not the same as Special Circumstances.)

If you think your child may be eligible you should visit HERE for any details.

The Assessment Procedure

On the day of the tests

The GL assessments begin at 10 a.m. The first paper, assessing English lasts 50 minutes and the second paper, testing Mathematics lasts 45 minutes. There is a short practice session before each paper and between the papers. This is to allow the children to have time for a snack and a toilet break.

There is a Supplementary Entrance Assessment on Saturday 10th December 2022.

GL Assessments Marking and Results

Marks and results

The tests are marked by GL Assessment - an English based company known also as Granada Learning. This company is known for their rigour and high quality. As the tests are multiple-choice they will probably be marked by a computer linked optical reader.

Marks are given as A, B1, B2, C1, C2 or D. The tests are marked and take into consideration your child's Standardised Age Score achieved in both the English and Mathematics assessment papers. Standardised Age Scores have a scale running from 69 to 141 with 100 as the mean. PPTC provide the answer to many queries in this DOCUMENT on their website.

Results are posted to parents on Friday 4th February 2022 and the results are posted to the home address used during the registration process. If your address has changed you must inform the PPTC Office of your new address.

GL Assessment Tests: Grammar Schools’ intake and grade details

What score does my child need in the GL Assessment Test ?

The GL scores are published in the Belfast Telegraph and the links below will take you to the Belfast Telegraph site where you review the scores for the last three years. These tables will give you an indication of what GL Assessment score might be needed for Year 8 entry in September 2018. The required score can vary each year depending on factors such as how many children sit the GL Assessment, average scores across the cohort and demand for places in each school.

These are comprehensive tables and they show the grades or scores needed to get into each grammar schools using the GL Transfer Test result.

Schools that accept both the AQE and the GL Assessment.

The table contains the school's name, where the school isand the highest and lowest result that each school accepted.

It also includes how many first preference choices it received, total applications and how many spaces the school has in year 8 - the Approved Enrolment.

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Special Circumstances and Provisions

Special circumstances

Special Circumstances/Provisions are considered during the admissions process by the Board of Governors of each school to which you have applied for your child to attend. Special circumstances may be given to ensure that a child who suffered with a temporary illness, injury or other problem, at the time the assessment. This issue may have affected their score and special circumstances may be applied to give some recognition of the difficulty he/she faced.

There are forms to be completed and strict deadlines to be met. You should read, in detail, the forms contained in the PPTC Special Circumstances Policy Pack which will be available around November 2022.

The Access Arrangements Policy also provides some information about Special Circumstances.

** This information is provided for guidance only and while the content is, to the best of our knowledge, accurate we cannot be held in any way responsible for any errors or omissions that it may contain. Please contact your examining board or chosen grammar school for all admission and registration details for the Transfer Test. **

What score does my child need in the GL Assessment Test ?

These are comprehensive tables and they show the grades or scores needed to get into each grammar schools using the GL Transfer Test result. Some schools accept both the AQE and the GL Assessment.

The table contains the school's name, where the school isand the highest and lowest result that each school accepted.

It also includes how many first preference choices it received, total applications and how many spaces the school has in year 8 - the Approved Enrolment.

GL Assessment Test Details

Required score for the 2018 AQE and GL intake on the Belfast Telegraph Website

Required score for the 2017 AQE and GL intake on the Belfast Telegraph Website
Required score for the 2016 AQE and GL intake on the Belfast Telegraph Website
Required score for the 2015 AQE and GL intake on the Belfast Telegraph Website

The following is a list of grammar schools using the GL (PPTC) Transfer Test

There are a small number of schools that accept both Transfer Test results. Ensure that you check details with your chosen school.

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Schools in the Post Primary Transfer Consortium

Abbey Christian Brothers Grammar School

Aquinas Diocesan Grammar School

Assumption Grammar School

Christian Brothers’Grammar School

Dominican College-Belfast