Buckinghamshire

The Buckinghamshire Secondary Transfer Test (11+) is the entrance exam used by all 13 grammar schools in the county

Key Dates (2027 Entry)

Date Milestone

1 May 2026 Registration Opens (10:00 am)

2 June 2026 Registration Deadline (3:00 pm)

Early Sept 2026 Practice Test (usually 2 days before the main test)

10 Sept 2026 Secondary Transfer Test Day

9 Oct 2026 Test Results Released (usually after 4:00 pm)

31 Oct 2026 National Deadline for School Preferences (CAF)

1 March 2027 National Offer Day

The test is administered by GL Assessment. It consists of two multiple-choice papers, each lasting approximately 60 minutes (including instructions).  

Paper 1: Verbal Skills (50% weighting)English Comprehension: Reading a passage and answering questions on meaning and inference.  Technical English: Spelling, punctuation, and grammar.  Verbal Reasoning: Identifying patterns in words and letters (e.g., synonyms, antonyms, and codes).  

Paper 2: Mathematical & Non-Verbal Skills (50% total weighting)  Mathematics (25%): Key Stage 2 curriculum topics including ratio, algebra, and multi-step word problems.  Non-Verbal Reasoning (25%): Logic puzzles using shapes, rotations, sequences, and spatial reasoning. 

Catchment Details

• Qualifying for the test (scoring 121+) does not guarantee a place. Most Buckinghamshire grammar schools use "Catchment Areas" as a primary oversubscription criterion.  

• Catchment Priority: Children living within a school's defined area are prioritized. If a school is oversubscribed, places are usually allocated based on the straight-line distance from home to school.  

• Address Deadline: For most schools, you must be living at the application address by 1 September 2026 for it to be used in the first round of allocations.  

• Checker Tool: You can use the Buckinghamshire Catchment Checker to see which grammar schools you are in-catchment for