Slough Grammar Schools: Complete Guide to the 11+ and Entry

Slough is served by four state grammar schools, all academically selective and all co-educational, which together form the Slough Consortium of Grammar Schools for the purposes of the 11+ examination. The consortium contracts a single provider instead of each school running its own entrance test, meaning a child sits one examination and one result can then be used across any of the four schools a family goes on to name.

This guide sets out which schools make up the consortium, how the test is run and what it covers, the registration and application timetable, how catchment and oversubscription rules vary between the four schools, and how allocation and appeals work. Each school publishes its own admissions arrangements in full, and these are worth reading directly once a family has a specific school in mind.

The four grammar schools in Slough

The consortium comprises four schools, each its own admissions authority once a child has qualified through the shared 11+ test.

• Herschel Grammar School, Northampton Avenue, Slough (co-educational)
• Langley Grammar School, Reddington Drive, Langley, within the borough of Slough (co-educational)
• St Bernard's Catholic Grammar School, Langley Road, Slough (co-educational; the only mixed Catholic state grammar school in the country)
• Upton Court Grammar School, Lascelles Road, Upton, Slough (co-educational)

Who sets the test, and what it covers

The consortium contracts a single external provider to set and mark the 11+ examination, so a child sits one test regardless of how many of the four schools their parents later name on the application form. GL Assessment holds this contract for the examinations held in 2026, setting two papers of around 60 to 65 minutes each: one covering verbal reasoning and English, the other covering non-verbal reasoning and mathematics.

Papers are marked externally and converted into a standardised score, a statistical process that adjusts for a child's exact age within the year group so that summer-born and autumn-born children are compared fairly.

• Two papers, each around 60 to 65 minutes
• Paper 1: verbal reasoning and English
• Paper 2: non-verbal reasoning and mathematics
• Answers recorded on a separate, machine-marked sheet
• Extra time of up to 25% per paper is available where a child's school confirms a regular, ongoing need and supporting evidence reaches the consortium by its published deadline

Registration and the yearly timetable

Families register online through the consortium's shared portal, a single step common to all four schools; naming particular schools comes later, on the Common Application Form. For entry to Year 7 in September 2027, registration opened on 1 May 2026 and closed on 5 June 2026, with the examination held on Saturday 19 September 2026 across four centres in Slough. Results are published to parents through the same portal in mid-October, ahead of the separate Common Application Form, which must reach the family's home local authority by 31 October.

• Registration: online via the consortium portal, open for around five weeks in May and June the year before entry
• Test day: one Saturday in mid-September, with a morning or afternoon session assigned in advance
• Results: issued online in mid-October
• Common Application Form: submitted to the home local authority by 31 October, listing any preferred schools including grammar schools
• The grammar school's own formal offer follows separately from the local authority's allocation

The qualifying score, and what it means

A standardised score of 111 or above makes a child eligible for consideration at any of the four consortium schools, a threshold the schools describe as corresponding to roughly the top 35% of the cohort sitting the test. Eligibility opens the door to consideration; each school then ranks and admits eligible children according to its own oversubscription criteria once demand exceeds places.

• Below 111: not eligible for a place at any of the four schools
• 111 or above: eligible for consideration, subject to each school's own oversubscription order
• Only the standardised score is shared with parents; raw marks are not released

Catchment, priority areas and oversubscription

Once a child clears the qualifying score, each school applies its own order of priority, and these orders differ across the consortium. Herschel places looked-after children first, then children living within a four-mile straight-line catchment of the school gate, ranked by proximity, then Pupil Premium-eligible children within a ten-mile radius, then children of staff. Langley gives statutory priority to children with an Education, Health and Care Plan naming the school and to looked-after children, then draws up to 100 places from a defined Priority Area 1. Upton Court works through a longer order: Education, Health and Care Plan holders, looked-after children, up to 20 Pupil Premium places, staff children and named feeder schools, before filling up to 120 places in rank order of 11+ score and the remainder by distance, against a published admission number of 165. St Bernard's, as a Catholic school, gives priority within its religious character, including children from named Catholic primary schools in the St Peter's Pastoral Area, before considering children of other faiths from the same feeder schools and applying Pupil Premium status, 11+ score and proximity as tie-breakers.

The four lists rarely align, so each school's own published admissions arrangements are worth reading in full before an application is finalised.

• Herschel: looked-after children, then a 4-mile catchment ranked by distance, then Pupil Premium within 10 miles, then staff children
• Langley: statutory EHCP and looked-after priority, then up to 100 places from Priority Area 1
• Upton Court: EHCP, looked-after children, up to 20 Pupil Premium places, staff children and feeder schools, then rank order of 11+ score (up to 120 places), then distance, against a published admission number of 165
• St Bernard's: priority within its Catholic character, including named feeder primary schools, then other-faith feeder pupils, with Pupil Premium status, 11+ score and proximity as tie-breakers

How places are allocated, and how appeals work

The home local authority coordinates allocation across every preference named on the Common Application Form, offering each child a place at the highest-ranked school on their list for which they are eligible. Families are advised to list schools in a genuine order of preference, since none of the schools can see where they have been placed on another family's form. Because each grammar school is its own admissions authority, the local authority's notification on national offer day is followed by a separate, formal offer from the school itself, which parents must also accept directly. A child not offered their preferred school is added to the waiting list for any higher-preference school, typically remaining open into the child's first term at secondary school.

There is no mechanism to appeal an 11+ score directly; the right of appeal applies only to a school's decision not to admit a child who was named on the Common Application Form. All four Slough grammar schools handle their own appeals independently of Slough Borough Council's panel, so parents direct any appeal to the school in question. Guidance published by the consortium describes a window of around 20 school days from the offer in which to lodge an appeal, with panel hearings held within 40 school days of the request.

• No appeal against the 11+ score itself, only against a school's decision not to admit
• Each grammar school administers its own appeals, not Slough Borough Council's panel
• A school must be named on the Common Application Form before an appeal against it can be lodged
• Waiting lists typically stay open into the first term of Year 7

Preparing for the test

Since the examination draws on verbal reasoning, non-verbal reasoning, English and mathematics across two timed papers, familiarity with all four areas and with the two-paper format tends to matter alongside ability in any one of them. The consortium schools point families toward the test provider's own familiarisation material, published on each school's website, as the clearest guide to question style and format. St Bernard's has also highlighted a partnership with Atom Learning, introduced in recognition that access to preparation support at home varies between families. Building familiarity with the format gradually, over the months before the test, tends to leave a child steadier on the day itself.

• Use the test provider's own familiarisation materials, published via each consortium school's website
• Practise the specific paper format: verbal reasoning and English together in one timed paper, non-verbal reasoning and mathematics in the other
• Build familiarity gradually over the months leading up to the test

Sources

• herschel.slough.sch.uk/year-7-admissions-2027/
• lgs.slough.sch.uk/_site/data/files/pdfs/admissions/A88A632467C37B3DF2D72D76BEC4F
• lgs.slough.sch.uk/page/?title=Admissions+arrangements+for+2025+entry&pid=396
• st-bernards.slough.sch.uk/2913/year-7-admissions-2027-entry
• st-bernards.slough.sch.uk/1424/in-year-admissions
• st-bernards.slough.sch.uk/385/admissions-1
• uptoncourtgrammar.org.uk/year-7-entry-september-2027/
• uptoncourtgrammar.org.uk/our-information/admissions/
• slough.gov.uk/school-admissions/school-admissions-appeals

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