Grammar Schools in Berkshire

There is a strict deadline for registration for the Slough consortium test. There is a small window, typically from the start of May to the middle of June each year, when parents must register for the test on the official website. Prior to this, in April, there is an online event for parents which gives information about the test. Each school offers an open evening in the Autumn Term prior to registration, so interested parents can visit the schools to help them decide.

You can learn more here:

https://www.slough.gov.uk/school-admissions/apply-school-place/8

You can see the registration portal here (NB – this will close in late October every year):

https://slough.applicaa.com/7

There are four schools which use the Slough 11+ examination:

• Admissions to Herschel Grammar School
• Admissions to Langley Grammar School
• Admissions to Upton Court Grammar School
• Admissions to St Bernard’s Catholic Grammar School

All four schools are co-educational, so both boys and girls can apply to them for a place. Each school’s website has further information for interested parents (you can find these in the links above).

The results are sent to parents in mid-October and parents must then name their preferred school to the local authority by the end of the month. If a child has been assessed as grammar school level, this can be one of the four grammar schools in Slough. If a child has been assessed as not of grammar school standard then parents will need to rethink their options and name a different, non-selective school on their secondary school application form. It should be noted that there are usually less than two weeks between the results coming out and the deadline for the decision on which school to name.

The Slough 11+ test is held in September, normally towards the end of the month. Because it is multiple choice, run by GL assessment rather than the schools, and marked by computer, the results come out very quickly following the test, normally within one month. There are two papers, verbal and non-verbal. The verbal paper assesses comprehension and verbal reasoning, whereas the non-verbal paper assesses maths and non-verbal reasoning.

The Slough Consortium of Grammar Schools exam consists of two papers, each lasting for one hour. There will be a break in between the papers, allowing children to use the bathroom. Each paper will include clear instructions from the invigilator and will involve practice questions so that children can familiarise themselves with what is expected.

The exam assesses verbal and non-verbal skills. Verbal skills are assessed through a combination of comprehension, spelling, grammar and punctuation questions and verbal reasoning sections. These test a child’s ability to understand and infer meaning from text, to accurately spell and punctuate sentences, and to use the alphabet effectively. Non-verbal skills are assessed through a combination of maths and non-verbal reasoning questions. The maths section of the test will assess both word problems and calculations, and the non-verbal reasoning section will include analysis of patterns and shapes.

GL assessment write the Slough 11+ exam. GL are known for their multiple choice exams and have been chosen as a high-quality provider of materials. The schools have no input into the exam and therefore cannot become involved in discussions around pass marks.

There are multiple choice questions in each exam and children should expect to spend around 45 seconds on each question. As the exams are one hour each, there are around 80 questions in each one. The number of questions varies each year and this information should be used as a rough guide when preparing children for the exam.

If your child has not achieved 111 in the exam (an age-weighted and standardised score), an independent panel is available for appeals. However, as the test is marked by computer, it is unlikely there will be an error in the marking. All these schools are over-subscribed and even achieving a pass in this highly competitive exam does not guarantee a grammar school place – less than 20% on average (for each school) of those who pass the 11+ exam are allocated a place at their chosen school.

Students hoping to win a place at the Slough Consortium of Grammar Schools must achieve a minimum score, which usually 111. However, this does not guarantee a place. Every year, there are more applicants than places, and only around 20% of applicants for each of the four schools are offered a place in the March following the test. If your child achieves 111, it places them in the top 25% of pupils in the area, and they will have been assessed as of grammar school standard (compared to an average standard of 100). So the simple answer is that there is a minimum required score of 111, but that this in and of itself doesn’t constitute a pass as other factors come into play. See below for what constitutes a “good” score.

In order to get into one of the four schools in the consortium, students must look to achieve as high a mark as possible. The pass mark of 111 is unlikely to actually allow you to receive an offer and it is more likely that a score about 125 or even 130 will be needed. The highest possible mark is 141, and so an average of 80% or higher is a good score to aim for in this very challenging exam.

The examination itself is designed to be taken by children of varying ability, and so some questions are easily achievable by all. However, in order to be assessed as grammar school standard, applicants need to achieve 111, and most likely a much higher mark if they are to actually be offered a place. Therefore, the exam is quite challenging, as most questions will need to be answered accurately, and at speed. The percentage of children offered a place at these four grammar schools is low compared to other areas of the country: they are highly competitive schools.

No, in that the stated pass mark is 111. However, there may be (and usually are) different numbers of applicants for places at each school, with more applicants than places available. The effect of this is that schools then go on to accept a certain percentage of applicants, ranked in score order. One may accept the top 15% of applicants, another may accept the top 20%. Due to this it is important to aim high and prepare as comprehensively as possible.

These are not easy schools to get into. There are far more applicants than places available so each school has oversubscription criteria. There were nearly 5000 applicants for September 2025 places, with only around 600 places available. Oversubscription criteria include staff children, siblings and looked after children, although with the exception of the latter, these vary between the schools.

Historical data implies that Langley Grammar and Upton Court sometimes have higher cut-off scores due to a higher level of demand. Recently, Langley Grammar had 1099 applicants, with 745 students applying for their 180 places. This means that over 4 applicants were eligible (i.e. with good enough grades) for every available place. Upton Court had 1322 applicants, with 980 of these eligible for 165 places, meaning that there were almost 6 students with a score over 111 for every available place. When a school has more applicants than places, they apply the aforementioned oversubscription criteria, which means that they may offer places to students with higher grades on the test first.