Buckinghamshire 11+ tutors and Bucks STT prep

The Bucks STT

Buckinghamshire's grammar-school admissions run through the Secondary Transfer Test (STT), sat in the autumn term of Year 6. The Buckinghamshire Grammar Schools (TBGS) commissions it on behalf of the county's 13 grammar schools, and GL Assessment produces it. Buckinghamshire Council administers the testing process under contract to TBGS, covering registration, access arrangements, results and selection reviews.

TBGS says the test is unique to Buckinghamshire and that a new one is created each year, so there is no published bank of Bucks past papers. A familiarisation booklet is issued in the summer term of Year 5, and children sit a practice test before the real one.

Paper format

Two papers, both sat on the same day with a short break between them. Every question is multiple-choice, and children mark answers on a separate answer sheet for each paper. Each paper takes about 45 minutes of testing time, or roughly an hour including the introduction and practice examples. An audio file gives the instructions and times each sub-section, and children work through the questions in the order they appear rather than skipping around.

• First paper: verbal skills. English comprehension, technical English (grammar, punctuation and spelling) and verbal reasoning.

• Second paper. Non-verbal reasoning, spatial reasoning and maths.

English is assessed, and it carries most of the weight. That is the point people most often get wrong about the Bucks test.

TBGS states that the maths and English content does not go beyond what the national curriculum expects by the end of Year 5, and that literacy demands in the test are kept low so it measures reasoning rather than reading level.

Scoring and the 121 threshold

GL Assessment marks the papers. Marks are then standardised, taking account of the child's age in years and months on the day they sat the test. Standardised scores run from 60 to 170. The two papers combine into a Secondary Transfer Test Score (STTS), weighted 50% verbal, 25% mathematical, 25% non-verbal.

An STTS of 121 or above qualifies a child for consideration at any Buckinghamshire grammar school. The council expects around 37% of children to reach it.

One point is widely misunderstood. Scoring well above 121 buys nothing. Buckinghamshire Council states that its grammar schools do not use the score as an admission rule, so a child on 121 and a child on 145 stand equally when places are allocated. Which school a qualified child is offered depends on that school's own oversubscription criteria, not on the test result.

Children who miss 121 can request a Selection Review, where a panel of headteachers considers a written case. The council notes that successful reviews have historically involved scores between 110 and 120, and that lower scores are rarely successful.

Key dates for September 2027 entry

• Registration: 1 May to 2 June 2026, closing at 3pm. Only children at partner schools or at schools outside Buckinghamshire need to register. Children at state-funded Buckinghamshire primary schools sit the test automatically unless their parents withdraw them.

• Practice test: 8 September 2026.

• Secondary Transfer Test: 10 September 2026.

• Results: 9 October 2026.

• Secondary school application deadline: 31 October 2026.

Some out-of-county test sessions run slightly later than the main dates.

The 13 TBGS grammars

TBGS lists its member schools as:

• Aylesbury Grammar School (boys)

• Aylesbury High School (girls)

• Beaconsfield High School (girls)

• Burnham Grammar School (co-educational)

• Chesham Grammar School (co-educational)

• Dr Challoner's Grammar School (boys)

• Dr Challoner's High School (girls)

• John Hampden Grammar School (boys)

• Royal Grammar School (boys)

• Royal Latin School (co-educational)

• Sir Henry Floyd Grammar School (co-educational)

• Sir William Borlase's Grammar School (co-educational)

• Wycombe High School (girls)

Each is its own admission authority with its own admissions policy. Qualifying is county-wide; being offered a place is decided school by school.

TBGS describes the usual pattern of oversubscription criteria as priority for qualified looked-after children, then at some schools qualified children in receipt of Pupil Premium, then siblings of current pupils, then children living in catchment, then remaining children by distance from the school. Some schools also hold a limited number of places for unqualified Pupil Premium children who score slightly below 121, sometimes only if the child lives in catchment. Read the individual school's admissions policy rather than assuming they all work the same way.

How preparation works in Bucks

TBGS does not endorse tutoring for the test, and Buckinghamshire primary and partner schools have agreed not to coach children beyond the national curriculum work appropriate for their age. Many families still prepare privately.

If you do, prepare for the actual format rather than a generic 11+ syllabus. A common arc:

• Early Year 5: diagnostic and foundation work. Check maths against the Year 5 curriculum, and check reading comprehension and vocabulary, since verbal skills carry half the marks.

• Mid to late Year 5: question types one at a time. Comprehension and technical English alongside verbal reasoning; then non-verbal and spatial reasoning patterns and maths problem-solving.

• Summer of Year 5 into September of Year 6: timed practice. Work with the TBGS familiarisation booklet so the child knows the booklet-and-answer-sheet format, the audio-timed sub-sections, and the rule that questions are worked in order.

Choosing a Bucks 11+ tutor

A few questions worth asking before committing:

• How many Bucks STT cohorts have they prepared in the last two years?

• Do they cover English comprehension and technical English, or only reasoning?

• Do they work from the current TBGS familiarisation materials?

• How do they handle separate-answer-sheet technique and the audio-timed sub-sections?

• Do they offer timed mock papers as well as weekly teaching?

Use Tutorperch messaging (free) to discuss specifics before you commit. The £9.99 unlock fee only matters once you've decided you want to work with a particular tutor.