Buckinghamshire 11+ tutors and Bucks STT prep

The Bucks STT

Buckinghamshire's grammar school admissions run through the Secondary Transfer Test (STT), which children sit in the autumn term of Year 6. The Buckinghamshire Grammar Schools (TBGS) commissions the test on behalf of the county's 13 grammar schools, and GL Assessment produces it. Buckinghamshire Council runs 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 written each year, so there are no published Bucks past papers. A familiarisation booklet arrives in the summer term of Year 5, and children sit a practice test shortly before the real one.

Paper format

There are two papers, sat on the same day with a short break in between. Every question is multiple choice, and children mark their answers on a separate answer sheet for each paper. Each paper takes about 45 minutes, or roughly an hour including the introduction and practice examples. An audio recording gives the instructions and times each sub-section, and children work through the questions in order 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. Comprehension and technical English sit in the verbal paper, which makes up half the final score. That is the point people most often get wrong about the Bucks test.

TBGS states that the maths and English content doesn't go beyond what the national curriculum expects by the end of Year 5. It also keeps the reading level of the questions as low as possible, so the test measures reasoning rather than reading level. In other words, English skills matter, but a child doesn't need to be an advanced reader to understand the questions.

Scoring and the 121 threshold

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

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

One point is widely misunderstood: scoring well above 121 gives no advantage. Buckinghamshire Council states that its grammar schools don't use the score as an admission rule, so a child on 121 and a child on 145 are treated 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 score below 121 can ask for a Selection Review. A panel of two grammar school headteachers and one primary headteacher looks at evidence of the child's academic level, along with any exceptional reasons they underperformed on the day. The council notes that successful reviews have historically involved scores between 110 and 120, and that lower scores rarely succeed.

Key dates for September 2027 entry

• Registration: 1 May to 2 June 2026. Only children at partner schools or at schools outside Buckinghamshire need to register. Children at state-funded Buckinghamshire primary schools are entered 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.

The 13 TBGS grammar schools

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 school sets its own admissions policy. Qualifying is county-wide, but places are offered school by school.

TBGS describes the usual order of priority when a school is oversubscribed:

1. Qualified looked-after children.

2. At some schools, qualified children who receive Pupil Premium.

3. Siblings of current pupils.

4. Children living in the catchment area.

5. All other children, by distance from the school.

Some schools also keep a small number of places for Pupil Premium children who score just below 121, sometimes only if they live in the catchment area. Read each school's admissions policy rather than assuming they all work the same way.

How preparation works in Bucks

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

If you do, prepare for the actual Bucks format rather than a generic 11+ syllabus. A typical plan looks like this:

• 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: one question type at a time. Comprehension and technical English alongside verbal reasoning, then non-verbal and spatial reasoning and maths problem-solving.

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

Choosing a Bucks 11+ tutor

A few questions worth asking before you commit:

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

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

• Do you work from the current TBGS familiarisation materials?

• How do you teach answer-sheet technique and working to the audio-timed sub-sections?

• Do you 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.