Bucks grammar entry - would a prep school help?

[Bucksquestions]

We want our daughter to sit the 11+ for Buckinghamshire grammar schools. She is 8 currently and we are planning to move to Buckinghamshire next year. She is currently at a state primary. Would a prep school in Bucks be likely to improve her prospects in the 11+?

We will be getting tutoring in any event, she is a bright girl but we understand that most people get tutoring (I know some people say don't tutor but I'm not asking about this).

I know of course that some children get into grammar schools from state schools but my question is whether a prep school is likely to improve prospects at all? I think it is also the case that the better a child does in the exams, the more choice there is of which grammar to go to, is that right? In which case we would like her to do as well as possible rather than just clear the relevant cut-off mark.

Also we are looking at preps including Heatherton and The Beacon, I understand that the The Beacon has a better reputation but does that mean it adds more value for grammar entry?

Thanks!

In Bucks, there is no benefit to getting any higher than the pass mark - if you achieve it (or higher), you are deemed qualified, and can apply to any grammar school, but would only gain a place in accordance with their admissions criteria (which will normally come down to catchment+distance - plenty of data available as to the last admitted distance for each over the last few years).

I don’t believe any prep school will actually prepare a child for the 11+. Prep schools usually take CATS tests from Y3 onwards, which is a reasonable approximation of how a child might perform in the 11+ (same kind of tests), but you will either want to prepare at home with workbooks or engage a tutor.

A private school within Bucks (or nearby) that is a designated “partner school” (ie the children can sit the 11+ exam in their own school) is not allowed to prep/tutor the children.

The Beacon is a boys school, Heatherton is girls only. I wouldn’t choose a school on the basis of how many children go on to grammar, as I would expect it is other factors determining this, rather than what the school does or provides - ie it happens to be in a location where many families tutor heavily for the 11+, and that is what skews the pass mark.
Pick a school on the basis of where you think provides the best environment for your DD, and choose where to live carefully so that you have the best chance of getting into a grammar you would like, but also have sensible back up options available (eg a Bucks Upper School you’d be happy with, or an independent alternative).

We’re not in Bucks but in a grammar area. When we moved here we looked around some of the private schools and found the approach to the 11+ varied massively. One school put on specific preparation classes, another pretty much said that no one leaves the school to go to the grammars (which I know is a lie). The latter goes up to year 9 to I suppose not surprising that they don’t encourage it. We ended up sending both kids to the local state school and used tutors during year 5, both passed the 11+ comfortably.

Depending which grammar you're looking at, the key first off is to ensure you move as close as possible. The door to door distance for entry to Royal Latin is now ridiculously small - the closer you can get with your move the better.
As pp said, it's pass or fail with the 11+ for bucks. It makes no difference if you get 1 above the pass mark or 20. Neither does it matter which school the Child was at before.

With Bucks, it’s pass or fail and then the admissions criteria apply and, for those that aren’t a looked after child or don’t have an EHCP, it mainly comes down to distance. So where you buy is key. Bucks is a long, thin county with a few towns, several villages and a lot of rural areas. House prices vary hugely. So the type of area you want to live in and what you can afford will also impact. Then there is the individual school. Is DD your only child? Do you want co-ed or girls’ only? If co-ed, that will hugely impact on where you can live as there are only a couple of co-ed grammars. If all girls, then there is more choice but they all have quite different reputations and quite different intakes. You also need to factor in your Plan B in case your DD doesn’t pass. If she doesn’t, will she go private or state? There aren’t that many private options in Bucks for secondary. If state, the catchments for the non-grammars can be smaller than for the grammars.
As for whether it matters if she goes to a private school or not, some of those which are the primary years only do sell themselves on the number of children that pass the 11+. A couple of these can be quite hot-house-y and bear in mind the families they can attract as well as the focus of the school itself. Unlike a private junior school preparing pupils for the 11+ for private senior schools who are offering a broad curriculum as they want their pupils to get music, sport, drama etc scholarships to senior schools, those prepping for the 11+ grammar schools are only focussing on the maths, English, VR & NVR.
All pupils sitting the 11+ in a Bucks state primary sit the exam in the familiar surroundings of their own school amongst their classmates. I think this might be the same for some of the private schools. For the other private schools, the parents submit the application for their child to sit the exam and the child then sits the exam in their nearest grammar school surrounded by the other children in that situation.
If your child doesn’t get the magic score of 121 or more, then you have the option to follow the selection review route. If your child is at a state primary, the headteacher will have submitted their suitability score for your child in advance of them sitting the exam. For those other children, it is submitted afterwards along with other evidence of their suitability academically (and that is all they are concerned about - musical ability, sporting achievements etc are irrelevant). The one advantage then of them having been at a private school is that you would probably have more paperwork as they will have done CAT tests at various points.

Thank you so much all, this is incredibly helpful. I’ve only just realised I was looking at the website for another Beacon school, schoolboy error! Also really helpful to learn that the Bucks 11+ is pass or fail. That was my original understanding but the relative of someone currently at a Bucks grammar insisted very confidently that this was not the case and for some reason I believed him over my own research…

So it sounds like we need to buy a house right beside our preferred school if possible?

Even if a school can’t directly prep children for the 11+, are children at that school likely to be at a general advantage due to smaller class sizes etc or not really?

Is there a way to find out which prep schools in Bucks (Amersham/Beaconsifid/Chalfonts) are particularly good for 11+ prep without having to go through all the individual prep school websites?

I definitely want a girls only secondary school for DD (though I don’t mind if the prep is mixed).

What does the suitability score mean? I thought there was just an exam to get in? Apologies for my ignorance!

Re the 'suitability score'

https://www.buckinghamshire.gov.uk/schools-and-learning/schools-index/school-admissions/grammar-schools-and-transfer-testing-11/the-secondary-transfer-test/

You don’t need to buy a house next to the secondary school you want. For Royal Latin if you are within 3 miles you are fine. For the Aylesbury grammars and the south bucks grammars, the distances children come can be more than that.

Being at a prep does not help much. About 70-80% children at Bucks grammars come from state primaries. If you want a private primary, get another justification - ie maybe your daughter will be happier at a private school.

RLS entry distance was just over 7 miles in 2024. It’s never been as low as 3. The would exclude Winslow and Steeple Claydon. Catchment allocation in 2025 was 7.4 miles. So do check all the relevant info on the Bucks web site. This gives you exactly what was offered on offers day - that’s what matters. Look at DCHS and Beac H as these are girls grammars. The March 3 document gives details of catchment distances for 2025. Look at historic allocations too in order to get a flavour of where to live. There are big price differences.

The huge problem with state primary schools is getting a place! The best ones are full. The south of Bucks tends to out perform the north of bucks in terms of 11 plus passes but has far more prep schools! The best girls prep is Godstowe at High Wycombe. At preps you opt in to 11 plus. At state primaries you can opt out. There are 11 plus crammers (The Gateway at Gt Missenden) but you can find other decent preps at Chesham (Chesham prep) and Maltmans in GX or High March at Beaconsfield. All these will have plenty passing 11 plus. In north bucks you have Swanbourne or Ashfold. Not much around Buckingham or Aylesbury.

All the grammars are great and tutors are everywhere too. State primaries don’t prep dc. Preps will but sometimes for an extra fee for extra classes. The main thing is your child needs to work quickly and accurately and have exam technique. Bucks grammars are not super selective but the exams are early in y6 - September. So some dc will just have turned 10.

The other advice is to live within distance offered of a non selective school you like. Waddesdon is the best! Others aren’t bad at all because Bucks has many higher achiever dc. The secondary schools have plenty going on to university. Bucks is a decent place to live but some towns are nicer than others. Most villages are lovely! Beware hs2 though!

I went to school in Bucks and I would avoid the grammar school system like the plague. All my dc are now or have thrived at the local comp with no grammar schools anywhere near.

@elliejjtiny Many parents like it though. Most are outstanding and many comps are not. It’s a guaranteed great education if you get a place and no behaviour issues or disruptions. Many are very high in league tables and they are free. There’s no need to make a fuss over tutoring either if dc is bright. Just maybe guidance on exam technique. If parents don’t like the system, by all means go elsewhere but many parents do respect it and many of the non selective schools too. Many of those are very good and get better results than many comps.

That's fine if you like it, I just don't think separating the children who pass the 11+ is helpful to any of the children. Maybe the extremely clever ones will get better results in exams but that isn't everything. My eldest got extremely good results at the comp (mainly 7's 8's and 9's) but it's the kindest student in his year award that I'm most proud of. He went on to get AAA* at college and is now doing well at university. My 2nd is at college predicted AAU and my 3rd is in year 10 and won the SEN award last year.

I went to a secondary modern school and was constantly being told I was very clever because I did my homework on time and wasn't disruptive in lessons. I had to do the academic subjects for GCSE which I failed. In a comprehensive school I would have been allowed to do the non academic subjects and done do much better. There also would have been more support with going to university. I was one of 3 in my year to go to university out of 240.

@elliejjtiny Everyone does core GCSEs. Secondary moderns here have a broad curriculum and everyone can find suitable combinations. The pace at the grammars is faster and suits some better. If parents don’t like it there are other areas they can live in. The op
wants the grammars though. Choosing to live in catchment for a great secondary is the smart move though and many are as good as comps elsewhere so I cannot really see what the issue is. Many comps don’t have lots of bright dc. Bucks has lots of them!

This kind of thread is exactly why anyone who claims that grammar schools are good for social mobility is out of touch with the reality of social engineering in the UK. (Yes I know I'm going to get flamed for this.) I feel sorry for the poorer children living in Buckinghamshire who may be naturally brighter but don't have access to prep schools or private tutors, and have to go to the secondary schools that many on this thread say are inferior.

@doglover90 Do you know Bucks? Most people have no idea what the non grammars are like! Many dc from them go to university! Many have results better than plenty of comps! They are not awful schools. They just don’t have the brightest cohort but that doesn’t mean the teaching isn’t good.

Bucks does have some poor pockets but not large areas of deprivation. It’s mostly middle class. Personally I’d rather dc were offered tutoring at after school clubs in a group at a nominal fee. I lobbied for it when I was a governor of a school in a not quite deprived area. However we had very few dc were going to get 121 even with tutoring. The school had great teachers but families didn’t encourage reading or activities to help with 11 plus. They actually liked the local secondary. Back then I did think the LA should provide a level playing field. Many parents took dc to Disney by the way so define poor.

The level playing field has now been recognised by fsm places at the grammars with a lower pass mark required. (often 115) Maybe people should look at admissions policies rather than repeating incorrect into.

The school I went to had lots of choices of gcse options too, it's just that they had a policy that the "academic students" had to choose double science, either history or geography and one other subject. "Non academic students" could choose any 3 options they wanted. I picked history and failed it spectacularly. I wanted to do drama and child development.

Apart from that, I really liked my school and we had some great teachers.

@elliejjtinyThat was fairly standard options back in the day. My DDs had the same and they had to do an art subject too. It’s a broad education and you could have chosen geography! Career options are a bit limiting at y10-11.

Thanks so much for all of the helpful information provided, really appreciate it!

Hi just seen this thread.

Just been through the Bucks 11+ for the second time.
Already some very good advice on here. Definitely read all the catchment info, when you need to have moved by & historic distance allocations for the schools you are aiming for.
I would definitely recommend a tutor. My DC did not go to a private prep but they were in very good state primaries that were 'partner schools' so took the exam in their own school.

If you definitely want a girls only school. Another option would be to live in North Maidenhead where you would be in catchment for some grammar schools but if she didn't pass, there is Newlands School which gets excellent results.

@Bucksquestions one more thing, do your research on tutors and book them early. The good ones get booked up a year in advance.

I used different tutors for my DC as they needed different approaches.
DC1 - a group of 4 DC - a 2 and a half hour session every 2 weeks, then shorter weekly sessions in the summer leading up to the exam
DC2 - a group of 2 DC - a weekly 1 hour and 15 mins session. Summer 'camps' before the exam

Both tutors were very frank about whether they thought grammar school would be the right environment for my DC as I didn't want to send them to a school where they wouldn't thrive.

@Bucksquestions Many Bucks parents send girls to Pipers Corner near Great Kingshill if not 11 plus dd. They also have their own junior school. You need to look at catchments for the girls grammars though. There are only 4 of them.