Beaconsfield High School 11+ guide

Thinking about applying to Beaconsfield High School? Find out everything you need to know about admissions and how to prepare your child for success in the Buckinghamshire Secondary Transfer Test.

Key information for Beaconsfield High School

• Address: Beaconsfield High School, Wattleton Road, Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, HP9 1RR
• Number of pupils: 1,100+
• Admissions contact: [email protected]
• Number of places in Year 7: 180
• 11+ exam: Buckinghamshire Secondary Transfer Test
• Catchment area: Yes

Dates for your diary

• Friday 2nd May 2025: registration opens for the Buckinghamshire Secondary Transfer Test
• Friday 13th June 2025: registration closes for the Buckinghamshire Secondary Transfer Test
• Tuesday 9th September 2025: Buckinghamshire Practice Test
• Thursday 11th September 2025: Buckinghamshire Secondary Transfer Test
• Friday 10th October 2025: parents receive results from the Buckinghamshire Secondary Transfer Test
• Friday 31st October 2025: secondary school common application deadline
• Monday 2nd March 2026: national school offers day

About Beaconsfield High School

Beaconsfield High School, known locally as ‘Becky High,’ is a top-performing girls’ grammar school in Buckinghamshire. It prides itself on being a happy, high-achieving community where students are encouraged to aim high while feeling supported in their learning. Respect and positive relationships are at the heart of the school’s ethos, helping students to thrive both academically and personally.

What makes Becky High unique is its dual specialism in technology and languages, preparing students for success in a fast-changing world. The school also places a strong emphasis on English, offering a rich and varied curriculum that encourages students to think critically and develop a love for literature.

Becky High is well known for its sporting excellence, with fantastic facilities including netball and tennis courts, a 400m athletics track, a fully equipped fitness gym, and a modern sports hall. Sport plays a big role in school life, helping students to build confidence and stay active.

With an ‘Outstanding’ rating from Ofsted, the school consistently delivers excellent academic results. Beyond the classroom, students enjoy a wide range of clubs, creative activities, and competitions, making Becky High a place where learning extends far beyond the curriculum. It’s a school that truly prepares girls for bright futures.

How to apply to Beaconsfield High School

Beaconsfield High School is a selective school. This means that your child will need to take the 11 plus exam to be eligible for a place. In Buckinghamshire, the 11 plus is known as the Buckinghamshire Secondary Transfer Test.

All children who go to a primary school in Buckinghamshire are entered to take the test. This means that you will not need to register your child separately.

If your child goes to a primary school outside of Buckinghamshire, you’ll need to register them to take the test. Registration for the 2025 exam opens on Friday 2nd May 2025 and closes on Friday 13th June 2025.

A practice test will take place on Tuesday 9th September 2025, and the Buckinghamshire Secondary Transfer Test will be held on Thursday 11th September. If your child attends a Buckinghamshire primary school, they will take both the practice test and the exam at their school. If your child attends any other school, they will take the practice test and the exam at a grammar school test centre.

You'll find out if your child has met the eligible score in the Buckinghamshire Secondary Transfer Test on Friday 10th October 2025. You can then use these results to decide whether to apply for a place at Beaconsfield High School.

To apply, you’ll need to name the school as one of your preferred schools on the secondary school common application form. This will be available on your home council website from early September and must be submitted by 31st October 2025.

Remember – passing the entrance exam doesn’t guarantee that your child will be allocated a place at your preferred school. Many grammar schools are often oversubscribed with qualified children. Schools and their admissions authorities work through admissions criteria to prioritise children for places. We’ve included the admissions criteria for Beaconsfield High School below.

What's on the Buckinghamshire Secondary Transfer Test?

The Buckinghamshire Secondary Transfer Test consists of two one-hour papers. These papers are supplied by GL Assessment. Your child takes both papers on the same day with a short break in between.

Your child will have a question booklet and separate answer sheets. All the questions in the test are multiple-choice, so your child needs to mark the answer options they think are correct on the answer sheets.

Both papers start with an introduction and practice examples. About 15 minutes is allocated for these, followed by 45 minutes of test questions.

Verbal paper

In this paper, your child is tested on verbal skills. This includes:

• English comprehension: how well your child can understand and analyse written text
• Technical English: grammar, punctuation and spelling – all based on national curriculum content
• Verbal reasoning: using logic and reasoning to solve problems with written information, like letters, words and numbers

Mathematical and non-verbal paper

In this paper, your child will be tested on maths and non-verbal skills. This includes:

• Non-verbal reasoning: using logic and reasoning to solve problems with visual information, like shapes, diagrams and pictures
• Spatial reasoning: tests how well your child can manipulate shapes and spaces in their head
• Maths: covers key topics taught on the Key Stage 2 maths curriculum

How does place allocation work at Beaconsfield High School?

Your child’s total score in the entrance exam will be age-standardised and weighted. Find out how this mark is worked out in our guide to the Buckinghamshire Secondary Transfer Test.

The qualifying mark for entry to Buckinghamshire grammar schools is 121. Children are not ranked beyond this point – places are then based on your target school’s admissions criteria.

If more than 180 children applying to Beaconsfield High School achieve a score of 121 or higher, the school applies oversubscription criteria. Children are prioritised for places in the following order:

1. Girls who are Looked After Children or Previously Looked After Children
2. Girls who live within the catchment area and are entitled to free school meals
3. Up to 10 places will be allocated to girls who live within the catchment area, are entitled to the pupil premium and have achieved a standardised score of at least 115
4. Girls who live within the catchment area and have a sister at Beaconsfield High School
5. Daughters of members of Beaconsfield High School Staff (provided they have been employed by the school for at least two years)
6. Girls who live within the catchment area, prioritised by closeness to the school (measured in a straight line)
7. Girls who have exceptional medical or social needs that can only be met at Beaconsfield High School
8. Girls who live outside the catchment area and have a sister at Beaconsfield High School
9. Girls who live outside the catchment area

Beaconsfield High School has a catchment area to prioritise eligible girls living close to the school. The catchment area includes Beaconsfield, Hazlemere, Gerrards Cross, Iver Heath, and some areas around Flackwell Heath and Burnham. A map is available on the school website.

How can I help my child prepare for the Buckinghamshire Secondary Transfer Test?

The Buckinghamshire Secondary Transfer Test is designed to be difficult. Here are our top tips to help your child prepare for the exam in September 2025.

Bitesize learning

It’s important to build a good knowledge base before the test. Using a ‘little and often’ approach when learning is key – our brains encode new information more effectively when dealing with smaller ‘chunks’ of information. For children aged 10–11, child psychologists recommend regular study sessions of 20–30 minutes.

Atom Home makes learning a more enjoyable process for your child. They'll explore exciting worlds full of interactive questions, earning coins to spend in the Atom shop. Atom adapts to your child, showing them questions at just the right level of difficulty to keep them motivated.

Read widely

The Secondary Transfer Test assesses your child’s ability to analyse and interpret written information. Regular reading is a great way to help your child build these skills.

Encourage them to read books from different genres and by a diverse range of authors. Increasing the variety of your child’s reading will help them understand different styles, tones and purposes. Meanwhile, reading a little every day will help widen their vocabulary, sharpen their analytical thinking, and enhance their imagination.

Refine exam technique

When your child feels confident with the topics they’ve learnt in Year 5, they’ll be ready to put their knowledge to the test.

Buckinghamshire practice tests can help your child develop problem-solving skills and build confidence working under test conditions. They’re also a great way to consolidate learning and highlight knowledge gaps for further improvement.

With Atom Home, you'll unlock online mock tests and printable practice papers. Enjoy automatic marking and progress tracking with the online tests, and help your child get familiar with the real exam experience with printable practice papers.

Celebrate progress

Setting regular, achievable goals and celebrating your child’s progress – no matter how big or small – will help keep their motivation high.

Make sure to encourage a growth mindset. This means celebrating effort, as well as achievement! When your child makes mistakes or struggles to understand a particular topic, help them understand that they’ll improve through practice. Regular praise will help your child improve their resilience when tackling new and challenging topics.

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