Royal Grammar School 11+ guide

Thinking about applying to Royal Grammar 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 Royal Grammar School

• Address: Royal Grammar School, Amersham Road, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, HP13 6QT
• Number of pupils: 1,300+
• Admissions contact: [email protected]
• Number of places in Year 7: 192 (182 day places and 10 boarding places)
• 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 Royal Grammar School

The Royal Grammar School (RGS) in High Wycombe is one of the country’s leading state grammar schools for boys. Founded in 1551, it has a long tradition of academic excellence while preparing students for life beyond the classroom. Unlike most grammar schools, RGS offers both day and boarding options. Fraser Youens House, the school’s boarding facility, provides a close-knit, supportive environment for around 70 students.

At RGS, education goes beyond exam results. The school has a strong focus on leadership, independence, and character development. A key part of school life is the Combined Cadet Force (CCF), with Army, Navy, and RAF sections. This programme teaches discipline, teamwork, and problem-solving – valuable skills that help students thrive in future careers.

The school also has a rich extracurricular offering. Music is a particular strength, with high-level ensembles that perform nationally. Sport is another standout feature, with students competing at regional and national levels in rugby, cricket, and rowing.

How to apply to RGS High Wycombe

RGS High Wycombe 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 the Royal Grammar 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 RGS High Wycombe 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 Royal Grammar 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 192 children applying to Royal Grammar School achieve a score of 121 or higher, the school applies oversubscription criteria. Children are prioritised for places in the following order:

1. Looked after and previously looked after boys
2. Up to six places for children who live within the catchment area and are eligible for pupil premium or are looked after or previously looked after children, and their STT score is 115–120
3. Children who are eligible for pupil premium and who live in the catchment area
4. Boys living in the catchment area who qualify for free school meals
5. Brothers of day students on roll at RGS High Wycombe
6. All other boys living in the catchment are
7. Sons of a member of staff at RGS High Wycombe
8. All remaining places will then be allocated in distance order, with boys living closest to the school offered priority. If there is an absolute tie, then each boy in the tie will be admitted.

RGS High Wycombe has a catchment area. A catchment area map is available online.

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.