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Thinking about applying to Sir William Borlase's 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 Sir William Borlase's Grammar School
Address: Sir William Borlase's Grammar School, West Street, Marlow, Buckinghamshire, SL7 2BR
Number of pupils: 1,000+
Admissions contact: [email protected]
Number of places in Year 7: 150
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 Sir William Borlase's Grammar School
Sir William Borlase’s Grammar School (SWBGS) is a co-educational grammar school in Marlow, Buckinghamshire. It was founded in 1624 by Sir William Borlase in memory of his son. The school has a long history of academic success and a strong reputation for creativity and sport.
Students aged 11 to 18 follow a broad and engaging curriculum that prepares them for top universities and careers. The school’s motto, “Te Digna Sequere” (Follow things worthy of yourself), encourages students to aim high and develop both academically and personally.
SWBGS is particularly known for its performing arts and music. The school has a theatre, dance studios, and recording facilities, offering students plenty of opportunities to take part in drama, dance, and concerts. Many pupils go on to perform at a high level.
Sport is also a big part of life at Borlase. The school has excellent facilities and competes at a national level in rowing, rugby, netball, and athletics.
With a friendly and ambitious environment, SWBGS helps students build confidence, independence, and leadership skills. It is a high-achieving school where students are encouraged to work hard, be creative, and take advantage of the many opportunities available.
How to apply to Sir William Borlase's Grammar School
Sir William Borlase's Grammar 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 Sir William Borlase's 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 Sir William Borlase's Grammar 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
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How does place allocation work at Sir William Borlase's 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 150 children applying to Sir William Borlase's Grammar School achieve a score of 121 or higher, the school applies oversubscription criteria. Children are prioritised for places in the following order:
Looked after and previously looked after children
Up to a maximum of 10 places will be reserved for children eligible for pupil premium and living in the catchment area, who have not qualified but have achieved a score of between 110 and 120 in the Secondary Transfer Test
Children living in the catchment area who are eligible for free school meals, and have achieved a score of 121 or higher
Up to a maximum of 15 places will be reserved for children who live in the school's Priority Admissions area, allocated by random lottery
Children of members of staff at Sir William Borlase's Grammar School
Children living within the school catchment area
Siblings of children currently on roll at Sir William Borlase's Grammar School
Children who have exceptional medical or social needs that can only be met at the school
All remaining places will then be allocated by distance order, where children living closest to the school will be prioritised
Sir William Borlase's Grammar School has a catchment area. This covers areas including Stokenchurch, Hambleden, Marlow and parts of Maidenhead. A catchment area 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.
Buckinghamshire 11+ practice papers and online learning
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Everything you need for the Secondary Transfer Test
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