How is the Slough Consortium 11 plus scored?
Answer sheets are marked using Optical Mark Recognition (OMR). Scores are then age-standardised, so younger children in the year group aren't disadvantaged.
Results are sent to parents in mid-October 2027. If your child meets the qualifying standard for your target school, you then apply through your common application form.
What's the pass mark for the Slough Consortium 11 plus?
No qualifying score has been published for the new test.
The old figure does not automatically carry across. Under GL Assessment, a total standardised score of 111 — roughly the top 35% of the cohort — made a child eligible for a place at a Slough grammar school. A qualifying score belongs to the test that produced it, so if you find a Slough pass mark from an earlier year, treat it as background rather than a target. The consortium will publish a standard for the new test in its own time.
Meeting the qualifying score makes your child eligible. It doesn't guarantee a place — many Slough grammar schools are oversubscribed with children who meet it, and each then applies its own oversubscription criteria. Those are set out in our individual school guides:
How to apply to grammar schools in Slough
If you're considering a grammar school, it's worth speaking to your child's teacher first. Grammar schools select children working towards the top of their year group, and their teacher can tell you whether they think your child would keep up with the pace.
1. Register for the Slough Consortium 11 plus
To be considered at any of the four schools, register your child for the test.
- Registration opens: May 2027 — the exact date isn't published
- Registration closes: not yet published
Registration has previously run through the Slough Consortium of Grammar Schools' application portal. The consortium hasn't confirmed whether that stays the same for the new test, so check the schools' websites nearer the time.
2. Apply for school places
Results arrive in mid-October 2027, telling you whether your child met the qualifying standard at your target schools. Use them to decide which schools to name on your common application form, checking each school's admissions policy before you list it.
The form goes to your home local authority by Sunday 31 October 2027. That date falls on a Sunday, so it's worth submitting before the weekend.
3. National offer day
On Wednesday 1 March 2028 you'll find out which school your child has been allocated. They'll get a place at your highest preference for which they meet the criteria and where places are available.
If none of your preferred schools has a place, your child will be offered one elsewhere in your area. You can appeal to an independent panel; your local authority sends information about appealing alongside the offer.
How can I help my child prepare?
Stay on track with a clear plan
One of the hardest parts of 11+ preparation is knowing what to focus on, when, and how to make steady progress without it taking over family life. A clear plan helps your child build skills in the right order and avoid last-minute cramming.
Atom's exam plan makes this easier. Enter your child's target schools and exam dates, and we'll build a personalised weekly plan around the topics they'll meet. It adapts as they improve and keeps things manageable — little and often.
Practise working to time
Atom's 11+ practice papers are built to match the format, timing and question styles of real 11+ exams. They're unlimited, so your child can sit the same paper repeatedly and get new questions each time.
Photograph the completed answer sheets and upload them for instant marking, a standardised age score (SAS), and a clear view of which topics to work on next.
Encourage regular reading
Strong reading skills feed directly into both the English content and the verbal reasoning questions. Encourage your child to read every day, even for 10 to 15 minutes, with variety — fiction and non-fiction, different genres, a range of authors. Over time this broadens vocabulary, improves comprehension and inference, and builds confidence with unseen texts.
Explore Atom's free reading and writing starter kit for age-appropriate suggestions.
Celebrate progress, not just scores
What matters through 11+ preparation is knowing your child is moving in the right direction, not how they scored on one test. Atom's progress tracking shows how they're doing across topics and which way each one is heading, so you can keep encouragement specific and motivation steady.
