Slough Consortium of Grammar Schools 11 plus guide

Thinking about a grammar school in Slough for your child? This guide walks you through how the system works, key dates for entry, and how to support your child through the Slough Consortium 11+.

In this guide, you’ll find:

• How the Slough grammar school system works
• Key 11+ dates and deadlines for 2027 entry
• Which schools use the Slough Consortium 11+
• What your child will be tested on
• How the exam is scored and how places are allocated
• Practical ways to support your child’s 11+ preparation

Slough grammar schools

The Slough Consortium 11+ is used by four grammar schools in the Slough local authority area. These schools share a single 11+ entrance exam, meaning children only need to sit the test once when applying to any of them.

All of these schools are co-educational (teach boys and girls together):

• Herschel Grammar School
• Langley Grammar School
• St Bernard’s Catholic Grammar School
• Upton Court Grammar School

Dates for your diary

• Tuesday 28th April 2026: Slough Consortium 11+ information evening
• Friday 1st May 2026: Slough 11+ registration opens
• Friday 5th June 2026: Slough 11+ registration closes
• Saturday 19th September 2026: Slough Consortium 11+ exam
• Mid-October 2026: parents receive test results
• Saturday 31st October 2026: secondary school common application deadline
• Monday 1st March 2027: secondary school national offers day

Dates can vary, so always check with your target schools!

What is the Slough Consortium 11 plus?

The Slough Consortium 11 plus exam is an academic entrance test used by the four grammar schools in Slough. Grammar schools use the 11 plus to select children working in the top ability range in their year group. 

Children within the top 25% of their year group are normally well-suited for grammar school. The 11 plus exam takes place in September, when your child is in Year 6.

What's in the Slough Consortium 11 plus?

The Slough Consortium 11 plus exam consists of two papers provided by GL Assessment. 

Each test lasts around one hour. This includes time for instructions, some worked (unmarked) example questions, and the real test questions. Your child will take both tests on the same day. There is a short break between the two papers.

One paper tests verbal skills and the other paper tests non-verbal skills.

Verbal skills

The verbal skills paper includes questions which cover:

• English comprehension: how well your child can understand and analyse written text
• Technical English: grammar, punctuation and spelling – all based on Key Stage 2 national curriculum content
• Verbal reasoning: using logic and reasoning to solve problems with written information, like letters, words and numbers

Non-verbal skills

The questions on the non-verbal skills paper cover:

• Non-verbal reasoning: using logic and reasoning to solve problems with visual information, like shapes, diagrams and pictures
• Maths: covers key topics taught on the Key Stage 2 maths curriculum. This includes the areas of number, algebra, measures, shape and space, and handling data.

The questions in each paper have a range of answer formats. Your child will have a separate answer sheet to mark their answers. These are marked electronically.

How is the Slough Consortium 11 plus scored?

After the test, answer sheets are marked using Optical Mark Recognition (OMR) technology.

Scores are then age-standardised, which means younger children aren’t disadvantaged.

Your child’s results will be sent to you in mid-October 2026. If they meet the qualifying standard for your target school, you can then apply for that school through your common application form (CAF).

What's the pass mark for the Slough Consortium 11 plus?

Children who achieve a total standardised score of 111 in the Slough Consortium 11 plus will be considered eligible for a place at a Slough grammar school. Achieving this score places your child in the top 35% of the test cohort.

Bear in mind that achieving this score doesn’t guarantee that your child will be allocated a place at your target school. Many grammar schools are oversubscribed with children who meet the qualifying score. 

When there are more eligible applicants than places at a school, the school applies oversubscription criteria to prioritise places. We’ve included this information in each of our school guides:

• Langley Grammar School
• Herschel Grammar School
• St Bernard’s Catholic Grammar School
• Upton Court Grammar School

How to apply to grammar schools in Slough

If you're considering a grammar school in Slough for your child, it's a good idea to speak to your child's teacher first.

Grammar schools are academically-selective and select children working towards the top of their year group. Your child's teacher will be able to indicate whether they think your child will be able to keep up with the pace in a grammar school.

1. Register for the Slough Consortium 11 plus

If you would like your child to be considered for a place at a grammar school in Slough, you’ll need to register them to take the Slough Consortium 11 plus exam.

Registration for the 2026 exam will open on Friday 1st May 2026. To start your child’s application, visit the Slough Consortium of Grammar Schools’ application portal and follow the instructions. The portal will close on Friday 5th June 2026.

2. Apply for school places

In October 2026, you’ll find out if your child has met the qualifying standard to be eligible for a place at your target school(s).

You can use these results to decide which schools to name on your secondary school common application form. You should only name grammar schools for which your child has met the eligible score. Before listing a school on your form, check its admissions policy and make sure your child is eligible.

The application form must be submitted to your home local council by 31st October 2026.

3. National school offer day

On Monday 1st March 2027, you will find out which school your child has been allocated a place at. They will be allocated a place at your highest-preferred school for which they meet the entry criteria and which has places available.

If no places are available at your preferred schools, they will be offered a place at another school in your area. You can appeal via an independent panel. Information about how to appeal will be sent to you by your local authority along with your school offer on National Offers Day.

How can I help my child prepare for the Slough Consortium 11 plus?

The 11 plus exam is designed to be challenging. Here are our top tips to help your child prepare for the Slough 11+.

Stay on track with a clear Slough 11+ revision 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, structured plan helps your child feel less overwhelmed and more in control. It ensures they build skills in the right order, cover everything they need, and avoid last-minute cramming.

Atom’s exam plan makes this easier. Enter your child’s target schools and exam dates, and we’ll create a personalised weekly plan tailored to the topics they’ll be tested on. It shows them what to work on and when, adapts as they improve, and helps them build progress in a calm, manageable way — little and often.

That means less guesswork for you, less stress for them, and a clearer path all the way to exam day.

Build 11+ exam technique with realistic practice papers

As your child’s knowledge grows, practice tests can help them feel more comfortable with the real exam format.

Atom’s 11+ practice papers are exact replicas of real 11+ exams. They’re also unlimited – you can download the same paper again and again, and your child will get new questions each time. This helps them practise without repeating the same content.

We’ve made marking easy for you, too. Simply photograph your child’s answer sheets and upload them to Atom. The papers are marked instantly, showing your child’s standardised age score (SAS), where they’re doing well, and what they should focus on next. You’ll also learn how they compare to other children applying to the same school.

Encourage regular reading

Strong reading skills play a big role in 11+ preparation.

Encourage your child to read every day, even for just 10–15 minutes. The key is variety. Mix fiction and non-fiction, different genres, and a range of authors. This helps them become more confident in understanding tone, purpose, and meaning across different texts.

Over time, regular reading will:

• broaden their vocabulary
• improve comprehension and inference
• build confidence in tackling unseen texts

And just as importantly, it can help them enjoy reading — not just see it as exam preparation.

Looking for inspiration? Atom’s recommended reading lists have suggestions spanning fiction and non-fiction for Years 3–6.

Celebrate progress, not just scores

When you’re supporting your child through 11+ preparation, what really matters is knowing they’re moving in the right direction — not just how they scored on a single test.

Atom’s progress tracking gives you a clear, simple picture of how your child is doing in each topic and the direction they’re moving in. You can see where they’re on track, where they might need more practice, and spot progress as it happens.

That makes it easier to give meaningful encouragement, keep motivation steady, and focus on what matters most: consistent improvement, not just one-off results.