How to prepare for the Aylesbury Grammar School 11+

Exam format not yet verified. We have not confirmed this school's exam board or paper format from an official source. Where this guide describes the test, treat it as a working assumption and check the school's admissions page before relying on it.

The exam at a glance

Aylesbury Grammar School uses the Buckinghamshire Grammar Schools Secondary Transfer Test for Year 7 entry. For children applying for September 2028 entry, our working assumption, not yet verified with the school, is that this is the school’s own paper through Buckinghamshire Grammar Schools, in a GL Assessment style across Maths, English, Verbal Reasoning and Non-Verbal Reasoning.

The school’s Year 7 admissions page says children take two tests of approximately 60 minutes each in the autumn of the year before entry. Buckinghamshire Council’s familiarisation information explains that the test is designed to assess whether a child is suitable for grammar school, and that preparation should be broad rather than narrowly focused on one area.

In practical terms, families should plan for balanced preparation across all four subjects. Because the format is split across timed sections, children benefit from building steady accuracy first and then learning to work confidently at exam pace.

The school and council pages do not clearly confirm on the official pages we reviewed whether the test is delivered on paper, on screen or in a mixed format for 2028 entry, so it is best to check the current Buckinghamshire Grammar Schools testing information when registration opens.

Board / style: Buckinghamshire Grammar Schools Secondary Transfer Test, GL-style format
Subjects: Maths, English, Verbal Reasoning, Non-Verbal Reasoning
Structure: Two test papers
Timing: Approximately 60 minutes each
When sat: In the autumn of Year 6, for entry the following September

Registration and key dates

For Buckinghamshire children attending a Buckinghamshire primary or partner school, registration for the Secondary Transfer Test is normally handled automatically unless a parent withdraws their child. The Aylesbury Grammar School Year 7 page says that children attending any Buckinghamshire primary school are registered automatically unless parents choose to withdraw them.

If your child is not at a Buckinghamshire primary school, you must apply for testing. The same school page says that other children must submit a Secondary Transfer Test registration form to the Testing Administrator. Buckinghamshire Council provides the registration route and guidance for out-of-county and partner-school applicants.

For exact 2028 entry dates, parents should wait for the new admissions round to open. On the sources reviewed, 2028-entry dates were not yet published. However, the school’s admissions policy for an earlier cycle gives a useful example timeline, and the school’s Year 7 page confirms the test takes place in the autumn before entry.

Stage	What the sources show
Registration opening	Not yet confirmed for 2028 entry on the official pages we reviewed. Check Buckinghamshire Council and the school page. For Buckinghamshire primary pupils, registration is automatic unless withdrawn.
Registration deadline	Not yet confirmed for 2028 entry on the official pages we reviewed.
Test date	The school’s older admissions policy gives an example date of 11 September 2025 for the 2026 entry cycle. Use this only as a guide to the usual pattern: Buckinghamshire testing is typically in early to mid September.
Results	The same older policy gives an example results date of 10 October 2025 for the 2026 entry cycle, showing that results usually follow in October.
CAF / school preferences	You must still complete your home local authority’s secondary school application form by the national deadline.

What documents may be needed depends on where your child attends school and whether you live in or outside Buckinghamshire. Council guidance for late transfer and testing applications typically asks for proof of address and school details where relevant, so keep these ready. For the live 2028 round, follow the checklist on the official registration page rather than relying on previous years.

Check whether your child is automatically entered through their primary school.
If not, complete the official Secondary Transfer Test registration form through Buckinghamshire Council / the Testing Administrator.
Read the familiarisation guidance so your child knows the style and pace.
Submit your secondary school preferences separately through your home local authority.

For a parent-friendly summary, see The Aylesbury Grammar School 11+ guide (format, catchment, dates) and sign up for Free email alerts for this school's key dates.

Who can apply: catchment and admissions

Aylesbury Grammar School is a grammar school for boys. The school states that for Year 7, boys are eligible for admission if they achieve the required qualifying score in the Secondary Transfer Test, or if they are later found qualified through a Selection Review process.

On catchment, the school’s admissions policy page directs families to Buckinghamshire Council’s postcode checking facility and provides a catchment map. However, the detailed oversubscription order and full priority wording were not clearly set out on the reviewed school page supplied in the research set, so parents should read the current determined admissions policy before relying on catchment assumptions.

What parents can safely take from the official pages is this:

The school is part of the Buckinghamshire grammar school admissions system.
Qualification for grammar school is based on the Secondary Transfer Test, unless qualification is secured through review or appeal.
Catchment matters for admissions priority, so families should use Buckinghamshire Council’s postcode checker rather than estimating from maps or local hearsay.
You must name the school on your local authority preference form even if your child has sat the test.

The number of places, historic cut-off distances and any score thresholds were not stated on the official pages we reviewed used here, so they are not included in this guide. If those details matter for your decision-making, check the current determined admissions policy and Buckinghamshire allocation information when published.

A month-by-month preparation plan

For most children, the most sensible approach is steady practice across Year 5 and early Year 6 rather than very long sessions. The Buckinghamshire test rewards breadth, accuracy and calm timing, so the aim is to make all four subjects feel familiar.

September to December of Year 5

Keep it light. Around 1 to 2 hours a week is enough for most children at this stage. Focus on reading fluency, secure arithmetic, vocabulary growth and short reasoning tasks. You are not trying to create speed yet; you are building confidence.

Read widely every week, including fiction and nonfiction.
Review number facts and the four operations until they are quick and reliable.
Introduce verbal and non-verbal reasoning in small chunks.
Use short untimed exercises so your child can learn methods properly.

January to Easter of Year 5

Increase gently to about 2 to 3 hours a week. Start rotating all four subjects so no area is neglected. This is a good time to notice natural strengths and weaker spots.

For English, practise careful comprehension and precise vocabulary.
For Maths, cover arithmetic, fractions, word problems and multi-step thinking.
For VR and NVR, learn common question types and the method for each.
Begin occasional mini-timed sets, but keep most work untimed.

Summer term of Year 5

Move to roughly 3 to 4 hours a week, split across several short sessions. By now your child should be meeting the full spread of topics regularly. Accuracy still matters more than rushing.

Start mixed practice so children switch between subjects confidently.
Correct mistakes properly: ask why an error happened, not just what the answer was.
Introduce short timed drills in arithmetic and reasoning.
Keep one day each week for reading and vocabulary only.

Summer holidays before Year 6

This is the key consolidation period. Aim for about 4 to 5 hours a week, with breaks. Now is the right time to begin timed papers in a measured way.

Use one timed section at a time before attempting full papers.
Review every paper carefully and keep an error log.
Practise bubbling answers or moving steadily through multiple-choice style work if relevant to the current format guidance.
Do not overload the final weeks of August; confidence matters.

September of Year 6, up to the test

In the run-up to the exam, keep work calm and purposeful at about 4 hours a week. Focus on familiar routines rather than new content.

Complete a small number of realistic timed papers.
Revisit frequent error types.
Reduce workload in the final few days.
Prioritise sleep, routine and a relaxed exam morning.

If your child is already working hard at school, resist the urge to add too much. Short, regular practice almost always works better than occasional very long sessions.

Subject by subject: what to practise

Maths

For Buckinghamshire preparation, keep maths broad and secure. Children should be comfortable with arithmetic, place value, fractions, percentages, ratio-style thinking at an age-appropriate level, measures, shape, data handling and word problems. In timed sections, many marks are lost through avoidable slips rather than lack of knowledge.

Practise mental arithmetic until core facts are automatic.
Use short sets of mixed questions rather than topic-only worksheets all the time.
Teach children to underline key information in word problems.
Review mistakes for method errors, not just final-answer errors.

English

The English element calls for strong reading habits, secure vocabulary and careful comprehension. Children should be used to reading for meaning, spotting clues in the text and choosing precise answers. Spelling, punctuation and grammar awareness are also helpful foundations.

Read demanding but age-appropriate texts regularly.
Discuss word meanings in context and keep a vocabulary notebook.
Practise comprehension that requires inference as well as retrieval.
Build stamina with shorter timed passages later in preparation.

Verbal Reasoning

Verbal reasoning rewards familiarity with recurring question types and efficient method. This usually includes work with letter patterns, codes, sequences, word relationships, vocabulary-based logic and careful processing of written information. Children often improve quickly once they know the common formats.

Learn one question type at a time before mixing them.
Build vocabulary alongside technique.
Use timed mini-sections once methods are secure.
Encourage neat working so children can check quickly.

Non-Verbal Reasoning

Non-verbal reasoning focuses on visual patterns, shape transformations, symmetry, rotation, reflection and relationships between figures. Success comes from recognising pattern families and spotting change systematically.

Teach children to compare shapes in a set order: size, position, shading, number, rotation.
Practise classic pattern types repeatedly until they feel familiar.
Use short bursts of timed work to improve pace.
Review visual mistakes carefully because children often misread one feature.

Across all four subjects, the best practice is balanced practice. Avoid spending all your time on a child’s favourite area while leaving another subject untouched.

Practice papers and mock exams

Practice papers are most useful when they are used as a learning tool, not just as a score generator. Start with untimed or lightly timed work, then move gradually towards realistic conditions in the summer before the test.

Use one paper to diagnose strengths and weaknesses.
Mark it carefully and go through every error.
Redo only the question types that caused trouble.
Return to a similar paper later to check that the issue is fixed.

Mocks can be helpful for children who need experience of exam-room routines, but they are not essential for every family. If you do use a mock, choose one late enough that your child already knows the content, otherwise the result can be discouraging without being very informative.

For structured practice, use ElevenReady’s free resources:

A simple pattern works well: one short skills session, one mixed practice session and, later on, one timed section each week. That gives enough repetition without turning preparation into a constant pressure.

On the day

Children usually do best when the exam day feels predictable. In the week before the test, keep routines normal and avoid last-minute cramming.

Check the test venue and arrival instructions as soon as they are issued.
Prepare any required documents the night before.
Choose comfortable uniform or clothing, depending on the instructions provided.
Have a familiar breakfast and leave in good time.

What helps most in the room is calm pacing. Remind your child that they do not need to find every question easy. A standardised test is meant to be stretching. The goal is to work steadily, avoid getting stuck and keep concentration through the full paper.

If a question looks difficult, make the best decision they can and move on.
Listen carefully to instructions at the start of each section.
Keep answers clear and tidy.
Use any checking time to revisit questions that were uncertain, not to rethink everything.

After the test, try not to conduct a detailed post-mortem on the journey home. Most children feel better if the day is simply acknowledged and then left alone.

After the exam: results, allocation and appeals

After the Secondary Transfer Test, families receive the child’s outcome before secondary school allocations are made. The example timeline in Aylesbury Grammar School’s older admissions policy shows results on 10 October 2025 for the 2026 entry cycle, which fits the usual Buckinghamshire pattern of October results following a September test.

If a child is qualified, parents must still have named Aylesbury Grammar School on the Common Application Form to be considered for a place. Qualification alone does not offer a place automatically.

If a child is not initially qualified, Buckinghamshire operates review and appeal routes. The school states that boys may also be eligible for admission if they are deemed qualified by a Selection Review Panel. If a place is not offered on National Offer Day, waiting lists and the formal admissions appeal process may also apply under the normal school admissions framework.

For exact steps, deadlines and forms, use the current Buckinghamshire Council admissions pages for the relevant year, because appeal and review timelines are published afresh each cycle.

Results: usually issued in October, based on the example timeline published by the school for an earlier cycle
School preferences: must be submitted separately through your home local authority
If not qualified: review and/or appeal routes may be available
If qualified but not offered: waiting list and appeal options may apply

What has changed recently

On the official and reputable sources reviewed for this guide, no clearly announced recent change affecting Aylesbury Grammar School’s Year 7 test format, board, catchment or published place numbers for the last two years was confirmed beyond the standard annual admissions updates. The school’s current Year 7 admissions page continues to state that children sit two tests of approximately 60 minutes each in the autumn before admission and that Buckinghamshire primary pupils are entered automatically unless withdrawn.

Frequently asked questions

What exam does Aylesbury Grammar School use for 2028 entry?

For 2028 entry, our working assumption, not yet verified with the school, is that Aylesbury Grammar School uses the Buckinghamshire Grammar Schools test in a GL-style format covering Maths, English, Verbal Reasoning and Non-Verbal Reasoning.

Is registration automatic for Aylesbury Grammar School 11+?

It is automatic for children attending Buckinghamshire primary schools unless parents withdraw them. Children at other schools must apply for testing through the official Buckinghamshire process.

How many papers are there?

The school says there are two tests of approximately 60 minutes each, taken in the autumn before entry.

Does Aylesbury Grammar School publish a pass mark?

This guide does not give a pass mark because no verified current threshold was confirmed on the official sources we reviewed. Check the school and Buckinghamshire Council admissions pages for the current wording on qualification.

Do I still need to name the school on the CAF if my child sits the test?

Yes. Sitting or passing the test does not count as an application. You must list the school on your home local authority’s secondary application form.

When should my child start timed papers?

Usually in the summer before Year 6 works well, once methods are secure. Earlier than that, untimed practice is often more useful.

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Sources

Aylesbury Grammar School - Year 7 Admissions: School is a grammar school for boys; Year 7 admissions use the Secondary Transfer Test; two tests of approximately 60 minutes each are taken in the autumn before admission; Buckinghamshire primary pupils are registered automatically unless withdrawn; other children must submit a Secondary Transfer T

Preparing for other schools in Buckinghamshire

Written by ElevenReady from the school's published information and reviewed by a person before publishing. Last reviewed 4 October 2026. Exam arrangements change. Check the school's admissions page for the current year.