Dr Challoner's Grammar Schools 11+ Preparation

Dr Challoner's Grammar School is a selective grammar school for boys aged 11 to 16, co-educational in the sixth form, on Chesham Road in Amersham, Buckinghamshire. It admits 180 boys to Year 7 each September through the Buckinghamshire Secondary Transfer Test (STT), for which a standardised score of 121 or more qualifies a child. It is a separate school from the all-girls Dr Challoner's High School in Little Chalfont, which sets its own admissions policy and catchment.

The Buckinghamshire Secondary Transfer Test (STT) — What the Exam Looks Like

The Secondary Transfer Test (STT) is Buckinghamshire's selective entrance assessment, sat by children in the September of Year 6 for entry the following September. It is produced and marked by GL Assessment, not by Dr Challoner's Grammar School itself, and is administered on behalf of the county's 13 grammar schools by The Buckinghamshire Grammar Schools (TBGS) testing group.

Children sit two papers, each around 60 minutes long, with a break between them, plus a shorter practice test usually taken two days beforehand. Buckinghamshire Council describes the STT as measuring verbal, non-verbal and mathematical skills, and the school's own Admissions Policy uses the same three categories. There is no separate English or reading-comprehension paper, even though several tutoring sites summarise the exam that way. For the full county-wide format breakdown, see Leading Tuition's Buckinghamshire 11+ format guide.

Each section is age-standardised before the three scores are combined into one Secondary Transfer Test Score (STTS), so a child born in August is not compared unadjusted against a child born the previous September. A standardised score of 121 or more is needed to be considered ‘qualified’ for a Buckinghamshire grammar school place; once a child has cleared that threshold, how a place is actually offered depends on the oversubscription criteria below, not on how far above 121 the score was.

Children at a state-funded Buckinghamshire primary school, or a Partner School, sit both the Practice Test and the Transfer Test at their own school during the day. Children at any other school, including independent schools and those outside Buckinghamshire, are invited to sit the test at a grammar school or another central test centre.

Are Dr Challoner's Grammar School and Dr Challoner's High School the Same School?

Dr Challoner's Grammar School, on Chesham Road in Amersham, and Dr Challoner's High School, on Cokes Lane in Little Chalfont, share a name and a founder but are two separate schools, each its own admissions authority, with its own catchment area, oversubscription criteria and appeals process. Confusing the two is easy to do online: a search for “dr challoner's grammar school 11 plus” currently returns Dr Challoner's High School's own admissions page inside the top results.

The split dates to the early 1960s. The original Dr Challoner's Grammar School, founded in Old Amersham in 1624, had been co-educational since 1905, but rising demand for grammar school places led Buckinghamshire to build a new school in Little Chalfont solely for girls, letting the Amersham school revert to boys only. The new school opened on 11 September 1962 and was named Dr Challoner's High School; it was officially opened by Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent, on 7 May 1964. Dr Challoner's Grammar School has been a boys' school, co-educational only in the sixth form, ever since.

Families applying to the school covered by this page should use Dr Challoner's Grammar School's own admissions pages. For the separate school in Little Chalfont, see Leading Tuition's Dr Challoner's High School 11+ guide rather than anything on this page.

About Dr Challoner's Grammar School — Places, Applications and Selectivity

Dr Challoner's Grammar School takes 180 boys into Year 7 each September, plus around 45 places at Year 12 open to external candidates of either sex who meet the sixth-form entry requirement. Demand consistently exceeds supply: the school's own figures show around 500 qualified applicants list Dr Challoner's Grammar School as one of their choices each year, and around 200 name it as their first preference. For a fuller walkthrough of the whole cycle, see Leading Tuition's Dr Challoner's Grammar School 11+ entry guide.

A Secondary Transfer Test score of 121 or more makes a boy ‘qualified’, but qualifying does not by itself secure a place: where qualified applications exceed the 180 places, the school applies its published oversubscription criteria (set out below) in order, starting with looked-after children and working through catchment-area priority, staff places and distance. The school notes that in some years it has not been able to offer a place to every qualified boy living within its own catchment area.

Boys living in the catchment area must show continuous residence at their home address since 1 April 2026 to be considered under the catchment rules for September 2027 entry; families applying under the catchment criteria complete the school's own Supplementary Information Form (SIF) by the deadline the school sets, in addition to the standard local-authority application.

What Are the Key Dates for September 2027 Entry?

The dates below are Buckinghamshire Council's own published timetable for the cohort applying to start Year 7 in September 2027.

How Places Are Allocated: The Oversubscription Criteria

Where qualified applications exceed the 180 places available, Dr Challoner's Grammar School's Admissions Policy 2027 applies these criteria in order:

1. Boys who are looked after children, or previously looked after children.
2. Boys living in the catchment area who are in receipt of Pupil Premium at the time of application.
3. Siblings of students in Years 7 to 12 living in the catchment area of the school.
4. Within the existing 180 places, up to 12 reserved for catchment-area boys in receipt of Pupil Premium (or looked-after children) who scored at least 115; if fewer than 12 of those are filled, up to six extend to boys who scored between 110 and 114.
5. Qualified sons of staff, where the member of staff has worked at the school for two years or more, or fills a demonstrable skill-shortage vacancy.
6. Boys living in the catchment area, in order of straight-line distance from the school.
7. Siblings of students in Years 7 to 12 living outside the catchment area, in order of straight-line distance.
8. Any remaining places, in order of straight-line distance from the school.

Distance is measured in a straight line from the family's normal home address to the school's main entrance on Chesham Road. Where two applications tie on distance, Buckinghamshire Council's Random Allocation Procedure decides the place, supervised by someone independent of the school.

What Are the Common Weaknesses, and How Do You Address Them Before the Test?

In our experience working with children preparing for the Secondary Transfer Test, the same gaps appear repeatedly. Addressing these specifically — rather than doing general revision — is what separates well-prepared candidates from those who underperform on the day.

• Verbal reasoning fluency: Many children have never encountered verbal reasoning before Year 5. Without sustained practice, they remain slow and uncertain on these questions, losing valuable time.
• Multi-step maths under time pressure: Children who are strong in class often struggle when problems require two or three steps and the clock is running.
• Verbal reasoning under time pressure: GL Assessment's verbal reasoning questions (codes, sequences, word relationships) are not part of the National Curriculum, so most children meet them for the first time in tutoring, not in class.
• Exam stamina: Sitting two demanding papers in one morning is physically and mentally tiring. Children who have not practised full-length timed papers often fade in the second half.
• Question type familiarity: Encountering an unfamiliar verbal reasoning format mid-exam causes panic. Systematic exposure to all question types removes this risk.

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A Month-by-Month Preparation Plan

Year 5, January to July: This is the foundation phase. Focus on building core skills — mental arithmetic, times tables to full fluency, vocabulary breadth, and an introduction to verbal reasoning question types. Reading widely and regularly during this period has a measurable impact on comprehension performance. There is no benefit to rushing into timed papers at this stage; accuracy and understanding come first.

Our 11+ specialists work with Dr Challoner's Grammar School applicants on the GL Assessment format Buckinghamshire uses, building the verbal, non-verbal and mathematical reasoning skills the school's Secondary Transfer Test rewards. Our students have achieved a 95%+ offer rate across selective school entry, and Leading Tuition is rated 4.8/5 on Trustpilot. Book a free consultation to discuss a preparation plan for Dr Challoner's Grammar School.

Year 6, September to December (of Year 5): Begin working through all verbal reasoning question types systematically. Introduce non-verbal reasoning. Continue strengthening maths, with particular attention to problem-solving and word problems. Start light timed practice — individual sections rather than full papers — to build pace without creating anxiety.

Year 6, January to June: This is the consolidation and pressure-testing phase. Children should be completing full timed practice papers regularly, reviewing every error carefully, and identifying which question types still cost them marks. Mock exams under realistic conditions — same time of day, no interruptions — are valuable here. Confidence built through preparation is not arrogance; it is the result of knowing the material thoroughly.

July and August: Maintain momentum without burning out. Two to three focused sessions per week is sufficient. Revisit weaker areas, do a small number of full papers, and ensure the child arrives in September feeling prepared rather than exhausted.

What Happens If Your Son Doesn't Qualify? Selection Review and Appeals

Two different processes exist for a boy who does not secure a place at Dr Challoner's Grammar School, and they are often confused. A Selection Review is for a boy who scored below 121 on the Secondary Transfer Test but whose parents believe circumstances on the day affected his result; it is heard by a panel of serving secondary and primary headteachers, supported by a clerk, who can seek advice from an educational psychologist, and it happens before places are allocated. A boy deemed qualified by a Selection Review becomes eligible for any of Buckinghamshire's 13 grammar schools, not only Dr Challoner's.

An Appeal is different: it is for a boy who is qualified (whether by the STT itself or by a successful Selection Review) but was not offered a place because the school was full. Dr Challoner's Grammar School's own guidance is direct that success is rare and requires strong evidence of exceptional circumstances - medical, social or educational - or a demonstration that the boy is of grammar-school ability. A family gets one appeal per academic year, at least 20 school days' notice to prepare it once the decision letter is sent, and at least 10 school days' notice of the hearing itself.

Working With Leading Tuition on Dr Challoner's Grammar School Preparation

Leading Tuition provides 1-to-1 specialist tutoring for children preparing for the Secondary Transfer Test and entry to Dr Challoner's Grammar School. Our tutors work to the actual format Buckinghamshire uses - two GL Assessment papers covering verbal, non-verbal and mathematical skills - rather than a generic 11+ syllabus, and to the qualifying score and oversubscription route this page sets out.

Working one-to-one means preparation is built around a child's own starting point rather than a fixed class timetable. A boy who is strong in mathematical reasoning but slow on verbal reasoning code-and-analogy questions needs a different weekly plan from one with the reverse profile; our approach is diagnostic first, then systematic, so that no question type is left unpractised before September.

For the school's own entry requirements, catchment map and registration details, see Dr Challoner's Grammar School's admissions pages.

Leading Tuition is rated 4.8 out of 5 on Trustpilot from 59 reviews, read on 3 October 2026, and 91% of our students achieve their desired grades.

Reviewed September 2026: Secondary Transfer Test dates, admissions policy, PAN, oversubscription order and appeals process checked against Buckinghamshire Council and Dr Challoner's Grammar School's own 2027 documents, and both schools' addresses confirmed against their own sites.

Frequently Asked Questions about Dr Challoner's Grammar School