Burnham Grammar School 11+ Entry Guide 2026

Burnham Grammar School is a co-educational selective grammar school located on Hogfair Lane in Burnham, Buckinghamshire (SL1 7HG). The school's planned admission number for Year 7 in September 2027 is 180, and entry is via the Buckinghamshire Secondary Transfer Test (STT) — the same test used by all 13 grammar schools in the county. Entry is open to children who reach the qualifying score of 121 or are deemed qualified through a Selection Review, and up to 6 places are reserved for Pupil Premium-eligible children who scored 115 to 120 inclusive; where the school is oversubscribed, living in the catchment area continuously from 1 September 2026 places a child in the eighth of nine categories, above only the final 'all other children' category. This guide covers the 2026 Buckinghamshire 11+ cycle for children joining Year 7 in September 2027.

What Is the Buckinghamshire Secondary Transfer Test?

The Buckinghamshire Secondary Transfer Test (STT) is produced and marked by GL Assessment, and Buckinghamshire Council administers the testing process for The Buckinghamshire Grammar Schools (TBGS), the 13 grammar schools working together. Every child who wants to attend any of the 13 Buckinghamshire grammar schools sits the same Buckinghamshire Secondary Transfer Test. Results are age-standardised to remove the advantage of older children. A single qualifying score of 121 unlocks the eligibility to apply to all 13 schools simultaneously.

The STT has two papers, each approximately 60 minutes long, with all questions in multiple-choice format. The verbal paper tests verbal skills and is worth 50% of the total score. It covers comprehension, technical English and verbal reasoning. The other paper covers maths (25%) and non-verbal skills (25%), including spatial reasoning. Children sit both papers on the same day, with a short break between them.

Because verbal skills carry 50% of the score, effective preparation should give the verbal components a large share of its time.

Burnham Grammar School's Catchment Area and Admissions Criteria

Burnham Grammar School's catchment area is defined in the Buckinghamshire County Scheme; the school's website has a map of it, and Buckinghamshire Council has a catchment area checker by postcode. Children who qualify with a score of 121 or more and have lived in the catchment area continuously from 1 September 2026 are placed above the final category, 'all other children'; once a child has qualified, the score itself has no further role. The Admissions Policy 2027 (dated 14/07/2026) is on the Burnham Grammar School website. For the first allocation round on 1 March 2027, a family should have been living at the home address, and should have disposed of or ceased to have access to any previous property, by 1 September 2026.

When more qualifying students apply than there are places, the Admissions Policy 2027 (dated 14/07/2026) allocates places in this order: first, looked-after and previously looked-after children; second, up to 6 places for looked-after or previously looked-after children, or children living in the catchment area, who are eligible for Pupil Premium and scored 115 to 120 inclusive and were not deemed qualified by a Selection Review; third, children living in the catchment area who are eligible for Pupil Premium; fourth, siblings of children who will be on the roll at entry; fifth, siblings of children who have previously been on the roll; sixth, children with exceptional medical or social needs that only Burnham Grammar School can meet, supported by written evidence from a doctor, social worker, educational welfare officer or other appropriately qualified person; seventh, qualified children of staff who meet the policy's conditions; eighth, children living in the catchment area; ninth, all other children. To be considered under the Pupil Premium rules, parents must tell the school they qualify by emailing admissions@burnhamgrammar.org.uk by the application deadline of 31 October 2026, and are asked to send proof of eligibility, which can be a letter from the child's current school.

Families from outside Buckinghamshire are considered in the last oversubscription category, all other children, whatever their score, unless a higher category such as siblings or looked-after status applies to them; children who do not attend a state-funded Buckinghamshire primary school also had to register for the STT. Registration for the 2026 test opened on 1 May 2026 and closed at 3pm on Tuesday 2 June 2026; the council does not normally accept a late registration unless there are exceptional reasons for not registering before the deadline.

Families from Slough borough itself live outside Buckinghamshire, so Slough is their home local authority. A Slough-based family whose child does not attend a state-funded Buckinghamshire primary school had to register for the Buckinghamshire STT specifically (registration closed on 2 June 2026) and may list Burnham Grammar on the application submitted to their home local authority; the council says not to submit that application to Buckinghamshire Council. This cross-boundary application process is manageable but requires attention to deadlines.

How Competitive Is Entry to Burnham Grammar School?

The council states that there are always more applications for grammar schools than available places, and that qualifying in the test does not guarantee a place.

The council expects about 37% of children to reach the qualifying score of 121 or more. Burnham Grammar School's planned admission number for Year 7 in September 2027 is 180. Living in the catchment area continuously from 1 September 2026 places a child in the eighth category rather than the last (all other children), which matters when places are contested. For out-of-catchment families — especially those from Berkshire, Slough, or further afield — the 121 threshold qualifies a child to be considered, but a higher score gives no extra priority: these children are considered in the last category, all other children.

Within each category, places go by distance in a straight line from home to the nearest school gate, closest first, and random selection decides between applicants at exactly the same distance. Two qualified children who both live in the catchment area are treated the same whatever their scores: the child whose home is measured closer to the school gate is offered a place first if places run out. Buckinghamshire Council publishes information on how grammar school places have been allocated in the past, and it administers Year 7 admissions for Burnham Grammar School, so admissions queries go to the council rather than the school.

Preparing for the Bucks STT: What Works and What Doesn't

Effective preparation for Burnham Grammar School and the Buckinghamshire STT follows a clear arc: introduce all question types first, build speed and accuracy second, then develop full-paper stamina in the final months. Starting well ahead of the September test and working systematically rather than frantically is the better approach.

What works: Starting well before Year 6, introducing each STT question type in a structured way (not just throwing practice papers at a child before Year 6), reading widely across fiction and non-fiction to build comprehension vocabulary, doing targeted technical English practice from GL Assessment-style materials, and using timed conditions progressively as the test approaches.

What doesn't work: Relying entirely on school teaching, starting serious preparation only in the autumn term of Year 6, when most children sit the test (too late to build foundations), practising only the question types the child already finds easy, and using practice papers that do not match the style of the Secondary Transfer Test.

A note on mock tests: sitting mock exams under realistic conditions — timed, in a quiet room, answering all questions with no going back — is one of the most valuable activities before the test. Sitting several full mocks helps children become familiar with the style of the test and with managing their time across both papers. Mock tests also reveal which specific question types remain weak, giving a tutor a precise target for the final preparation phase.

Children at independent schools sitting the STT face a specific consideration: they are not registered automatically, and for the 2026 test registration opened on 1 May 2026 and closed at 3pm on Tuesday 2 June 2026. Families of children at independent schools or schools outside Buckinghamshire should check the council's registration dates for their child's year and not assume someone else has registered their child.

What Makes Burnham Grammar School Distinctive?

Several points from the school's own pages and Admissions Policy 2027 follow.

Getting to school. The school's Getting to School page says bus routes to school are organised by Buckinghamshire Council, and that free transport is given to the nearest school, not necessarily the nearest grammar school.

Sixth form entry. The sixth form is selective: the minimum academic entry criteria for Year 12 are the same for internal students and external candidates, and the planned admission number is 40 for external candidates, though the policy says more may be admitted once the number of current Year 11 students transferring is known.

Parents considering Burnham alongside other Buckinghamshire grammar schools — such as Sir William Borlase's in Marlow — should visit both schools: Burnham Grammar School's open mornings for Year 6 families are on Wednesday 14 and Friday 16 October 2026, by booking. Each Buckinghamshire grammar school is its own admission authority with its own admission rules, so families should not assume that one is a clear fallback for the other.

Burnham Grammar in the Buckinghamshire 11+ Context

Because all 13 Buckinghamshire grammar schools share the same test and results, families can apply to multiple schools simultaneously. The council says the secondary school application must include each preferred Buckinghamshire grammar school and be submitted to the home local authority.

For a full overview of all 13 Buckinghamshire grammar schools — including their locations, places, and catchment areas — see our Buckinghamshire grammar schools guide 2026. For a detailed explanation of the test format, paper structure, and how scores are calculated, see our Buckinghamshire 11+ format guide 2026. For the complete grammar school preparation guide, including preparation timelines and how to choose between schools, start there.

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Reviewed October 2026: dates, figures and rules checked against Buckinghamshire Council's grammar schools and transfer testing pages and Burnham Grammar School's Admissions Policy 2027.

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