Chesham Grammar School: Admissions Guide & 11+ Preparation

Admissions & Oversubscription Criteria

Chesham Grammar uses the standard Buckinghamshire oversubscription criteria: looked-after children, siblings, then distance. The co-educational nature means boys and girls compete for places in the same pool, unlike most Buckinghamshire grammar schools where boys' and girls' places are allocated separately.

All Buckinghamshire grammar schools share the same entry requirement: a standardised score of 121 or above on the Secondary Transfer Test. Qualification is necessary but not sufficient — at oversubscribed schools, qualified applicants compete for places on the basis of each school's published oversubscription criteria. These are typically ordered as: looked-after children, siblings of current pupils, then distance from the school gate in ascending order. All families should read the individual school's admissions policy (available from the school and via Buckinghamshire Council's admissions portal) rather than relying on general summaries.

Catchment & Location

The school draws its applicants primarily from Chesham, Amersham, Great Missenden, the Chiltern villages, and some parts of Hertfordshire near Tring and Berkhamsted. For families in Chesham itself, the school is often the first preference, with the Challoner's schools in Amersham as alternatives.

Distance Cut-Off

Chesham Grammar's distance dynamics are different to the town-centre schools — its position in the Chilterns means the applicant pool is spread across a wider, more rural area. The school is generally less oversubscribed on distance than the Challoner's schools, but qualifying at 121 remains the firm requirement.

Distance cut-offs vary year to year based on the number of qualifying applicants and the proportion who list this school on their SCAF. In years with higher-than-average qualifying rates across Buckinghamshire, the effective catchment distance at popular schools can compress. Families should use any published historical cut-off figures as a guide only — the actual distance for any given year is determined at the point of offer in March.

What Makes Chesham Grammar Distinctive

Chesham Grammar is one of the mixed grammar schools in Buckinghamshire — a category that includes Sir William Borlase's in Marlow and Sir Henry Floyd in Aylesbury. Its co-educational environment is a distinguishing factor for families who prefer a non-single-sex setting.

The Admissions Process for Chesham Grammar

There is no separate entrance examination for Chesham Grammar — entry is based entirely on the Buckinghamshire Secondary Transfer Test result. The process for families applying to this school follows the standard Buckinghamshire grammar school admissions timeline:

Preparation Advice for Chesham Grammar Applicants

For families in Chesham, the grammar school decision often involves weighing Chesham Grammar against the Challoner's schools in Amersham. Children applying to both should prepare for the same Secondary Transfer Test, as all Buckinghamshire grammar schools use identical assessment.

Because Chesham Grammar is typically oversubscribed, qualifying at the threshold is not sufficient to guarantee a place for families who do not live close to the school. For families in the likely catchment area, qualifying comfortably above 121 reduces the risk of a borderline result that could be questioned in a difficult year. For families outside the typical catchment, qualifying is a prerequisite but the admissions outcome depends on distance — not on how far above 121 a child scores.

What the Four Test Domains Look Like

Regardless of which grammar school a family targets, all applicants must qualify via the same Secondary Transfer Test. The four domains are: Verbal Reasoning (word codes, analogies, compound words, sequences), Non-Verbal Reasoning and Spatial Reasoning (matrices, reflections, rotations, nets, cube views), Mathematical Reasoning (number, fractions, percentages, ratio, algebra, shape, data), and English Comprehension (retrieval, inference, vocabulary in context, author technique). All answers are multiple-choice. The test is delivered with audio timing — a recorded voice announces each section and controls the pace throughout.

Practice with a GL Assessment-style readiness check early in Year 5 identifies which domains need the most work before the September Year 6 test. Domain-specific practice, timed papers, and realistic mock conditions in the summer holidays are the core of effective preparation.