Sir William Borlase's Grammar School: Admissions Guide & 11+ Preparation

Admissions & Oversubscription Criteria

Borlase's uses the standard Buckinghamshire admissions process: qualifying at 121, then oversubscription criteria prioritising looked-after children, siblings, and distance. As a co-educational school, it attracts applications from both boys and girls across a wide area.

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

Located in central Marlow on West Street, the school is closest to families in the town itself. Significant numbers of applications come from High Wycombe, Flackwell Heath, Bourne End, and Cookham. Distance measurement is from the child's home to the school gate.

Distance Cut-Off

Because Borlase's is co-educational and the nearest grammar for many families south of High Wycombe, it attracts a broad and competitive applicant pool. Marlow families typically have a distance advantage, but the school can be oversubscribed among qualifying applicants from the surrounding area.

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 Borlase's Distinctive

Borlase's is notable as one of Buckinghamshire's mixed grammar schools, meaning both boys and girls compete for places at the same school — unlike most grammar schools in the county which are single-sex. This makes it popular with families who prefer a co-educational setting.

The Admissions Process for Borlase's

There is no separate entrance examination for Borlase's — 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 Borlase's Applicants

Families in Marlow and the surrounding area who are targeting Borlase's should prepare for a competitive field. Boys who might otherwise target RGS or John Hampden, and girls targeting Wycombe High or Beaconsfield High, both apply to Borlase's — creating a diverse and well-prepared applicant pool.

Because Borlase's 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.