What is the 11+ ?

The 11 plus assessment is made up of two papers. One paper includes comprehension, technical English and verbal reasoning questions. Technical English covers English grammar, punctuation and spelling. The other paper includes non-verbal reasoning, spatial reasoning and maths questions. 

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The Secondary Transfer Test is taken in early Autumn Year 6 and all children normally sit the test on the same day no matter where they live or go to school.

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The verbal skills section has a weighting of 50%. The mathematical and non-verbal sections each have a weighting of 25%.

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The test does not have a pass mark. Instead, there is a qualifying score for admission to grammar school. The qualifying score for Buckinghamshire grammar schools is a Secondary Transfer Test Score (STTS) of 121 or above. The STTS is calculated by age-standardising the three section scores and then adding them using the following weightings:  verbal – 50%; mathematical – 25%; non-verbal – 25%.  The total is the STTS.

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To qualify in the Buckinghamshire Secondary Transfer Test a child needs to achieve a Secondary Transfer Test Score (STTS) of 121 or above. When applying their admission rules grammar schools do not use STTS scores to rank order children so children with higher scores are not at an advantage for entry to grammar school. Grammar school entry is entirely dependent on whether or not a score of 121 has been achieved. Beyond requiring a qualification score of 121 or above each grammar school sets its own criteria for admissions (please refer to each individual grammar school’s admission policy for details).

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The number of children who pass generally corresponds to the number of places available in the grammar schools. According to thebucksgrammarschools.org 2021 data, 1777 children gained grammar school places, with 5908 registered for the test.

 

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