2026 11 Plus Exam for Upton Court Grammar School

Stay ahead with exclusive tips on the Slough 11+ exam for Upton Court Grammar School

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With a proven track record in preparing pupils for the 11 Plus, Marie Redmond MEd and her team of exceptional, fully qualified and experienced primary teachers (not 'tutors') provide specialist tuition focused on your child’s individual learning needs.

Our unique 11 Plus tuition courses in Amersham, Aylesbury, Beaconsfield, BusheyGerrards Cross, High Wycombe, Maidenhead, Reading (Winnersh, Wokingham) and Stoke Poges are structured to give children the confidence they need to sit and pass exams in a friendly, stress-free environment.

Introduction to the Slough Consortium 11 Plus exam

To be eligible to apply for a place at a Slough grammar school (Herschel Grammar School, Langley Grammar School, St Bernard’s Catholic Grammar School and Upton Court Grammar School), your child will need to pass the Slough Consortium 11 Plus exam. Children born between 1st September 2015 and 31st August 2016 will take the Slough Consortium 11+ exam on Saturday 19th September 2026 to be eligible to apply for a place for September 2027.

The Consortium operates a shared 11 Plus testing process, with all four schools using the same test papers and common eligibility criteria for selection.

Following CEM Cambridge’s announcement in October 2022 that it would stop providing paper-based 11+ exams from September 2023, the Slough Consortium required a new test provider from 2023 onwards. We therefore moved all students preparing for Slough onto our GL Assessment syllabus at the earliest opportunity, ensuring they received additional preparation for the GL-style of questions.

The Slough Consortium of Grammar Schools contracted with GL Assessment as the test provider for the 11+ examinations held in September 2023, 2024 and 2025, and has confirmed that GL Assessment will also be the test provider for the September 2026 examination.

The Slough Consortium has its own contract with GL Assessment and there is no sharing of 11+ scores with any other schools. Therefore, for example, a student applying to both Buckinghamshire and Slough will need to sit both exams.

The tests identify the top 35% of the cohort as eligible for consideration for entry to grammar school, and the eligibility mark is 111.

FAQs

What does the Slough Consortium 11 Plus exam include
  • The Slough 11 Plus exam consists of two papers, taken on the same day, each approximately 60 minutes in duration and testing English, mathematics, verbal reasoning and non-verbal reasoning.
  • All questions on both papers are multiple choice and pupils indicate their answers on a separate answer sheet.
What does the Slough Consortium 11 Plus exam look like?

The provider of the Slough 11+ exam changed from CEM to GL Assessment in September 2023. Parent guides and familiarisation papers are available to download on the admissions pages of each of the Slough Consortium Grammar Schools.

How do I register my child for the Slough Consortium 11 Plus exam?
  • You need to register your child to take the Slough Consortium 11 Plus test.
  • Online registration for the 2026 exam (for September 2027 entry) will open on Friday 1st May 2026 and close on Friday 5th June 2026.
  • The sole purpose of registration is to enable your son or daughter to sit the 11 Plus exam. The consortium will order one set of exam papers for them, therefore ensure that you complete the registration process once only.

What is required to pass the Slough Consortium 11 Plus?

Verbal skills, i.e. English and Verbal Reasoning (50% of the mark)

  • Comprehension
  • Verbal reasoning (the production of words, relationships between words, letters and numbers)
  • Vocabulary
  • Spelling
  • Grammar
  • Punctuation

Numerical Reasoning (approx. 30% of the mark)

  • Basic skills (addition, multiplication, division and subtraction)
  • Mental maths development
  • Problem solving techniques
  • Extracting information from graphs and tables
  • Averages
  • Foundation algebra concepts
  • Fractions, decimals and percentages
  • Ratio and proportion
  • Area and volume
  • 2d and 3d shapes

Non-verbal Reasoning (approx. 20% of the mark)

  • Spatial awareness
  • Logical deduction skills
  • Mathematical concepts such as symmetry, rotation and reflection
  • Identifying relationships, similarities and differences between figures
  • Identifying sequences between shapes

11+ Mock Exams With Marie Redmond 11+ Intelligent Video Learning®

GL 11 Plus mock examsGet exam ready with Marie Redmond Tuition® 11 Plus Mock Exams for the Slough Consortium 11 Plus. Students who sat our mock exams in 2025 said they were very similar to the actual test, which made them feel prepared and confident when sitting the exam.

Marie Redmond's Superbrain® 11+ Resources

Marie Redmond's Superbrain® 11+ Flashcards packagingStudents attending our Year 5 11+ Easter and 11+ summer holiday courses receive a Superbrain® English and verbal reasoning holiday course book for each week they attend, further reinforcing their skills. Plus, all term-time students receive Marie Redmond's Superbrain® 11 Plus Flash Cards upon joining—an interactive resource designed to supercharge their vocabulary and accelerate exam preparation.

Explore our full Superbrain® collection and discover how these exclusive resources support students on their journey to 11+ success.

Marie Redmond's Superbrain® Year 4 & 5 Verbal Reasoning and Maths Books

Data-Led Approach With SuccessTrack® by Marie Redmond

In addition to weekly spelling tests, our term-time students undergo formal assessments twice per term—at half-term and at the end of the term—covering all topic areas. These assessments provide a valuable measure of progress over time, ensuring that we can track genuine improvements in attainment without being overly influenced by short-term fluctuations. Testing more frequently risks skewing results due to the occasional ‘off week,’ whereas our structured approach strikes the perfect balance between regular monitoring and meaningful insight.

Based on the initial assessment and your child's specific answers, we create a personalised tuition plan that sets individual targets for each subject area that is relevant to them, such as English, maths, verbal and non-verbal reasoning. Every lesson is designed to develop these areas. We continuously monitor progress, allowing us to refine tuition plans to ensure they suit your child's needs and challenges.

Parents are always welcome to contact us at any stage during their child's 11+ course for feedback on their development. They can speak with their child's teacher after lessons or contact Marie directly by phone or email for further insight. As a smaller provider, we take pride in our ability to offer tailored guidance and maintain a close, supportive relationship with families.

The Marie Redmond Tuition® Book Club

Marie Redmond Tuition Book ClubSharing our enjoyment of books is a fantastic way to encourage reading and therefore develop vocabulary and comprehension at home. The Marie Redmond Tuition® Book Club is an excellent platform for discussions about books, opportunities for creativity and promoting reading for pleasure. Discover our book of the month.

The Marie Redmond Tuition® Creative Thinking Course

11+ Creative Thinking Course logo for Reading School

The virtual Creative Thinking Course is particularly useful for boys preparing for the latest format of the Reading School 11+ exam but is open to all our term-time students.

Students attend one creative thinking lesson per week on Zoom, which lasts for 45 minutes. Students are taught to use innovation and problem solving. They will become adept at approaching situations in different ways, using diverse strategies. Every lesson includes a fun thinking skills warm-up activity followed by the main focus of the lesson. Strategies like group discussions, questioning, mind mapping, and thinking 'outside the box' are employed to encourage creative learning approaches. Students learn various writing techniques and how to draft, review, and edit their work.

For further information, including fees, term dates and FAQ's, please visit our Creative Thinking Course page.

Our courses are led by qualified primary teachers and prepare pupils for all aspects of the Slough 11 Plus

Discover our 11 Plus courses

Feedback from parents

  • I am pleased to say that he passed his eleven plus exam, we are delighted. May thanks for yours and your teams support.

    Year 5 parent, Amersham (2024)

  • Agam has passed her 11+ exams. She scored 140. Many Thanks for your continued support and coaching.

    Year 6 parent, Chalfont St Peter (2019)

  • Bisma had a great first session last Saturday at Stoke Poges – this was a real positive as she was very nervous at the start. I would also like to add that correspondence from yourself and your colleagues was informative and timely. The homework resources were well organised and we were able to find and use everything with ease – I especially liked the use of the purple folder containing that weeks homework. The small incentives used to motivate the children also worked a treat! Early days but a happy start.

    Year 4 parent, Langley (2017)

  • Absolutely awesome experience, the amount of planning, organising and co-ordination that must have went on in the background to get the Bag of Knowledge out to every child who asked for it, must have been immense. The look on Annika's face was priceless, she is so excited to start this Saturday.  I am also very excited to be doing this all over again with my younger daughter after having already experienced excellent, professional tutoring first time round with Marie Redmond in 2017/2018 for my eldest daughter.

    Year 5 parent, Langley (2021)

  • I just wanted to say Millie is having a great time and really loved book club too - we’re so glad we changed provider for her!

    Year 5 parent, Uxbridge (2021)

  • Please pass on our thanks to Laura - so far, Arjan is coming home quite enthusiastic about the lessons, and it's good to see him so positive.

    Year 5 parent, Iver (2019)

  • I would highly recommend Marie Redmond's tuition classes. The course work was well structured and organised. We were looking for tuition classes after the first term of year 5, as we were completely new to the 11+ exam syllabus, and then I considered Marie Redmond's classes for my son to get a structured lesson for the exams and also understand about creative writing. He immensely benefited from the online classes held by Anne. He used to get regular feedback for all his work, which helped us to understand the weaknesses in my son's work and improve. I am happy to say that my son has passed all the 11+ exams that we aimed for. Many thanks to Anne and everyone at Marie Redmond Tuition.[From Google Review. The location of the parent/child has been excluded as their full name is featured on Google]

    Year 5 parent, Location Confidential (2022)

  • She passed both, thanks for all your support!

    Year 6 parent, Slough (2021)

  • I can truly say that I have chosen Marie Redmond as the best place for my son for his 11+ tuition. He learnt so much over the 2 years and succeeded in achieving his goal (passing the 11+). The teachers are patient, passionate and very organised. If you're considering 11+ Tuition, I strongly recommend Marie Redmond Tuition.[From Google Review. The location of the parent/child has been excluded as their full name is featured on Google]

    Year 6 parent, Location Confidential (2022)

  • Dear Marie, just a quick note to let you know that Maddie has passed her 11+. Thank you so so much for all your help with her preparation, I truly believe that coming along to your tutoring course made the difference for Maddie. Looking forward to being in touch again in around 12 months when we are starting to prepare our younger child. Thank you once again for all your help.

    Year 5 parent, Windsor (2014)

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