2026 11 Plus Exam for Upton Court Grammar School

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

We’re dedicated to your child’s success

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

Small Classes

Equally, we do not believe that extremely small groups or one-to-one tuition are automatically better. Effective 11+ preparation requires a carefully structured programme that prepares for every area of the exam in a balanced and systematic way. Without that structure, there is a risk of focusing too heavily on isolated weaknesses, which can sometimes affect a child’s confidence and leave gaps elsewhere in their preparation. Children also benefit enormously from discussion, shared learning and working alongside motivated peers in a small academic group.

Discover the proven benefits of small class sizes.

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

  • Thanks to you and the team and especially Sarah who’s been Will’s main teacher. We’ve been really impressed with the quality of the set up you have, the teaching and the overall tone. We are glad we moved him to a more structured learning environment. He has thrived and done very well in recent assessment and mocks. He’s anxious as you’d expect but has worked hard and couldn’t be better prepared, so what will be will be now!!

    Year 6 parent, Little Kingshill (2020)

  • A quick e-mail to say thank you for the half-term refresh course - and many thanks to Anne.  I think it was the right balance of difficulty for Camille, enough to challenge her but not too hard so she was confident at the end of the week.  The fact that the lessons were proposed online was really ideal.  Camille is my fourth and last child taking the test so I am glad it is over now!

    Year 6 parent, Great Missenden (2020)

  • Morgen attended Marie Redmond and progressed really well. Very structured and high quality materials He also attended Creative writing which helped him in school alot. Thank you would recommend. [From Google Review. The location of the parent/child has been excluded as their name is featured on Google]

    Year 5 parent, Location Confidential (2023)

  • I want to thank you for all your great work done for the 1st day. Girls just rang me to say all good about the class! Amaya & Anjana was so pleased today to meet beautiful Afsheen on their 1st day. Afsheen too seems to be well prepared to welcome & support not only the kids but also the parents. We came to Aylesbury for the education of my girl's and we are much delighted to find Marie's presence just cross the road at AHS. Thank you for having my girl's and appreciate all your support to fulfil our dream! Hope all goes well, and our support is there always to you.

    Year 5 parent, Aylesbury (2022)

  • Thanks for this feedback, we will definitely look at the areas you have recommended. This is really helpful. Thank you for your comments about her listening & participation too, it’s great to know she was a valued class member last week! She really enjoyed the course, and thought her teacher was lovely. It was challenging but she loved meeting and working with other children and found the work covered ever so useful. Many thanks.

    Year 5 parent, Thame (Summer Course 2022)

  • I write to share our good news with you. Layla passed ? As you know, Children are introduced to education and learning through play whereas the secondary transfer test is anything but that. The environment that you Guys have created helped support our efforts to focus Layla’s attention towards succeeding and for that, we are most grateful to you. Thank you. I trust you will help convey us thank you also to her Tutor, Irene.

    Year 5 parent, Tingewick (2024)

  • Please see feedback from Cillian and myself and Ken Cillian: He thought Sarah was a really good teacher and the class size was good. The amount of homework and knowing what they were getting each week helped me plan what I had to do. Fiona & Ken: Very well organised and structured. Total visibility of the work they are doing, results, where they had issues etc. Like the termly exams to get them used to the 11 plus format. Easy to communicate with the teacher when needed. Access to their exam papers and how they were tracking across the group was helpful. Felt the termly reports accurately reflected where Cillian was and where he was struggling and wasn’t a generic class update. We have been really happy with the tuition and 11 plus work Cillian has completed, didn’t think the homework was too much and well set out so (if like Cillian) you wanted to plan when you did the work each week he could and manage his own time. Pass or fail I think he has developed a lot faster in areas than he would have done just in school lessons. Really appreciate all the support yourself, Craig and Sarah have given us.

    Year 5 parent, Beaconsfield (2022)

  • Thank you for your kind message. Please send our best wishes and regards to Leanne for helping her get through this year. We are so pleased and she is so happy.

    Year 5 parent, Ickenham (2022)

  • He's proud of how much he learnt ("I learnt more at tutoring than I did at school"). Thank you for the support and teaching over the last year.

    Year 5 parent, Wokingham (2024)

  • Robbie got 124. Great news! Thank you for everything.

    Year 5 parent, Gerrards Cross (2016)

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