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 primaryteachers (not 'tutors') provide specialist tuition focused on your child’s individual learning needs.
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 2014 and 31st August 2015 will take the Slough Consortium 11+ exam on Saturday 20th September 2025 to be eligible to apply for a place for September 2026.
The Consortium operates a shared 11 Plus testing process with the four schools using the same test papers and common eligibility criteria for selection. In October 2022, CEM Cambridge formally announced its decision to stop providing paper based exams from September 2023; therefore the Slough Consortium required a new exam provider from 2023. At that point, we immediately switched all students preparing for Slough to our GL Assessment syllabus; by making this decision before the new exam board was confirmed, we ensured that our Slough students received nearly 4 months of additional preparation for the GL-style of questions. On Tuesday 7th February 2023, it was announced that the Slough Consortium of Grammar Schools had contracted with GL Assessment for the 11+ examinations to be held in September 2023, 2024 and 2025.The tests identify the top 35% of the cohort as eligible for consideration for entry to grammar school and the eligibility mark is 111.
The Slough Consortium has its own contract with GL Assessment and there will be 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 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.
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.
You need to register your child to take the Slough Consortium 11 Plus test.
Online registration for the 2025 exam (for September 2026 entry) is expected to open at the start of May 2025 and close in the middle of June 2025. We will update the exact dates here as soon as they are available.
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.
The Slough Consortium has its own contract with GL Assessment and there will be 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 previous score sharing agreement with Kendrick is no longer in place.
By scoring 111 or more, your child will be eligible for consideration for a place at any Slough grammar school named on your Local Authority’s Common Application Form (CAF). However, this does not guarantee a place as the schools may be oversubscribed. Each school’s admissions policy will describe how places are allocated in the event of oversubscription.
The 2023 Slough 11 Plus exam results (for 2024 entry) were released on 13th October 2023. The results date for the 2024 Slough 11 Plus exam (2025 entry) has not been announced (the specific date will not be given in advance by the Slough Consortium of Grammar Schools).
If you wish your child to be considered for entry to any of the four Slough grammar schools, you will need to name the relevant school or schools on the Common Application Form (CAF).
Common Application Forms will online at the beginning of September 2025 and you will have until the end of31st October 2025 to submit it to your Local Authority.
School places for September 2026 will be confirmed on 2nd March 2026.
If you live within Slough or Buckinghamshire, you can name up to 6 schools on your CAF; however some areas differ and may allow you to select fewer schools (please check with your local authority). Schools must be listed in your preferred order.
You will need to submit the CAF to the Local Authority in which you reside. If you live outside Slough, you must apply through your own Local Authority – even if your child currently attends a Slough primary school.
If your child is not offered a place at your first preference school, they will be allocated a lower preference school and placed on the waiting list of any school that is higher up on your order of preference but for which you have not been offered a place. For 2024 entry, the waiting lists will remain in place until 31st December 2024 (the end of your child’s first term in Year 7). Once school places are confirmed on 1st March 2024, further rounds of allocations from the waiting lists will be made as places in schools are accepted and rejected.
It is likely that you will not be consulted about the waiting list process; your local authority regard your common application preferences as a set of instructions that they will try and fulfil. For example, on 1st March you may be allocated a place at your third preference school, which you sensibly choose to accept. You will then be placed on the waiting list for your first and second preference schools. If in one of the later rounds of allocations, a space becomes available at your second preference school, your third preference place will disappear and your child will be allocated their second preference school. This process happens automatically, so it is very important that if you are happy with the allocation that you have received, that you inform your local authority that you wish to be taken off the waiting lists of any higher preference schools.
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®
Get exam ready with Marie Redmond Tuition® 11 Plus Mock Exams for the Slough Consortium 11 Plus. Students who sat our mock exams in 2023 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
Students 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.
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
Sharing 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
The virtual Creative Thinking Course is particularly useful for boys preparing for the revised Reading School 11+ exam in September 2025 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
She passed with a mark of 132. Just very happy that she passed at this point. Thanks for the excellent course, and pls pass on my thanks to Lois’s lovely teacher Sarah at Beaconsfield.
Year 5 parent, Hazlemere (2024)
We thank you for the support you and your teachers offered to our daughter during the last two years. We are impressed with your professionalism. We are delighted to inform you that she did well in passing both Bucks and Berkshire exams. She got 148 in Bucks exam and 120 in Berkshire exam
Year 5 parent, Slough (2024)
We are very pleased to let you know that Katie passed the 11+ and now wants to go to Wycombe High School with Alice. Thanks very much to you and all the teachers that taught Katie, and Alice four years ago. We are really happy that they have both done so well.
Year 6 parent, Wooburn Green (2019)
We were so pleased with her efforts throughout and just wanted to say thank you because the tuition was really fun and she developed so much during the year of tuition! She learned to manage her workload and seems to be more of an active learner now whereas she has previously struggled with confidence and has been quite quiet at school, but she seems to have really come out of herself now! We know that she will do well wherever she goes and is more prepared for secondary school as a result of this last year with you so thank you!
Year 5 parent, Gerrards Cross (2017)
Our daughter is what you would call a borderline pupil. Bright but is easily distracted. Marie Redmond got her over the line. I’m 100% sure she would not have passed without them. We tried another institute before Marie Redmond but the absolutely no comparison. We are a very happy family tonight![From Google Review. The location of the parent/child has been excluded as their name is featured on Google]
Year 5 parent, Location Confidential (2024)
Our son really enjoyed learning with Marie Redmond Tuition over the last year. He took their summer course and the full year 5 course, and we were particularly impressed with the level of support available to him, and us parents, to ensure he stayed on track. The mock exams were a huge help, and helped us identify and really focus on areas where he needed some additional support. This, and the amazing learning resources, homework charts and overall learning experience, were pivotal on helping our son pass the Buckingham 11+, and we are thrilled. Highly recommended! Thanks Marie and Craig.[From Google Review. The location of the parent/child has been excluded as their name is featured on Google]
Year 6 parent, Location Confidential (2023)
I am very pleased with Amira’s outstanding results. Super progress. Thank you, Amira is thrilled! Amira so enjoys her Saturday lessons! Thank you so much!
Year 4 parent, Reading (2015)
Both of them passed -Millie 130 Nathan 132. Thank you for the course-just the right amount of light pressure but fun too!!
Year 5 parent, Gerrards Cross (2015)
He passed his CEM with marks of 112 and GL with marks of 123! Thank you so much for the tuition, it really helped and prepared him well for his exams.
Year 6 parent, Iver (2020)
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)
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Get exam ready with Marie Redmond Tuition® 11 Plus Mock Exams for the Slough Consortium 11 Plus. Students who sat our mock exams in 2023 said they were very similar to the actual test, which made them feel prepared and confident when sitting the exam.
Students 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.
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.
Sharing 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.