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 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 in September 2025 to be eligible to apply for a place for September 2026. The 2025 Slough Consortium 11+ exam (for 2026 entry) will be held in the latter half of September 2025. We will update this information as soon as the official dates are confirmed.
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 opened online at the beginning of September 2024 and you will have until the end of31st October 2024 to submit it to your Local Authority.
School places for September 2025 will be confirmed on 1st March 2025.
If you live within Buckingamshire, 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
A range of Marie Redmond's Superbrain®Books are provided exclusively to students on our term time and holiday courses. Using the knowledge gained during her eleven years of preparing students for the 11+ and independent school entrance exams, Marie Redmond MEd has written a number of verbal reasoning, English and maths books. Additionally, a range of verbal reasoning holiday course books are provided exclusively to students attending our Year 5 11+ Easter and 11+ summer holiday courses.
Marie Redmond's Superbrain® 11 Plus Flash Cards are given to all our term time students when they join, to supercharge their vocabulary skills.
Our Range of Marie Redmond's Superbrain® Books for Year 5 Courses
Our Range of Marie Redmond's Superbrain® Books for Year 4 Courses
Data-Led Approach With SuccessTrack® by Marie Redmond
Our term time students are assessed twice during each team – at half term and at the end of term. Based on the outcome of their initial assessment, we will create a tuition plan that sets their individual targets for each area they are preparing for (e.g. verbal, non-verbal and numerical reasoning). All lessons throughout the course are then designed to develop these areas. We continually monitor our student's progress; this means that we can check they’ve achieved their individual targets and revise their tuition plan to ensure that it suits their needs and challenges. Parents are always welcome to get in touch with us at any time during your child’s tuition, to gain feedback on their development.
SuccessTrack® by Marie Redmond is our unique data-led service that allows parents to:
Track their child’s progress over the Year 4 and 5 term time courses - our charts visualise a students' performance in each area of the 11 Plus, using data from our regular assessments (2 per term).
See their child's overall score and how that compares to our recommended pass mark for each exam they are planning to sit.
View anonymously how their child's scores compares (for each topic area and at a total level) to the average of all children in their cohort.
View their child's termly tuition plan, created using data from their assessments.
Read the end of term student report from their child's teacher.
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 Writing Course
Our virtual creative writing lessons take place weekly on Zoom and are particularly useful for boys preparing for the Reading School 11+ exam but are open to all our term time students.
Every week there is a focus which can include story settings, characters, openings, events / problems and resolutions. Students practise writing in a variety of formats such as stories, plays, newspaper articles and letters. They are taught to use a variety of literary techniques and we show them how to draft their work, as well as reviewing and editing.
For further information, including fees, term dates and FAQ's, please visit our creative writing course page.
Our courses are led by qualified primary teachers and prepare pupils for all aspects of the Slough 11 Plus
I just wanted to let you know that D has passed his 11+ exam for Buckinghamshire and as you can imagine, he is very happy. We will be applying for our local grammar school in Aylesbury. Thank you for all your support and I would also appreciate it if you could inform his teacher, Anne, about it as well.
Year 5 parent, Aylesbury (2022)
My son received excellent support whilst preparing for the 11+. He attended the Year 4 and Year 5 term time classes as well as the mock exams which were very helpful in preparing him for the exam conditions. The communication and support we received was outstanding and I would highly recommend it to others. The teaching environment was both friendly and fun which kept my son highly motivated. I would like to give a massive thank you to all the staff who supported my son over the last 2 years![From Google Review. The location of the parent/child has been excluded as their name is featured on Google]
Year 6 parent, Location Confidential (2024)
Many thanks for your help. Kayan thoroughly enjoyed his time with you. We will get in touch with you again when registering our second son for 11+ tutorials.
Year 5 parent, Amersham (2015)
Marie Redmond Tuition is outstanding. The teachers and staff are very nice and helpful. They really want the children to do well. Our daughter absolutely enjoyed the tuition. She felt ready with no stress for the 11+ exams. The teachers encouraged the children to have lots of rest before the exams. There is opportunity for mock exams as well which I will recommend.
My daughter's CEM results came and we were over the moon. So I will highly recommend Marie Redmond.[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)
Harry really enjoyed his first lesson on Wednesday and seems very motivated. We are happy with how he felt in the lesson and his attitude towards the homework.
Year 5 parent, Chalfont St Peter (2015)
He was nervous in the run up but he really enjoyed it. He wants to go to tuition 5 days a week and school only 1 day per week!
Year 4 parent, Langley (2020)
He achieved the following in his 11+ Slough - 113 (Pass mark 111) Bucks - 133 (Pass mark 121) We hope he has done well enough to get into a Grammar school!
Many thanks again to you and your team for your support!
Year 6 parent, Slough (2020)
Eleanor passed the exam and is now hoping to go to Chesham Grammar.
Year 5 parent, Amersham (2015)
She passed at Kendrick School. Thank you very much for your support.
Year 5 parent, Windsor (2017)
Hi Marie , Thank you for your lovely words about Lucia's progress. She thoroughly enjoyed your course and I highly recommend this to all. The last few days I have noticed that Lucia is getting more confident in answering her questions.
Year 5 parent, Cowley (Summer Course 2022)
Exclusive tips
Stay ahead with our exclusive exam tips
Marie Redmond MEd writes to you every few weeks with tips for exam success, discounts and news about her courses and mock exams
We will collect, use and protect your data in accordance with our privacy policy
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.
Using the knowledge gained during her eleven years of preparing students for the 11+ and independent school entrance exams, Marie Redmond MEd has written a number of verbal reasoning, English and maths books. Additionally, a range of verbal reasoning holiday course books are provided exclusively to students attending our Year 5 11+ Easter and 11+ summer holiday courses.
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.