St Bernard’s Catholic Grammar School
Stay ahead with exclusive tips on the Slough 11+ exam for St Bernard’s Catholic Grammar School
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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 2010 and 31st August 2011 will take the exam in late 2021 to be eligible to apply for a place for September 2022, however, the exam date has yet to be 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. The Slough Consortium test is provided by Durham University’s Centre for Evaluation & Monitoring (CEM). The tests identify the top 30% of the cohort as eligible for consideration for entry to grammar school and the eligibility mark is 111.
FAQs
The Slough 11 Plus exam consists of two papers, taken on the same day, each 50 to 60 minutes in duration and testing three areas – verbal, numerical and non-verbal reasoning. All questions on both papers are multiple choice and pupils indicate their answers on a separate answer sheet.
A Familiarisation booklet, produced by the CEM, contains information about the content of the tests, some advice about taking the tests and a few sample questions. You can see the most recent booklet here >
- You need to register your child to take the Slough Consortium 11 Plus test. Online registration for the September 2020 exam opened on Friday 1st May 2020 on the website of the Slough Consortium of Grammar Schools and closed at midnight on Sunday 14th June 2020.
- 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 registration dates for the 2021 exam have yet to be announced.
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 results for the 2020 Slough 11 Plus exam were released on 20th November 2020. The results date for the 2021 Slough 11 Plus exam has not been announced (the specific date will not be given in advance by the Slough Consortium of Grammar Schools).
- Due to the extraordinary circumstances this year, you needed to submit your child’s secondary school application before you received their 11 Plus exam results. If you wished your child to be considered for entry to any of the four Slough grammar schools, you were required to name the relevant school or schools on the Common Application Form (CAF).
- You had until the end of Saturday 31st October 2020 to submit your Common Application Form to your Local Authority.
- School places for September 2021 will be confirmed on 1st March 2021.
- In whichever year you are applying, you can name up to 6 schools on your CAF.
- If you live outside Slough, you must apply through your own Local Authority – even if your child currently attends a Slough primary school.
What is required to pass the Slough Consortium 11 Plus?
Verbal Reasoning (approx. 50% of the mark)
- Comprehension
- Vocabulary
- Spelling
- Grammar
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
- Fractions and ratios
- Foundation algebra concepts
Non-verbal Reasoning (approx. 20% of the mark)
- Spatial awareness
- Logical deduction skills
- Mathematical concepts such as symmetry, rotation and reflection
Get exam ready with Marie Redmond Tuition® CEM-style 11 Plus Mock Exams for the Slough Consortium 11 Plus. Students who sat our mock exams in 2020 said they were very similar to the actual CEM test, which made them feel prepared and confident when sitting the exam.
Our courses are led by qualified primary teachers and prepare pupils for all aspects of the Slough 11 Plus
Discover our 11 Plus coursesFeedback from parents
Ron got 111 score for the exam. Relieved that he qualified and he has realistic chances in St. Bernards. Ron learnt some tricks and methods for solving problems quicker and intuitively from your classes.
Year 5 parent, Cambridge (2016)