12+ Late Entry to Bucks Grammar Schools

Whilst Bucks Local Education Authority’s official line is that there are no arrangements for late entry at 12+, the truth is that ever since the Buckinghamshire LEA lowered secondary transfer from 12+ to 11+, pupils have secured places at Grammar schools a year late and entered these schools in Year 8.

At Chesham Preparatory School Year 7 pupils have an enviable record of 12+ success. Many children are not mature enough when they sit the 11+ selection tests and the selection system deems them unsuitable, despite parents and staff knowing full well that they would thrive in a Grammar school environment.

The 12+ test now comes a full 16 months after the 11+ tests and is a similar style test (Verbal Reasoning). These intervening months provide time for the late developers and less mature learners to “catch up” and regain their rightful place amongst their peers at Grammar School. During Year 7 at Chesham Preparatory School all pupils receive designated and targeted preparation for the 12+ selection tests as well as following a curriculum which mirrors a secondary school timetable.

Over the past eight years all Chesham Preparatory School pupils who sat the 11+ and then the 12+ tests achieved a higher score in the 12+ test. Of the 98 pupils who have sat the 12+ over the past nine years all of them gained a higher VR score than at 11+ and 85 of them secured Year 8 places at Grammar School.

This success story also indicates that there are always spare places at the Grammar Schools for Late Entry candidates. This can not be guaranteed, but has been the case at Chesham High School over the past eight years.

It is historically much more unlikely for there to be spare places at the single sex Grammar Schools, which tend to be over-subscribed. Lately, with a decreasing school population working its way through the Primary schools and into the Secondary schools in Bucks, Chesham High has not received a full complement of pupils in Year 7.  This has meant that there have been up to 30 places available for Year 8 entry.

Each year a number of our Year 7 students take the 12+ for Late Entry into Grammar School. There is a high success rate of children reaching their target schools.