Apply to Beaconsfield High School, in plain English.
Everything a parent needs to know about a Year 7 place at Beaconsfield High School, a girls' grammar in Beaconsfield, for September 2027 — the Bucks 11+, the score of 121 your daughter needs to qualify, the Beaconsfield catchment that decides who gets priority when the school is full, and what to do if she misses out. The legal version is one click away.
The three things to know first.
If you read nothing else on this page, read these. They're the bits that catch Buckinghamshire parents out.
Your daughter needs 121 on the Bucks 11+.
Beaconsfield High only admits girls who score at least 121 on the Buckinghamshire Secondary Transfer Test — two papers covering verbal, non-verbal and maths reasoning, sat on the same day. Score 121 or more and she qualifies; below it, you can ask for a Selection Review.
You name the school on your council form.
Qualifying is not the same as applying. You must also list Beaconsfield High as a preference with your home council by 31 October 2026 — even if you live outside Buckinghamshire.
Catchment, then distance, decide — not your score.
Once your daughter has qualified, her actual test score is not used to rank her. If more girls qualify than there are places, the school looks at the Beaconsfield catchment area (Beaconsfield, the Chalfonts, Gerrards Cross, Penn, Seer Green, Burnham and more) and then straight-line distance to its main entrance on Wattleton Road. A qualified girl living outside catchment can still get a place once those rules are exhausted.
Five steps, spread over a year.
From registering for the Bucks 11+ to your daughter starting Year 7. Step 3 is the deadline that catches families out — miss it and the rest doesn't matter. (Dates shown are for the September 2027 entry round.)
Qualify on the 11+ first — then these 9 rules decide.
Every girl who scores 121 or more is eligible. The test score is not used again to rank her. If more girls qualify than there are places, the school works down these nine rules in order. Tap any rule to see the document's exact wording.
In plain English: Qualified girls in the care of a council, or who were before being adopted (including under a special guardianship or child arrangements order), get the very top priority. This is required by law for every state school.
What the document says: "Girls who are Looked After Children or previously Looked After Children (see definition at Appendix 1)."
In plain English: Qualified girls who attract the Pupil Premium grant (which includes the Service Premium for forces families) and who live inside the catchment come next. Entitlement must be current on 31 October 2026, and you send evidence directly to the school.
What the document says: "Qualified girls who are living within catchment and have an entitlement to pupil premium/service premium at the time of application (31st October 2026)."
In plain English: Within the 186 places, up to ten are set aside for in-catchment girls who are eligible for the Pupil Premium or Service Premium and who scored 115–120 — just below the usual 121 threshold — so did not otherwise qualify. If more than ten apply, the closest by distance get the places; any not taken up by 31 October 2026 roll into the rules below.
What the document says: "Within the existing 186 Published Admission Number (PAN), up to 10 places will be offered to girls' resident in the catchment area who are not deemed qualified but are in receipt of Pupil Premium/service premium at the time of application and who have achieved a standardised score of at least 115 in the admissions tests."
In plain English: If your daughter lives in catchment and will have a sister on roll at Beaconsfield High when she starts — and that sister is still expected to be there — she gets priority here.
What the document says: "Sisters (see definition at Appendix 1) of girls who live within the school's catchment area who will be in attendance at the school at the time of application (31st October 2026) and will still be in attendance at time of entry September 2027."
In plain English: A qualified girl whose parent has worked at Beaconsfield High for at least two years, or was recruited into a hard-to-fill role.
What the document says: "Daughter/s of a member of Beaconsfield High School staff where a) the member of staff has been employed at the school for two or more years at the time at which the application for admission to the school is made, and/or b) the member of staff is recruited to fill a vacant teaching post for which there is a demonstrable skill shortage."
In plain English: All other qualified girls who live inside the Beaconsfield catchment area come next, ranked among themselves by straight-line distance. You must have lived at the address by 1 September 2026.
What the document says: "Girls living in the catchment area of the school in order of straight-line distance from the school." To qualify under a catchment rule the girl "must be resident at their home address by 1st September 2026."
In plain English: A qualified girl with exceptional medical or social needs that only Beaconsfield High can meet — backed by independent professional evidence. The same evidence can also lift a girl up within any of the rules above.
What the document says: "Girls who have exceptional medical or social needs which can only be met at this school." Evidence "must be supported by an independent professional person" and submitted to the Admissions Team at Buckinghamshire Council with the application.
In plain English: Qualified girls who live outside the catchment but will have a sister on roll at the school, ranked by straight-line distance.
What the document says: "Sisters (see definition at Appendix 1) of girls who live outside the school's catchment area who will be in attendance at the school at the time of application (31st October 2026) in order of straight-line distance from the school."
In plain English: Any remaining qualified girl, wherever she lives, ranked by straight-line distance to the school's main entrance on Wattleton Road. This is how an out-of-catchment girl who scored 121 can still win a place.
What the document says: "Girls not living in the catchment area of the school in order of straight-line distance from the school." Distance is measured "between the family's normal home address … and the main entrance to the school on Wattleton Road." If two girls live exactly the same distance away, a supervised random allocation decides.
A priority area, then a straight line.
Beaconsfield High has its own designated catchment area in south-east Buckinghamshire — broadly Beaconsfield, Holtspur, Knotty Green, Penn, Seer Green, Jordans, Gerrards Cross, Chalfont St Peter, Wooburn Green, Hedgerley, Farnham Common, Stoke Poges and Burnham. Living inside it gives your daughter priority in rule 6 above. It is not a hard boundary: a qualified girl from outside catchment can still get a place under rules 8 and 9.
Where distance is used, the school measures a single straight line between your normal home address and the main entrance on Wattleton Road, using the council's measurements. Routes, bus times and travel difficulty are not considered. To count as in-catchment you must be resident at the address by 1 September 2026. You can check whether an address falls inside the line on the Bucks address checkerBuckinghamshire address checkerThe council's online tool that tells you which grammar-school catchment areas a postcode falls into..
See the catchment on the GrammarBound mapHow two addresses get ranked.
Both girls scored 121, both live in catchment, neither has a sister at the school. Inside rule 6, House A's straight-line distance to the Wattleton Road entrance is shorter — so it ranks higher. If two addresses tie exactly, a supervised random draw decides.
You have two routes, and you can use both.
Waiting list
From National Offer DayNational Offer DayThe single day around 1 March on which every English council releases secondary-school offers. You hear by email or letter. onwards, Buckinghamshire Council runs the waiting list through the County Scheme on the school's behalf. It is re-ranked every time a girl joins, using the same nine rules — so a later applicant in a higher rule can move above you. There is no simple "queue".
In-year vacancies and entry to other year groups are handled under the school's Late Transfer Procedure (curriculum tests coordinated with Buckinghamshire Council).
Appeal
Once places are allocated, you can appeal to an Independent Appeal Panel if your daughter was refused because the school is full. Buckinghamshire Council manages appeals on the school's behalf; your refusal letter sets the deadline and grounds. A panel hearing won't normally re-examine whether your daughter was capable of qualifying — that belongs to the Selection Review.
Appealing does not affect your waiting-list position.
If you believe your daughter would have reached 121 but for particular circumstances during the test, you can ask Buckinghamshire Council for a Selection Review. A panel of serving headteachers — taking advice from an educational psychologist where needed — decides before places are allocated. If they deem your daughter qualified, she is eligible for any of the 13 Bucks grammars. Children with an EHCP naming the school are admitted under separate statutory rules.
A separate route in at 16.
Alongside girls moving up from Year 11, Beaconsfield High welcomes external girls into Year 12 each year, on a different application and a GCSE grade floor.
The grade floor.
A minimum of 48 points across your best eight GCSEs, with at least grade 5 in English (Literature or Language) and grade 5 in Maths, plus the specific entry requirement for each A-level subject you want to take. A higher best-8 total of 63 points is needed to take four subjects.
Apply direct to the school.
External applicants apply through the school's own form, available on the school website by the published deadline; internal girls are invited to apply during the spring half-term of Year 11. Entry requirements are the same for internal and external students. Up to six places carry amended requirements (46 best-8 points, grade 5 in English and Maths) for looked-after and Pupil Premium girls.