Apply to Dr Challoner's Grammar, in plain English.
Everything a parent needs to know about a Year 7 place at Dr Challoner's, Amersham, for September 2027 — the Bucks 11+, the score of 121 your son needs to qualify, who gets priority when the school is full, and what to do if he 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 son needs 121 on the Bucks 11+.
Dr Challoner's only admits boys who score at least 121 on the Buckinghamshire Secondary Transfer Test — two papers covering verbal, non-verbal and maths reasoning. Score 121 or more and he 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 Dr Challoner's as a preference with your home council by 31 October 2026 — even if you live outside Buckinghamshire.
Catchment, then distance, decide.
If more boys qualify than there are places, the school looks at the catchment area (Amersham, Chesham, the Chalfonts, and the rest) and then straight-line distance. A qualified boy 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 son starting Year 7. Step 3 is the deadline that catches families out — miss it and the rest doesn't matter.
Qualify on the 11+ first — then these 8 rules decide.
Every boy who scores 121 or more is eligible. If more boys qualify than there are places, the school works down these eight rules in order. A boy with an exceptional medical or social need that only this school can meet is prioritised within whichever rule applies to him. Tap any rule to see the document's exact wording.
In plain English: Boys in the care of a council, or who were in care before being adopted, get top priority. This also covers boys adopted from state care outside England.
What the document says: "Boys who are looked after children or previously looked after children." A looked-after child is one in the care of, or housed by, a local authority under Section 22(1) of the Children Act 1989. "Previously looked after" covers children adopted from care or subject to a child arrangements or special guardianship order, including those who were in state care outside England and ceased to be so on adoption.
In plain English: If your son lives inside the catchment area and gets the Pupil Premium, he comes next. You'll need to declare this on the Supplementary Information Form.
What the document says: "Boys living in the catchment area of the school and who are in receipt of Pupil Premium at the time of application." Pupil Premium covers children eligible for free school meals at any point in the last six years. There is also a separate reserved allocation — see rule 4.
In plain English: If your son lives in catchment and will have a brother at Dr Challoner's (in Years 7–12) when he starts, he gets priority here. Siblings living outside catchment are covered much lower down, in rule 7.
What the document says: "Siblings of students in Years 7 to 12 living in the catchment area of the school." A sibling shares one or more parent, or any child who permanently lives at the same address and for whom the parent has parental responsibility. The older sibling must be on roll both when places are allocated and when your son would start.
In plain English: Within the 180 places, up to 12 are held for Pupil Premium (or looked-after) boys who live in catchment and score at least 115 — slightly below the usual 121 mark. If fewer than 12 are taken, up to six of those go to similar boys scoring 110–114.
What the document says: "Within the existing 180 Admission Number, in Year 7 up to 12 places to boys, resident in the catchment area, who are in receipt of Pupil Premium, or who are looked after children or previously looked after children, at the time of application, and who have achieved a standardised score of at least 115. If not all 12 places are filled, then up to six of these 12 places will be made available to boys … who have achieved a standardised score of between 110–114."
In plain English: A qualified boy whose parent has worked at the school for at least two years, or was hired into a hard-to-fill role.
What the document says: "Qualified sons of staff (a) where 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 post for which there is a demonstrable skill shortage."
In plain English: All other qualified boys who live inside the catchment area, ranked by straight-line distance — closest first.
What the document says: "Boys living in the catchment area of the school in order of straight line distance from the school." See the "How distance works" section below for exactly how that distance is measured.
In plain English: A qualified boy with a brother at the school but living outside the catchment area sits here, again ranked by distance.
What the document says: "Siblings of students in Years 7 to 12 living outside the catchment area of the school in order of straight line distance from the school."
In plain English: Any remaining qualified boy, wherever he lives, ranked by straight-line distance. This is how an out-of-catchment boy who scored 121 can still win a place.
What the document says: "Once the rules have been applied, then any further places will be offered in order of straight line distance from the school." If two boys are exactly the same distance, a random allocation supervised by an independent person decides.
A priority area, then a straight line.
Dr Challoner's has a published catchment area — broadly Amersham, Chesham, Great Missenden, Prestwood, Little Chalfont, the Chalfonts (St Giles and St Peter) and Gerrards Cross. Living inside it gives your son priority in rules 2, 3 and 6 above. It is not a hard boundary: a qualified boy from outside catchment can still get a place under rule 8.
Where distance is used as a tie-break, the school measures a single straight line between your normal home address and the main entrance on Chesham Road. Routes, bus times and travel difficulty are not considered. To count as in-catchment you must have lived at the address continuously since 1 April 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 boys scored 121, both live in catchment, neither has a sibling at the school. Inside rule 6, House A's straight-line distance to the Chesham Road entrance is shorter — so it ranks higher. If two addresses tie exactly, an independently-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. to 31 December, Buckinghamshire Council runs the waiting list through the County Scheme; from 1 January the school takes it over. It is re-ranked every time a child joins, using the same eight rules — so a later applicant in a higher rule can move above you. There is no simple "queue".
From 1 January, in-year vacancies are handled under the school's Late Transfer Procedure (curriculum tests in English and maths).
Appeal
Once places are allocated, you can appeal to an Independent Appeal Panel if your son was refused because the school is full. Your refusal letter sets the deadline and grounds. A panel hearing won't normally re-examine whether your son was capable of qualifying — that belongs to the Selection Review (see below).
Appealing does not affect your waiting-list position.
If you believe your son 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 him qualified, he is eligible for any of the 13 Bucks grammars. Boys with an EHCP naming the school are admitted under separate statutory rules.
A separate route in at 16 — and it's co-ed.
Year 7 is boys-only, but the Sixth Form takes up to 45 external students (boys and girls) each year, on a different application and a different, larger catchment.
The grade floor.
A minimum of 48 points from your best eight taught GCSEs (where grade 9 = 9 points, grade 8 = 8, and so on), including at least grade 5 in English and Maths. On top of that, each A-level subject has its own entry requirement, published in the Sixth Form prospectus each autumn.
Data Collection Form, then aggregate score.
Complete the school's Data Collection Form (published online in November of Year 11). If qualified external applicants outnumber places, the school applies the same priority order — looked-after, in-catchment Pupil Premium, then staff children — before ranking the rest on predicted GCSE aggregate score, provided your chosen subjects can be offered.