Apply to The Royal Grammar School, High Wycombe, in plain English.
Everything a parent needs to know about a Year 7 place at RGS High Wycombe for September 2027 — the Bucks 11+, the score of 121 your son needs to qualify, how the school's two-tier catchment and straight-line distance decide who gets in when it's 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+.
RGS only admits boys who score at least 121 on the Buckinghamshire Secondary Transfer Test — two papers covering verbal, non-verbal and maths reasoning, both sat on the same day. 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 RGS 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 its two-tier catchment — Priority Area A first (High Wycombe, Beaconsfield, Stokenchurch), then Priority Area B (Gerrards Cross and around) — and ranks within each by straight-line distance. A qualified boy from outside catchment can still get a place once those rules are exhausted.
Four 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 7 rules decide.
Every boy who scores 121 or more is eligible. If more boys qualify than there are places, the school works down these rules in order. 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: "Looked after and previously looked after children." A looked-after child is one in the care of, or provided with accommodation by, a local authority. "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: Up to six places are held for in-catchment boys who get the Pupil Premium (or are looked-after) and score 115–120 — just below the usual 121 mark. Looked-after boys come first within this group.
What the document says: "Up to six places for applicants, in catchment (both priority areas), who … are eligible for Pupil Premium or are looked after or previously looked after children … and their standardised score in the Secondary Transfer Test is 115 to 120 inclusive … or who have not been deemed qualified following a Selection Review. In this category, looked after or previously looked after children will be prioritised over other children."
In plain English: Qualified boys who live inside either priority area and get the Pupil Premium come next. Pupil Premium covers boys eligible for free school meals at any point in the last six years.
What the document says: "Qualified children who are eligible for Pupil Premium, as of the deadline, who live in the catchment area (both priority areas)."
In plain English: If your son will have a brother on roll at RGS as a day student when he starts, he gets priority here — wherever you live.
What the document says: "Siblings of day students who are on the roll of the school at the time an application is made, and who are expected to be on the roll of the school at the time of the proposed admission."
In plain English: All other qualified boys who live inside the catchment. Priority Area A (the inner area) is ranked first, then Priority Area B, and within each area by straight-line distance — closest first.
What the document says: "Applicants living in the catchment area of the school … If the School is oversubscribed within this rule, then priority will be given to applicants in Priority Area A, then Priority Area B, in each case using distance order to prioritise."
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: "Child of a member of 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 post for which there is a demonstrable skill shortage."
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, any further places will be offered in distance order using straight line distance between the family's normal home address and the nearest pupil entrance to the school, offering the closest first." Where the distance criterion produces an absolute tie, each applicant is admitted; where two homes are exactly equal otherwise, an independently-supervised random draw decides.
Two priority areas, then a straight line.
RGS has a published two-tier catchment. Priority Area A is the inner area — High Wycombe, Beaconsfield, Stokenchurch and part of Princes Risborough. Priority Area B is the outer area — Gerrards Cross and places where boys also have a choice of more than two grammars within reasonable walking distance. In rule 5, Area A is ranked ahead of Area B, and within each area boys are ordered by straight-line distance. It is not a hard boundary: a qualified boy from outside catchment can still get a place under rule 7.
Where distance is used, the school measures a single straight line between your normal home address (its Ordnance Survey ADDRESS-POINT) and the nearest pupil entrance to the school. Routes, bus times and travel difficulty are not considered. You must be living at the home address by 1 September 2026. You can check which priority area an address falls into on the Bucks catchment checkerBuckinghamshire catchment checkerThe council's online tool that shows which grammar-school catchment and priority areas a postcode falls into..
See the catchment on the GrammarBound mapHow two addresses get ranked.
Both boys scored 121 and neither has a sibling at the school. House A sits in Priority Area A; House B sits in Priority Area B. Inside rule 5, every Area A applicant is ranked ahead of every Area B applicant — so House A is offered first, even though House B also qualified. Within each area, the closer straight-line distance wins.
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 October, Buckinghamshire Council runs the waiting list through the County Scheme; from 1 November the school maintains it. It is re-ranked every time a child joins, using the same oversubscription 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. RGS contracts Buckinghamshire Council to manage appeals on its behalf; 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 50 external students (boys and girls) each year, on a different application and its own entry requirement.
The grade floor.
A minimum of 49 points from your best eight taught GCSEs (where grade 9 = 9 points, grade 8 = 8, and so on), all at grades 5–9 and 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 entry information each year.
Apply direct to the school.
Complete the school's Sixth Form Admission application form, available on the RGS website. If qualified external applicants outnumber places, the school applies its priority order — looked-after, in-catchment Pupil Premium, then staff children — before ranking the rest on aggregate score in their best 8 GCSEs, provided their chosen courses can be offered.