Apply to Sir William Borlase's Grammar School, in plain English.
Everything a parent needs to know about a Year 7 place at Borlase in Marlow for September 2027 — the Bucks 11+, the score of 121 your child needs to qualify, how the school's Priority Admission Area lottery, wider catchment and straight-line distance decide who gets in when it's full, and what to do if they miss out. Last year around 620 children chased 150 places, so register for the test by the June 2026 deadline.
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 child needs 121 on the Bucks 11+.
Borlase only admits children who score at least 121 on the Buckinghamshire Secondary Transfer Test — two papers covering verbal, numerical and non-verbal reasoning, both sat on the same day. Score 121 or more and they qualify; 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 Borlase as a preference with your home council by 31 October 2026 — even if you live outside Buckinghamshire.
The catchment, then distance, decide.
If more children qualify than there are places, Borlase reserves up to 15 places for its inner Priority Admission Area by random lottery, then works through staff, the wider catchment, siblings and finally straight-line distance. A qualified child from outside the 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 child 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 9 rules decide.
Every child who scores 121 or more is eligible. If more children 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: A child in the care of a council, or who was in care before being adopted, gets top priority — as long as they scored at least 110 on the test. This also covers children adopted from state care outside England.
What the document says: "A 'looked after child' or a child who was previously looked after but immediately after being looked after became the subject of an adoption, residence, child arrangements or special guardianship order … who has achieved a score of at least 110 in the Admissions Test."
In plain English: Up to twenty places are held for in-catchment children who get the Pupil Premium and score 110–120 — just below the usual 121 mark. If more than twenty qualify, the places go to those living closest to the school. Pupil Premium covers children eligible for free school meals at any point in the last six years. You must email proof to the school by 31 October.
What the document says: "Up to a maximum of 20 places for children eligible for pupil premium, living in catchment, who have achieved a score of between 110 and 120 in the Admissions Test. In the event of more than 20 pupils qualifying under this rule the distance tie-breaker will apply."
In plain English: Qualified children (121+) who get the Pupil Premium and live inside the catchment come next, ahead of the lottery, staff and sibling rules.
What the document says: "Children eligible for pupil premium living within the catchment, with a score of 121 or more in the Standardised Transfer Test, or who have qualified through Selection Review or the appeals process."
In plain English: Borlase has a small inner Priority Admission Area — a rural band to the north-west covering Stokenchurch, Ibstone, Cadmore End, Fingest, Frieth, Turville, Hambleden and Lane End. Up to fifteen places are reserved for qualified children living there, and — unusually — shared out by a random lottery rather than distance, so every address in the area has an equal chance.
What the document says: "Up to a maximum of 15 places for children who live in the school's Priority Admissions area on 1 September 2026 … all 15 places will be allocated by random lottery in front of an independent witness in order to ensure that all children living within the Priority Admission Area have an equal chance of achieving a place."
In plain English: A qualified child 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: "Eligible children of staff … 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 the member of staff has been employed to fill a vacant post for which there is a demonstrable skill shortage."
In plain English: All other qualified children who live in the school's wider catchment — which contains the Priority Admission Area and also covers Marlow, Marlow Bottom, Little Marlow, Bourne End, Cookham, Hurley and the western edge of Maidenhead. You must have lived at your catchment address continuously since 1 September 2026.
What the document says: "Children living in the catchment, which includes the priority area as well as children in other parts of the catchment areas of the school must have been living in their home continuously since 1 September 2026."
In plain English: A qualified child who will have a brother or sister on roll at Borlase (in Years 7–12) when they start. A sibling is a brother or sister sharing a parent, or another child living at the same address for whom the parent has responsibility.
What the document says: "Siblings of children in Years 7 to 12 who are on the roll of the school at the time allocations are made … and who are expected to be on the roll of the school at the time of the proposed admission."
In plain English: A qualified child with an exceptional medical or social need that only Borlase can meet. You must supply written evidence from an independent professional (for example a doctor or social worker) explaining why this school in particular.
What the document says: "Children who have exceptional medical or social needs which can only be met at this school supported by evidence as set out by Buckinghamshire Council."
In plain English: Any remaining qualified child, wherever they live, ranked by straight-line distance. This is how an out-of-catchment child 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." Where two children live exactly the same distance from the school, the place is allocated by an independently-supervised random selection.
A lottery area inside a wider catchment.
Borlase has two nested designated areas. The inner Priority Admission Area is a rural band to the north-west — Stokenchurch, Ibstone, Cadmore End, Fingest, Frieth, Turville, Hambleden and Lane End — where up to 15 places are shared by a random lottery (rule 4). The wider Catchment Area wraps around it and covers Marlow, Marlow Bottom, Little Marlow, Bourne End, Cookham, Hurley and the western edge of Maidenhead; living here gives priority under rule 6. Neither is a hard boundary: a qualified child from outside the catchment can still get a place under rule 9, ranked by distance.
Where distance is used, the school measures a single straight line between your normal home address and the nearest open school gate, as the crow flies, using the method applied by Buckinghamshire Council. 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 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 children scored 121, neither gets the Pupil Premium and neither has a sibling at the school. House A sits inside the catchment; House B sits outside it. Because the catchment (rule 6) is applied before the open distance rule (rule 9), House A is offered first. Among children left to the open rule, 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., the waiting list is run using the oversubscription rules — not the date a child joined it — and is maintained by Buckinghamshire Council until 31 December 2027. It is re-ranked every time a child joins, so a later applicant in a higher rule can move above you. There is no simple "queue".
From 1 January 2028 the list is maintained by the school, and in-year vacancies are handled under its Late Transfer Procedure.
Appeal
Once places are allocated, you can appeal to an Independent Appeal Panel if your child was refused because the school is full. Appeals up to 31 December are managed by Buckinghamshire Council; your refusal letter sets the deadline and grounds. A panel hearing won't normally re-examine whether your child was capable of qualifying — that belongs to the Selection Review (see below).
Appealing does not affect your waiting-list position.
If you believe your child would have reached 121 but for particular circumstances during the test, you can ask Buckinghamshire Council for a Selection Review. A panel of serving and recently-retired headteachers — taking advice from an educational psychologist where needed — decides before places are allocated. If they deem your child qualified, they are 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.
Year 7 entry is by the 11+, but the Sixth Form offers a minimum of 80 external places each year, on a different application and its own entry requirement.
The grade floor.
A minimum average points score of 6.40 across all your GCSEs (where grade 9 = 9 points, grade 8 = 8, and so on), including at least grade 5 in both English and Maths, and at least 8 GCSEs in total — six of them sat in one go. Individual A-level courses then set their own subject grade, typically grade 7 in the relevant GCSE (grade 8 in Maths for Further Maths), published in the Sixth Form section of the school website.
Apply direct to the school.
Internal students who meet the requirement have priority; a minimum of 80 external places are offered to those who qualify, subject to capacity. If qualified external applicants outnumber places, the school admits looked-after children, then children on free school meals in catchment, then qualified children of staff, then catchment, then siblings — with exceptional medical or social needs considered alongside.