Apply to St Bernard's Catholic Grammar School, in plain English.
St Bernard's is a co-educational Roman Catholic grammar in Slough — in fact the only co-ed Catholic grammar in England. Children qualify on the Slough Consortium 11+, which you register for separately from your council application by 5 June 2026. There is no catchment area: a standardised score of 111 makes a child eligible, and places are then ranked by faith — practising Catholics first, then other Christians, then children of other faiths. Demand far exceeds the 150 places, so qualifying does not guarantee an offer.
The three things to know first.
If you read nothing else on this page, read these.
You sit one test — the Slough Consortium 11+ — and you must register by 5 June 2026.
St Bernard's is one of four schools in the Slough Consortium of Grammar Schools. Children sit a single GL Assessment 11+ on Saturday 19 September 2026; the same result is shared with all four schools. You register through the Consortium, separately from your council's application — the window is 1 May to 5 June 2026 and late entries are not accepted. A standardised score of 111 or above makes a child eligible for consideration.
Faith comes first — and you must return a Supplementary Form to be ranked on it.
Among children who qualify on the test, places are allocated by faith category: looked-after children, then practising baptised Catholics, then other Catholics, then other Christian denominations, then children of other faiths. To be considered under these criteria you must complete the school's Supplementary Form online by 31 October 2026 — without it your child is treated as "any other children". A priest's reference or the Bishops' Conference Certificate of Catholic PracticeCertificate of Catholic PracticeIssued by your parish priest where a Catholic parent (and the child, if over seven) has normally attended Sunday Mass for at least five years. It evidences "practising" Catholic status for the top priority group. evidences practising Catholic status.
There is no catchment — distance only breaks ties.
St Bernard's has no designated catchment area, so a qualifying child anywhere can apply on equal terms. Where children are tied for the last place within a faith category, the closer child wins, measured in a straight line to the main entrance using Slough's mapping system. So living nearby helps only with tie-breaks, not with the faith ranking itself.
Five steps — starting now.
If more qualifying children apply than there are places, these criteria decide.
First, EHCP children naming the school are admitted. Then, among children scoring 111+, places are allocated by faith category in the order below. Within every category, children in receipt of the Pupil Premium are ranked first, then by test score; a tie is settled by straight-line distance. Tap any criterion to see the exact wording.
In plain English: A child currently in council care, or who left care through adoption or a guardianship order, gets first priority — provided they reached the qualifying score. In practice this is a small group.
What the document says: Looked after children and previously looked after children — a child in the care of a local authority, or who was previously looked after but immediately afterwards became subject to an adoption, child arrangements or special guardianship order, including those who were in state care outside England and ceased to be so as a result of being adopted.
In plain English: Baptised Catholic children whose family worships regularly come highest after looked-after children. You evidence this with a priest's reference or the Bishops' Conference Certificate of Catholic Practice, returned with the Supplementary Form.
What the document says: Practising Baptised Catholic children with a Priest's reference or a Certificate of Catholic Practice. 'Catholic' means a member of a Church in full communion with the See of Rome, normally evidenced by a certificate of baptism or reception into the Catholic Church.
In plain English: Baptised Catholic children whose family does not have (or does not submit) a Certificate of Catholic Practice come next. Evidence of Catholic baptism is still required.
What the document says: Other Baptised Catholic children. For a child to be treated as Catholic, evidence of Catholic baptism or reception into the Church will be required.
In plain English: Children baptised or dedicated in another Christian church come after Catholics — those with a religious leader's reference ahead of those without. "Other Christian denominations" means members of churches in Churches Together in England or CYTÛN and similar bodies.
What the document says: Baptised or Dedicated Children of other Christian Churches with a religious leader's reference, then Baptised or Dedicated Children of other Christian Churches. All members of Churches Together in England and CYTÛN are deemed to be included.
In plain English: Among children of other (non-Christian) faiths, those attending one of the four named Catholic feeder primaries in St Peter's Pastoral Area — Holy Family, Our Lady of Peace, St Anthony's or St Ethelbert's — get priority, with Slough residents ranked first. Attending a feeder primary is a priority, not a catchment: your child still has to reach the qualifying score.
What the document says: Children from Other Faiths who attend a Slough Catholic Primary School within St Peter's Pastoral Area (Holy Family, Our Lady of Peace, St Anthony's and St Ethelbert's Catholic Primary Schools) and live in Slough; then children from other faiths who attend one of those feeder primaries.
In plain English: Children of other faiths with a religious leader's reference, then other-faith children without one, then any other children — including those who did not return a Supplementary Form. A child does not have to be Catholic or Christian to apply; these groups simply rank below the faith categories above.
What the document says: Children of other faiths with a religious leader's reference; Children of other faiths; Any other children. "Children of other faiths" means children who are members of a religious community falling within the definition of a religion for the purposes of charity law.
In plain English: The faith categories above set the order of priority. Inside each one, children in receipt of the Pupil Premium (which the policy defines to include the Service Premium for armed-forces families) are ranked first, then everyone else by their 11+ score. A remaining tie is decided by straight-line distance, then by lot.
What the document says: The Governing Body will determine an order of priority within the above categories based on: (1) children currently in receipt of the Pupil Premium; (2) the child's score in the Selective Tests. For this policy, Pupil Premium refers to Pupil Premium and Service Premium.
Tie-breaks: Within any category, after Pupil Premium and test score, the closer child wins — measured 'as the crow flies' from the school's main entrance to the child's home, using Slough's GIS. If two children are exactly equal in distance for the final place, it is decided by independently supervised lot.
No boundary — faith decides, and distance only breaks ties.
St Bernard's has no designated catchment, so a qualifying child from anywhere can be considered on equal terms. What orders the list is faith — practising Catholics, then other Catholics, then other Christians, then children of other faiths — with Pupil Premium and test score deciding rank within each group. Distance is only the final tie-breaker for the last place in a category.
Distance is measured 'as the crow flies' from your permanent home address to the school's main entrance, using Slough's mapping system — not by walking or driving route. The displayed circle on our map is illustrative only; it is not a real boundary, and no fixed cutoff distance is published.
See St Bernard's location on the GrammarBound mapFaith ranks ahead of a higher score from another group.
Both children qualify on the test. Child A is a practising Catholic with a Certificate of Catholic Practice, placing them in the second category; Child B scored higher but belongs to a lower faith category. Because faith sets the order before score, Child A is ranked ahead. Distance would only separate two children inside the same category.
You have two routes, and you can use both.
Waiting list
Qualifying children (scoring 111+) who were not offered a place are placed on a waiting list, ranked by the same oversubscription criteria and re-ordered each time a name is added or removed. It runs to the end of December 2027 in the first instance.
Request a waiting-list place via St Bernard's directly.
Appeal
You have the right to appeal to an independent panel, which follows the statutory School Admission Appeals Code 2022. Appealing does not remove your child from the waiting list — you can do both.
Joining Year 12 from outside.
St Bernard's keeps a Year 12 admission number that includes its own Year 11s plus a minimum of 20 external students.
The grade floor.
Entry is by GCSE results and a positive recommendation from your current head teacher. Each course sets its own subject grades, published annually in the Sixth Form Prospectus, which forms part of the admission arrangements; NARIC-verified equivalents are accepted in place of GCSEs for overseas qualifications. There is no single published numeric floor across all subjects.
Apply direct to the school.
External applicants apply directly to St Bernard's by the published deadline and attend a Careers Information, Advice and Guidance interview; a conditional offer is confirmed on GCSE results day once grades are met. If external applicants are oversubscribed, places go to looked-after children, then those previously in receipt of Pupil Premium, then by GCSE average point score. Students must come straight from Year 11 — no repeating Year 12.