Apply to Wycombe High School, in plain English.
Everything a parent needs to know about a Year 7 place at Wycombe High for September 2027 — the Bucks 11+, the score of 121 your daughter 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 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+.
Wycombe High only admits girls 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 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 Wycombe High as a preference with your home council by 31 October 2026 — even if you live outside Buckinghamshire.
Catchment, then distance, decide.
If more girls qualify than there are places, the school looks at its two-tier catchment — Catchment Area A first (the High Wycombe area, Marlow and Stokenchurch), then Catchment Area B (Maidenhead and Cookham) — and ranks within each by straight-line distance. A qualified girl 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 daughter 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 girl who scores 121 or more is eligible. If more girls 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: Girls in the care of a council, or who were in care before being adopted, get top priority. This also covers girls adopted from state care outside England.
What the document says: "A Looked After Child, Post-LAC, IAC, IAPLAC child." 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.
In plain English: Qualified girls who live inside either catchment area and get the Pupil Premium come next. Pupil Premium covers girls eligible for free school meals at any point in the last six years, and includes the Service (armed-forces) Pupil Premium.
What the document says: "Girls in receipt of Pupil Premium, who qualify and live in the Catchment Area of the School."
In plain English: Up to twelve places are held for in-catchment girls who get the Pupil Premium (or are looked-after) and score 113–120 — just below the usual 121 mark. If they aren't all filled, the spare places roll into the main pool.
What the document says: "Up to 12 places to qualified disadvantaged girls, resident in the Catchment Area, who are in receipt of the Pupil Premium, or who are LAC/Post-LAC, or IAPLAC at the time of application, and who have achieved a standardised score of between 113 and 120 in the Secondary Transfer Test."
In plain English: If your daughter will have a sister on roll at Wycombe High when she starts, and you live in the catchment, she gets priority here.
What the document says: "Sisters of girls who are on the roll of the School at the time allocations are made, and who will be on the roll of the School at the time of the proposed admission, and who reside in the School's Catchment Area."
In plain English: Wycombe High is paired with John Hampden Grammar School, the boys' grammar in High Wycombe. If your daughter will have a brother on roll there when she starts, and you live in the catchment, she gets sibling priority here too.
What the document says: "Sisters of boys who are on the roll of John Hampden Grammar School at the time allocations are made, and who will be on roll of John Hampden at the time of the proposed admissions, and who reside in the Wycombe High School's catchment Area."
In plain English: A qualified girl whose parent has worked at the school (teaching or support) for at least two years, or was hired into a hard-to-fill role.
What the document says: "Daughters of Staff who work at the School (teaching and support) 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, or where the member of Staff is recruited to fill a vacant post for which there is a demonstrable skill shortage."
In plain English: A qualified girl with an exceptional medical or social need that only Wycombe High can meet. You must supply written evidence (for example from a doctor or social worker) explaining why this school in particular.
What the document says: "Girls who have exceptional medical or social needs which can only be met at the School."
In plain English: All other qualified girls who live inside the catchment. Catchment Area A (the inner area — the High Wycombe area, Marlow and Stokenchurch) is ranked first, then Catchment Area B (Maidenhead and Cookham), and within each area by straight-line distance — closest first.
What the document says: "(viii) Girls living in Catchment Area A of the School … (ix) Girls living in Catchment Area B of the School …" on or before 1 September in the calendar year preceding entry. Priority within each criterion is conferred in distance order.
In plain English: Any remaining qualified girl, wherever she lives, ranked by straight-line distance. This is how an out-of-catchment girl who scored 121 can still win a place.
What the document says: "Once the above rules have been applied, any further places will be offered in distance order, using the distance between the girl's normal home address and the School's main entrance gate, as the crow flies, offering the closest first, using the method applied by Buckinghamshire Council." Where two girls are exactly equidistant, places are allocated by an independently-supervised draw of lots.
Two catchment areas, then a straight line.
Wycombe High has a published two-tier catchment. Catchment Area A is the inner area — the High Wycombe area (including Hazlemere, Bourne End and West Wycombe), Marlow and Stokenchurch. Catchment Area B is the outer area — Maidenhead and Cookham, where girls also have a choice of more than two grammars within reasonable walking distance. In rule 8, Area A is ranked ahead of Area B, and within each area girls are ordered by straight-line distance. It is not a hard boundary: a qualified girl from outside catchment can still get a place under rule 9.
Where distance is used, the school measures a single straight line between your normal home address and the School's main entrance 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 catchment 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 girls scored 121 and neither has a sister at the school. House A sits in Catchment Area A; House B sits in Catchment Area B. Inside rule 8, 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".
In-year vacancies after the start of term are handled under the school's Late Transfer Procedure (a Late Transfer Test, or curriculum tests for Years 10–11).
Appeal
Once places are allocated, you can appeal to an Independent Appeal Panel if your daughter was refused because the school is full. Wycombe High 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 daughter was capable of qualifying — that belongs to the Selection Review (see below).
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 her qualified, she is eligible for any of the 13 Bucks grammars. Girls 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 takes a minimum of 40 external students each year, on a different application and its own entry requirement.
The grade floor.
A minimum of 48 points from your best eight full-course GCSEs (where grade 9 = 9 points, grade 8 = 8, and so on), including at least grade 5 in both English (Language or Literature) and Maths. On top of that, each A-level subject has its own minimum entry grade, published in the Sixth Form entry information each year.
Apply direct to the school.
Complete the school's Sixth Form application form, available on the Wycombe High website. If qualified external applicants outnumber places, the school applies its priority order — looked-after, then in-catchment Pupil Premium (with a reserved allocation for disadvantaged students scoring 42–47 points) — before ranking the rest on average score across their best 8 GCSEs.