Aylesbury Grammar School Sixth Form: 2027 Entry Requirements

Aylesbury Grammar School's sixth form has a Planned Admission Number of 17 external places for September 2027 entry, on top of internal Year 11 boys who meet the same bar. Entry requires 44 points from your best 8 GCSEs, calculated on a straight grade-equals-points scale, plus at least Grade 5 in English and Maths and at least Grade 6 in the GCSE for each A-level subject you want to study. The application deadline is 15 January 2027. And two of the school's own web pages quote different numbers for how many external boys it actually admits — a genuine contradiction its own Admissions Policy explains, and one this page resolves in full below.

Is Aylesbury Grammar School's Sixth Form Open to Everyone?

Aylesbury Grammar School is, in its own words, "designated as a grammar school with a sixth form for boys only." That single sentence, taken directly from the school's Admissions Policy 2027, answers the question competitors leave implicit: unlike some 11-18 schools where the sixth form opens up to both sexes, AGS stays single-sex boys the whole way through, from Year 7 to Year 13. A boy currently at any school — state or independent, inside or outside Buckinghamshire — can apply for an external Year 12 place, and the school confirms the minimum academic entry criteria "are the same for internal students and external candidates," so a boy transferring in at 16 faces no lower bar than one of AGS's own Year 11 leavers.

Girls cannot apply, at any point. Families in Aylesbury looking for an equivalent girls' grammar sixth form have two nearby options: Aylesbury High School, the girls' grammar situated on the same Walton Road, or Sir Henry Floyd Grammar School, a co-educational grammar nearby on Oxford Road. We cover Aylesbury High School's own 11+ entry separately on our Aylesbury High School guide, and it is worth being precise about the distinction: Aylesbury High is a different school with a different intake, not a co-educational wing of AGS.

Over 90% of AGS's own Year 11 boys stay on into the sixth form each year, according to the school's own Sixth Form page — a high retention rate that, on its own, tells a prospective external applicant little about their actual odds, since it says nothing about how many of the 203 total Year 12 places that leaves for boys coming from outside. That is the subject of the next section.

How Many Places Are There, Really — And By When Must You Apply?

Here is the contradiction. AGS's Sixth Form page, under "School Life," states the school "admit[s] a minimum of 17 students from local state and independent schools." Its separate Year 12 admissions page, under "Admissions," states the school "admit[s] between 30 and 40 students" from the same pool. Read either page on its own and you would form a materially different impression of your chances — 17 sounds like a tight squeeze; 30 to 40 sounds comfortable. Neither figure is wrong. Both are true, and the school's own Admissions Policy 2027 explains exactly why.

The policy sets the Planned Admission Number (PAN) for Year 12 at 17, with 203 total Year 12 places once you add in the boys already at AGS who transfer up automatically from Year 11. Crucially, the policy goes on to say: "It may be possible to admit more than 17 external candidates to Year 12 (i.e., over PAN) once the number of current Year 11 students transferring to Year 12 is known." In other words, 17 is not AGS's target number of external places — it is the guaranteed floor the school commits to filling from outside, before it knows how many of its own Year 11 boys will actually stay. Because a meaningful minority typically leave for other sixth forms, colleges or apprenticeships, the real number of external places usually lands in that 30-to-40 range the Year 12 page quotes, but families cannot rely on more than 17 being available until AGS knows its own numbers each year.

If more qualifying external candidates apply than places exist, the school works through an eight-tier priority order: looked-after and previously looked-after candidates first, then Pupil Premium candidates in the catchment area, then siblings of current AGS or Aylesbury High School pupils in catchment, then siblings of former AGS pupils in catchment, then children of AGS staff, then candidates with exceptional medical or social needs in catchment, and finally all other qualifying candidates — with the same straight-line distance tie-break used for Year 7 admissions if a tier is still oversubscribed. External applications go directly to the school on its own Sixth Form Application Form, not through Buckinghamshire Council's coordinated scheme, and the deadline is the third Friday in January — 15 January 2027 for September 2027 entry. Late applications are still considered, the policy notes, but "there may be insufficient places following the processing of applications and invitation to the Year 12 Orientation Day," so applying on time matters more here than it would for a school with a fixed, generous quota.

The GCSE Entry Bar: The 44-Point Formula

Whether you are an AGS Year 11 boy or an external applicant, the minimum academic entry criteria for Year 12 are identical, and they are published in unusual detail. First, the headline figure: you need 44 points from your best 8 GCSEs (or equivalent), where each grade converts directly to the same number of points — a 9 is worth 9 points, an 8 is worth 8, down to a 1 worth 1 point. Across your strongest 8 subjects, that 44-point total must include English and Mathematics somewhere in the mix.

Two further, separate conditions apply on top of the 44-point total, and missing either one disqualifies a candidate even if their overall points total clears 44. You must achieve at least Grade 5 in English Language or English Literature, and at least Grade 5 in Mathematics. And for every specific A-level subject you intend to study, you need at least Grade 6 in the corresponding GCSE — a boy who wants to study Physics, Chemistry and Further Maths needs Grade 6 or above in each of Physics, Chemistry and Maths specifically, not just a strong set of grades elsewhere. The policy flags that "some A level subjects require a higher grade than this," with the exact subject-by-subject thresholds set out in the school's Sixth Form prospectus rather than the admissions policy itself, so it is worth checking the current prospectus for the specific subjects a candidate has in mind before ruling AGS in or out.

Put together, a realistic profile for a AGS sixth-form hopeful looks like this: eight GCSEs averaging a shade above Grade 5.5 overall (44 points spread across 8 subjects), Grade 5 or better specifically in English and Maths, and Grade 6 or better in the two or three subjects they plan to carry into A-level. A boy with strong sciences but a weak set of humanities grades can still clear the bar comfortably if his best 8 subjects add up, since the formula counts total points across a full set of 8, not a minimum in every individual GCSE outside the named exceptions.

A Second Route In: Six Places Below the Standard Bar

Buried in the same Admissions Policy is a fact no competitor page mentions at all. Up to 6 places above the 17-place Planned Admission Number are set aside specifically for looked-after or previously looked-after boys, or other boys eligible for Pupil Premium as at the application deadline, "whose GCSE (or equivalent) score would not otherwise qualify them for admission." This is not a general fallback for any boy who narrowly misses 44 points — it is a targeted, disadvantage-linked route with its own, lower, defined bar.

To qualify for one of these 6 places, a candidate must still achieve a minimum of 5 points in English Language or English Literature and in Mathematics, must still meet the specific minimum entry grade for each subject he wishes to study at A-level, and must achieve 33 points from his best 6 GCSEs (or equivalent) — noticeably lower than the standard 44 points from 8 GCSEs required of other candidates, though the same subject-specific A-level thresholds still apply. Where more eligible candidates apply for these 6 places than are available, the same straight-line distance tie-break used elsewhere in the policy decides between them. Families who believe a son may be eligible for Pupil Premium or looked-after status should raise this directly with the school's admissions office alongside a standard application, since it is not a route AGS advertises prominently on its own public-facing Sixth Form or Year 12 pages.

What You Can Study, and What the Grades Buy You

AGS's Curriculum Policy, approved by the Governors' Learning and Teaching Committee in February 2026, lists 23 named A-levels open to sixth formers: Ancient History, Art, Biology, Business, Chemistry, Computer Science, Design & Technology, Economics, English Language and Literature, English Literature, French, Further Maths, Geography, German, Government & Politics, History, Latin, Maths, Music, Physical Education, Physics, Psychology, Spanish and Theatre Studies. Four further AS-level options sit alongside the full A-level list: Geology, Maths, Religious Studies, and the Extended Project Qualification (EPQ). One change to flag for anyone planning ahead: Physical Education moves from a full A-level to a Level 3 BTEC qualification from September 2026, so a candidate applying now for a PE-heavy Sixth Form pathway should confirm the current status of that course with the school directly.

Most students take four full A-levels. The policy also permits three full A-levels plus a further qualification — an AS level, the EPQ, or a Sports Leaders Award — or three full A-levels alongside supervised individual study, giving genuine flexibility around a student's actual academic profile rather than a rigid four-subject requirement for everyone.

The results those grades and that curriculum produce are strong by any national measure. In 2025, 77 students — over 35% of the year group — achieved at least 3 A grades, with 45 students gaining all A* and A grades across their entries. 15% of all A-level entries were graded A*, against a 9.4% national average that year, and 41% were graded A* or A, against a 28.1% national average. Year 13 leavers in 2025 went on to over 51 different UK institutions, with 65% attending a Russell Group university, Loughborough or Bath, 77% securing their first-choice destination, and 91% securing their first or second choice.

Missed Your 11+ Place? Two Different Routes Back Into Grammar School

A meaningful share of families researching AGS sixth form entry are not new to grammar school admissions — they applied at 11+, did not secure a place, and want to know if a later route exists. Two genuinely separate options are worth knowing about, and they should not be confused with each other.

The first is AGS's own Late Transfer route into Years 10 or 11 (not Year 12), assessed through three tests set and marked by the school itself — English Reading, English Writing, and Maths — run jointly with Aylesbury High School in an Annual Testing Round each February. Applications go directly to AGS using its own Year 10/11 admissions form, separately from the county-wide process used for Year 7 entry.

The second, entirely different option is Buckinghamshire Council's own county-wide 12+/13+ late transfer grammar test, for boys currently in Years 7 and 8 seeking a Year 8 or Year 9 place. For boys who have already sat the original transfer test, registration for the round leading to September 2027 entry runs 5 to 23 October 2026, and Aylesbury Grammar School is one of 9 named Buckinghamshire grammar schools families can list as a preference, alongside Aylesbury High School, Beaconsfield High School, Burnham Grammar School, Chesham Grammar School, John Hampden Grammar School, The Royal Latin School (Year 8 only), Sir Henry Floyd Grammar School and Wycombe High School. The council is candid that this route is a long shot: "for September 2026 entry, no places were offered for either Year 8 or Year 9 in the first round of allocations in March." Families considering this route should read Buckinghamshire Council's own late transfer test guidance in full before committing time to preparation, since it is the only genuine county-branded late-transfer route in the area and the numbers above show how limited its first-round outcomes have been.

Neither of these routes is the same as the 16+ sixth form entry this page is about, but both matter to the same audience: a parent whose son missed his first-choice grammar place at 11 and wants to know every remaining door into AGS before September 2027. For boys aiming specifically at Year 12, the 44-point GCSE route covered above remains the standard path in, regardless of which school a boy currently attends.

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