Sir Henry Floyd Grammar School: 11+ Entry Guide for Parents 2026

Sir Henry Floyd Grammar School is a co-educational selective state grammar school for pupils aged 11 to 18, located on Oxford Road in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire. It admits 180 pupils into Year 7 each year via the Buckinghamshire Secondary Transfer Test (STT), administered by GL Assessment. The school was founded in 1963, holds Outstanding status at its last Ofsted inspection, and is one of 13 grammar schools within The Buckinghamshire Grammar Schools (TBGS) consortium. Entry is competitive: pupils must achieve the qualifying standard on the STT and, where the school is oversubscribed, meet the catchment area and admissions criteria. This guide covers the test format, 2026 key dates, catchment area, how Sir Henry Floyd compares to nearby Aylesbury Grammar School, and how to structure preparation effectively.

What Is Sir Henry Floyd Grammar School?

Sir Henry Floyd Grammar School opened in 1963 and is named after Sir Henry Floyd, a Buckinghamshire landowner and benefactor. Unlike Aylesbury Grammar School, which is boys-only, Sir Henry Floyd admits both boys and girls, making it the co-educational grammar school option for families in the Aylesbury area. The school occupies a single campus on Oxford Road, Aylesbury, and offers a broad curriculum from Year 7 through to A-level in the sixth form.

The school is consistently rated Outstanding by Ofsted. It is part of The Buckinghamshire Grammar Schools consortium, which means all Year 7 entry is via the shared Buckinghamshire Secondary Transfer Test rather than any school-specific exam. Pupils who pass the STT are eligible to apply to any of the 13 Buckinghamshire grammar schools, including Sir Henry Floyd, and the school uses its own admissions criteria to allocate places when oversubscribed.

Sir Henry Floyd is particularly known for strong results across both traditional academic subjects and the arts. The school has a well-regarded sixth form that draws pupils from across the Aylesbury catchment, and many leavers progress to Russell Group universities. Its co-educational ethos makes it a distinct choice from single-sex options in the area, and many families in Aylesbury include both SHF and Aylesbury Grammar School on their common application form.

The Buckinghamshire Secondary Transfer Test: Format and Weighting

The Buckinghamshire Secondary Transfer Test (STT) is the shared entrance assessment used by all 13 grammar schools in Buckinghamshire. A child who passes the STT is eligible to apply to any of the 13 schools. There is no separate school-specific exam for Sir Henry Floyd Grammar School. This means your child sits one test on one morning, and their score determines eligibility across the entire Buckinghamshire grammar school system.

The test consists of two papers, each lasting approximately 60 minutes, with a break between them. Both papers are entirely multiple-choice. Scores are age-standardised and combined to produce a Secondary Transfer Test Score (STTS). The weighting across the two papers is: 50% verbal ability, 25% numerical ability, and 25% non-verbal reasoning. This weighting directly shapes how preparation time should be allocated, with verbal work deserving the greatest single share of attention.

Paper 1 tests verbal skills and covers three components: English comprehension (reading a passage and answering questions about it), technical English (grammar, punctuation, and sentence structure questions), and verbal reasoning (word codes, analogies, letter sequences, and language pattern questions). Paper 2 tests non-verbal and numerical skills: mathematics (Key Stage 2 curriculum topics with an emphasis on problem-solving and multi-step questions) and non-verbal reasoning (shapes, spatial patterns, matrices, and abstract sequences).

Results are age-standardised before being combined. A child born in August is not disadvantaged relative to a child born in September: the scoring system adjusts for age at the time of sitting. The qualifying standard is a standardised score of 121, though this figure is not fixed and can vary slightly from year to year depending on overall cohort performance across Buckinghamshire.

Item	Details
Entry year	Year 7 (September 2027 for children currently in Year 5)
Year 7 places	180
School type	Co-educational state grammar school
Test	Buckinghamshire Secondary Transfer Test (STT), GL Assessment
Test format	2 papers, approx. 60 minutes each, multiple-choice, age-standardised
Test weighting	50% verbal ability, 25% non-verbal reasoning, 25% mathematics
Qualifying score	121 (standardised) — qualifying standard, not a guaranteed offer
Registration window	1 May 2026 to 2 June 2026 (out-of-county and independent school pupils)
Practice test date	Tuesday 8 September 2026
Main test date	Thursday 10 September 2026
Results date	Thursday 9 October 2026
CAF deadline	Saturday 31 October 2026
Ofsted rating	Outstanding
Location	Oxford Road, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire

How Competitive Is Entry to Sir Henry Floyd Grammar School?

Each year, approximately 9,500 children across Buckinghamshire sit the Secondary Transfer Test to compete for around 1,900 grammar school places across all 13 schools. This gives a county-wide pass rate of roughly one in five. Sir Henry Floyd offers 180 of those places. The children who qualify represent the top-performing cohort in the county, and within that group, admissions criteria determine which qualifying children receive places at any particular school.

Sir Henry Floyd is one of the two grammar schools in Aylesbury, the other being Aylesbury Grammar School (boys). The two schools draw largely from the same geographic area. Families with children at Aylesbury primary schools who are open to co-educational grammar school education frequently apply to Sir Henry Floyd. Because the school is co-educational, it draws applications from both boys and girls, and in some years the competition for girls' places can be particularly intense if the cohort of qualifying girls is large relative to the available spaces.

Children who live in the catchment area and achieve the qualifying standard of 121 have a strong, but not guaranteed, prospect of a place. Children who score well above the qualifying threshold, typically 128 or above, are generally in a very strong position even if they live outside the catchment area. Children who score exactly at the qualifying standard (121) and live outside the catchment may or may not receive an offer, depending on how many in-catchment qualifying children apply in that year. The official admissions statistics for previous years, including the lowest score that received an offer, are available on request from the school and from Buckinghamshire Council.

Catchment Area and Admissions Criteria

Sir Henry Floyd Grammar School has a defined catchment area used to prioritise applications when more children meet the qualifying standard than there are places available. The catchment covers Aylesbury and surrounding areas including Princes Risborough. The exact boundaries are defined in the school's published admissions policy, and a map is available on the official Sir Henry Floyd Grammar School admissions page.

When the school is oversubscribed, places are allocated in the following priority order: first, looked-after and previously looked-after children; second, children in catchment who receive Pupil Premium; third, siblings of current pupils who live in catchment; fourth, children with exceptional medical or social needs supported by written evidence; fifth, children of current SHF staff; sixth, all other children living in the catchment area, prioritised by straight-line distance from home to school; seventh, siblings of current pupils who live outside the catchment; eighth, all other qualifying applicants in distance order.

Families living outside the catchment area can and do receive places at Sir Henry Floyd in most years, particularly when they have scored well on the STT. The key is that out-of-catchment applicants compete in the eighth tier of the oversubscription criteria. In years where demand from in-catchment qualifying children does not fill all 180 places, out-of-catchment applicants at 121 may receive offers. In more heavily oversubscribed years, a higher score is needed. Parents should always download the most recent admissions policy directly from the school or from Buckinghamshire Council to confirm the current year's criteria.

Sir Henry Floyd vs Aylesbury Grammar School: Which Is Right for Your Child?

Sir Henry Floyd Grammar School and Aylesbury Grammar School (AGS) are located close to each other in Aylesbury. Both carry Outstanding Ofsted ratings, both are part of the TBGS consortium and use the same STT, and both draw from overlapping catchment areas. Understanding the differences helps families make an informed decision when ranking preferences on the common application form.

The most important practical difference is that Sir Henry Floyd is co-educational while Aylesbury Grammar School is boys-only. Families with sons who have a preference for single-sex education typically list AGS first and SHF second (or vice versa). Families who prefer co-educational learning, or whose daughters are applying, will prioritise Sir Henry Floyd. Girls applying in Aylesbury should note that the girls' state grammar option is Sir Henry Floyd: the other nearby girls-only state grammar is Aylesbury High School, which is also part of the TBGS consortium.

Both schools achieve strong academic outcomes. Both have well-regarded sixth forms. Both are accessible from the same Aylesbury transport routes. In most years, a child who qualifies but does not receive their first-choice Aylesbury grammar school will receive an offer from the other Aylesbury grammar school, if they have listed it as a preference and meet the admissions criteria. Families who are genuinely indifferent between the two schools should list both, as this maximises the chance of receiving an offer from an Aylesbury grammar school in the allocation round.

For context on the wider Buckinghamshire grammar school landscape, see our Aylesbury Grammar School 11+ guide, our Dr Challoner's Grammar School guide, and our complete grammar school preparation guide for 2026.

Preparation Timeline: Year 4 to 10 September 2026

The most successful preparation programmes for Sir Henry Floyd Grammar School and all Buckinghamshire grammar schools are built over 12 to 18 months, not compressed into the final few weeks before the September test. A child who begins preparation in Year 4 or the start of Year 5 has time to build genuine understanding, develop stamina, and enter the test in a calm, well-prepared state. A child who begins in the summer term of Year 5 is likely to feel rushed, anxious, and underprepared on test day.

Year 4: This is the ideal time to begin building foundations. Focus on: reading widely across fiction and non-fiction to build vocabulary and comprehension stamina; strengthening mental arithmetic and number fluency; introducing verbal reasoning question types in small doses so they become familiar rather than intimidating; and beginning non-verbal reasoning with simple shape and pattern exercises. Formal timed preparation is not necessary at this stage. The goal is gradual exposure and enjoyment.

Year 5 Autumn Term: Begin structured preparation in earnest. Introduce a regular schedule, typically two to three sessions per week of 30 to 45 minutes each. Cover all STT question types systematically: comprehension, technical English, verbal reasoning, non-verbal reasoning, and maths. Explain the logic of each question type before drilling answers. Children who understand why an answer is correct outperform those who have only guessed their way through practice papers.

Year 5 Spring Term: Move into targeted work on weaker areas. By the spring term, most children have a clear picture of which components they find most difficult. Common weak points are technical English (grammar and punctuation questions are rarely drilled in primary schools) and the higher-order verbal reasoning question types. Use this term to address these gaps directly, rather than continuing to practise areas where the child is already strong.

Year 5 Summer Term: Begin timed full-length practice tests under realistic conditions. Sit at least one full STT-style test per month. Review every question missed, not just the ones the child got wrong, but also any where they guessed correctly without understanding. Build up the habit of checking work when time allows. Calibrate expectations by tracking scores across multiple papers.

Year 6 Summer (before September test): Fine-tune. Revise weak areas identified in practice tests. Practise maths in timed sessions to ensure automatic recall of number facts. Read regularly to maintain vocabulary and stamina. Keep preparation calm and consistent. In the final two weeks before the test, reduce the volume of preparation and focus on rest, confidence, and routine. The goal is to walk into the test on 10 September 2026 feeling ready, not exhausted.

What High-Scoring Children Do Differently

Having prepared many children for Sir Henry Floyd Grammar School and other Buckinghamshire grammar schools, our tutors observe consistent patterns among children who score well above the qualifying standard. The differences are not primarily about innate ability. They are about preparation quality, consistency, and the specific habits developed over the year or more before the test.

They have practised technical English specifically. Technical English is the component most commonly underweighted in preparation. Many families focus heavily on verbal reasoning and maths but give little attention to grammar, punctuation, and sentence structure questions. Children who have worked through targeted technical English exercises regularly, learning to identify sentence errors and select correctly punctuated options, find Paper 1 substantially less daunting. This directly affects their verbal ability score, which counts for half the total test.

They understand verbal reasoning question types before encountering them in the test. GL Assessment verbal reasoning uses a consistent set of formats including word codes, letter sequences, analogies, and odd-one-out questions. Children who have been taught each format explicitly, with the logic explained and the approach demonstrated, outperform children who have only guessed their way through practice papers. Knowing why the answer is correct is more valuable than repeated exposure to questions where the answer is provided without explanation.

They have read widely and consistently for at least a year. The comprehension section of Paper 1 rewards breadth of reading more than specific exam preparation. Children who read regularly across different genres, including fiction, non-fiction, newspaper articles, and longer non-fiction texts, develop the vocabulary range and reading stamina needed to process an unseen passage quickly and accurately under exam conditions. This cannot be replicated by a short burst of reading in the weeks before the test.

They practise maths in timed conditions. The maths section of Paper 2 is not conceptually harder than strong Key Stage 2 content, but it is taken under time pressure. Children who have drilled maths in timed sessions, working through problem sets against the clock, develop the automatic recall of number facts and the habit of checking their working that produces reliable scores. Children who have only done untimed homework find the paced nature of the test disproportionately difficult on test day.

Their families have kept preparation calm and consistent. Children who perform closest to their ceiling on test day are those whose families have maintained steady encouragement without generating excessive anxiety around results. The STT is a significant assessment, but it is sat by ten-year-olds in the same September morning session as every other Buckinghamshire grammar school candidate. A calm, well-prepared child who walks in on 10 September 2026 having done consistent preparation throughout Year 5 is in the best possible position, regardless of the competition they will face.

For detailed advice on structuring 11+ preparation for the GL Assessment, see our specialist 11+ tuition page and our wider guide to grammar school preparation for 2026.

Frequently Asked Questions