St Bernard’s Catholic Grammar School

Admissions and 11 Plus exam information for St Bernard’s Catholic Grammar School. Use the site to help you find out how to be successful with an 11 Plus exam application to St Bernard’s Catholic Grammar School.

11 Plus Entry Information for St Bernard’s Catholic Grammar School

The school is unique in being the only mixed, Catholic, state, voluntary-aided grammar school in the country. Four out of five students are Roman Catholic, some of whom travel from outside the local authority. Close to 70% of students are from White British, Irish or other White backgrounds with small percentages from several minority ethnic groups. The proportion of students with special educational needs and/or disabilities is very low, as is the proportion of students known to be eligible for free school meals. There are more girls than boys in the school, especially in Years 7 and 10. The school was awarded Artsmark Silver in 2010 and Fair Trade status was re-awarded in 2011. The school retains a focus on its humanities specialist subjects of English, history and religious education.

County	Berkshire
Address	St Bernard’s Catholic Grammar School, 1 Langley Road, Slough SL3 7AF
Type	Mixed Grammar
Pupils	841
Places in Year 7	120
Open Days	September/October
Competition	5+ applicants for every place
St Bernard’s Catholic Grammar School 11+ Resources	Maths English Verbal Reasoning Non-Verbal Reasoning
Exam Format	Berkshire GL 11 Plus – English, Verbal Reasoning, Maths and Non-Verbal Reasoning
School Website	www.st-bernards.slough.sch.uk

St Bernard’s Catholic Grammar School 11 Plus Exam Format

The 11 Plus Exam format for St Bernard’s Catholic Grammar School is written by GL Assessment. All schools in Berkshire Slough have the same exam which grants entry for all schools. The exam format is as follows.

Paper 1	55 minute English and Verbal Reasoning paper. English section includes a 5 minute practice section followed by a 25 minute test. The Verbal Reasoning section includes a 5 minute practice section followed by a 20 minute test.
Paper 2	55 minute Mathematics and Non-Verbal Reasoning paper. The first section includes Non-verbal and spatial reasoning, this consists of 5 subtests lasting 5 minutes each. The second section is Mathematics and includes a 5 minute practice section followed by a 25 minute test

St Bernard’s Catholic Grammar School 11 Plus Exam Paper

Some publishers have access to the exam format and produce their own mirror papers which aim to replicate what an 11 Plus exam for Berkshire Slough might look like.

We understand that these publishers get the information from familiarisation packs sent to parents, teachers, local tutors and pupils who have sat the test. The tests can of course change at any time and these papers only aim to give a good idea of what to expect, however, they are very useful and most parents use them at some point.

The ones we would suggest are from Learning Street. They are of high quality and cheaper than any others we have seen. Direct links to the papers are below and Learning Street produce them as mock exams which is unique ( so you can run your own mock exam at home). Links to the papers are below:

Slough Mock 11 Plus Exam Pack 1

Slough Mock 11 Plus Exam Pack 2

Slough Mock 11 Plus Exam Pack 3

Slough Mock 11 Plus Exam Pack 4

Slough Mock 11 Plus Exam Bundle (Packs 1-4)

How to prepare for the St Bernard’s Catholic Grammar School 11 Plus Exam

Essentially you have 4 options when it comes to helping your child to prepare.

1/ Some parents use a Private Tutor. If you want to start your search for a suitable one, we provide links to some Private tutors in Berkshire to help you. These can cost between £2500 and £6000 a year. For help thinking about which private tutor might be right for you see our guidance page.

2/ If you are thinking of preparing at home using books then our 11 Plus Exam papers and books section provides lots of links and advice to help you choose which books to use and what to focus on. Preparation plans are also provided. Using this method is great for those parents prepared to take a more hands on approach. The average parent using this method spends about £300 on books and papers during the final year of preparation.

3/ A great option is a structured course. These courses gradually build up skills so you can focus on helping your child with the work provided. The best supplier is Learning Street which helps you prepare your child from home, ranging in price from £12 to £89 ( full cost – not monthly cost) it is the cheapest method of preparation. To find out their course suggestions for St Bernard’s Catholic Grammar School 11 Plus preparation click the link.

4/ Online preparation. This is not something we recommend. Online solutions are growing more useful and reliable and for some aspects of preparation they can be useful but certainly not for all your preparation needs. They are also very expensive for what they provide with some coming in at £600- £1000 for a year depending on which options you select. For our rationale on why we believe online preparation is not a good solution yet click through to the page 11 Plus online preparation.