11 Plus Exams Forum

Hi,
My DD scored 125 in Slough exam.We live in Hillingdon, near the hillingdon station. What are the chances of getting Upton court or Herschel?Trying to understand which would work out with preferences on CAF. Thanks in advance.

Put the schools in the order you want them on your CAF, ie the one you want the most top and so on. Check the schools admissions data to see previous years allocation distances, but do not assume anything from them, the change in some admissions policies this year will/may change everything.

125 - solid score - congratulations

Last year Upton Court cut off was 116 - so you have really good chance.


Please check here - section 6 and v

http://www.uptoncourtgrammar.org.uk/upl ... 019-20.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Omsvsaa wrote:Hi,
My DD scored 125 in Slough exam.We live in Hillingdon, near the hillingdon station. What are the chances of getting Upton court or Herschel?Trying to understand which would work out with preferences on CAF. Thanks in advance.

Congrats to your DD

I'd say you stand a very good chance with Upton!
I don't know about Herschel as they have a new 4 mile catchment zone (i'm pretty sure Hillingdon is further than that) it's impossible to know what will be left after those place are allocated? If there are any places left they are allocated in rank order.

Good luck

Thanks! Both these schools rank equally for us. With 4mile catchment, my worry was whether we would miss out just by putting one or the other first.My dd is happy with both. So we are going to go with Herschel first and then Upton in CAF.

OP, I know both Hillingdon & the Slough areas you are talking about, and by road (according to Google maps), Herschel is almost twice as far as Upton. It doesn't sound as though you will get it anyway, but think very seriously about the journey, the traffic in those areas is awful. How would your DC get there? I really would choose whichever is quickest to get to as you will be spending a lot of time in traffic. Are you in catchment for any good schools in Hillingdon?

I agree with scary mum regarding ease of journey to school. Sadly some of DS's friends had to stop their afterschool clubs already as they couldn't cope with journey to and from school.

If the OP lives near to West Drayton station (I’m guessing within a 15 min walk) , then they could get a train from west Drayton to Slough and then walk to Upton (it’s about a 10-12 min walk).
But they would need to check out the train times at that time of day, be able to pay the £60 per month or so for a train season ticket, and be comfortable with their DC travelling potentially alone to and from the station in the dark and cold, year round.: mostly because when the trains mess up they’d realise how far it really is to the school by road. Upton is travellable by car but it’s double the journey time to get to Herschel from Hillingdon.
If however the OP lives near to Uxbridge tube, there is no direct access to Slough, and neither journey would be feasible.

Thanks both. We are aware of the travel involved, the plan is to drop /pick up her and a couple of her friends if they all go to one of these schools!

I know a lot of DC (from Upton and St Bernards and, I'm guessing Langley grammar) catch the 81 bus into Slough as well as towards Hounslow.

My kids each have an oyster photo travel card - it cost £15, lasts for 5 years and as long as they have credit on there then the bus is "free".

Am guessing (well hoping) that once Crossrail opens Slough train station will get oyster card readers - thereby making travel in and out of London easier/ cheaper.

My kids usually take the bus unless they have their PE kits in which case I pick them up/drop off at Sainsbury's (very popular option with parents lol).

Good luck.