Sir William Borlase's Grammar School, Marlow

In its own words: "Founded in 1624 on the same site we occupy today, the brick and flint Cloisters, clock tower and Chapel of Borlase share a street with Mary Shelley's cottage where she wrote Frankenstein, TS Eliot's house and the original site of the Royal Military College now at Sandhurst."

In 2026, pupils at Sir William Borlase's Grammar School averaged an Attainment 8 score of 76.7, the average grade across their best eight GCSEs. The average state school scored 55 in Buckinghamshire and 47 across England.

98% passed English and maths at grade 5 or above, against 61% in Buckinghamshire and 47% in England.

That is up from 72.4 in 2025.

Its most recent Progress 8 score, for 2024, was 0.56: pupils made well above average progress compared with pupils nationally who started secondary school at the same level. Progress 8 was not published for 2026.

Pupils sat GCSEs in 20 subjects; after English and maths, the most popular were Biology, Physics and Chemistry.

Sir William Borlase's Grammar School is a grammar school: places go to children who reach the required standard in its entrance test, and only then are the oversubscription criteria applied.

For September 2026 entry, 257 families put Sir William Borlase's Grammar School as their first choice and 714 named it as one of their preferences, for 146 places offered. That is 1.8 first choices for every place. 113 families who put it first were not offered a place there.

Sir William Borlase's Grammar School admits pupils through an entrance test - in Buckinghamshire, the Secondary Transfer Test. Children have to be registered for it in advance, normally in the spring or summer of Year 5; the test itself is usually sat in September of Year 6, and results come out in October, before the 31 October deadline for naming secondary schools.

Passing the test makes a child eligible rather than guaranteeing a place: when more children pass than there are places, Sir William Borlase's Grammar School ranks them by the criteria in its admissions policy, which can include test score and distance. Check Buckinghamshire's admissions pages and the school's own policy for this year's registration deadline - a child who is not registered in time cannot sit the test.

Buckinghamshire has 13 state grammar schools in all, so a child who passes may have several selective schools to choose between.

The nearest other state secondary schools to Sir William Borlase's Grammar School are Great Marlow School (1 mile, Good, Attainment 8 49.2); Furze Platt Senior School (2.9 miles, Good, Attainment 8 47.6); Cressex Community School (3.1 miles, Good, Attainment 8 44.3); and John Hampden Grammar School (3.3 miles, Outstanding, selective, Attainment 8 73.1).

Sir William Borlase's Grammar School's 2026 results were higher than all 4 of them.

Sir William Borlase's Grammar School is one of 7 schools run by Marlow Education Trust, an academy trust.

Of the 143 pupils who finished Year 11 in 2023/24, 99% stayed in education or training for at least two terms, including 1% to a further education college.

Of the 218 students who left the sixth form in 2023/24, 72% went on to university or other higher education, 3% to apprenticeships and 12% into work. 73% went to one of the most selective third of universities.

3% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, well below the average state school (25%), according to the 2026 school census.

In 2026, 45 pupils (3.7%) received SEN support and 10 (0.8%) had an education, health and care plan, against 16.2% and 4.6% at the average state school. The most common need among them is social, emotional and mental health needs.

The nearest railway station is Marlow Rail Station, about 1050 metres away (roughly a 13-minute walk).

5 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is West Street (westbound), 160 metres away.

Measured by the 2025 English Indices of Deprivation, the neighbourhood Sir William Borlase's Grammar School stands in is among the 10% least deprived neighbourhoods in England. This describes where the school is, not where its pupils live.

In 2024/25, Sir William Borlase's Grammar School issued 4 suspensions, 0.3 for every 100 pupils (the average state school: 6.3), and no permanent exclusions.

The primary schools closest to Sir William Borlase's Grammar School are St Peter's Catholic Primary School (0.4 miles), Spinfield School (0.4 miles), Holy Trinity Church of England (Aided) School (0.4 miles) and Marlow Church of England Infant School (0.6 miles). Admission does not depend on which primary a child attends unless the school's policy names feeder schools.