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Choosing a Senior School from Milton Keynes: Independent, Grammar and State

Choosing a senior school is one of the most important decisions you will make about your child’s education. For families in Milton Keynes, there is a wide range of options: local comprehensive schools, grammar schools in neighbouring Buckinghamshire and independent senior schools in Milton Keynes, Bedford and beyond. This guide explains each route, the key timings and how to find the school where your child will thrive.

Start Early: The Timeline

Senior school decisions begin well before Year 6. A typical timeline looks like this:

  • Year 4 and Year 5: visit open days and start forming a shortlist
  • Summer term of Year 5: register for the Buckinghamshire 11 plus if you are considering grammar schools
  • Autumn term of Year 6: grammar school test in September, independent school assessments often in the autumn or early in the new year, and state school applications due by 31 October
  • Spring term of Year 6: offers from independent schools, and national offer day for state and grammar schools on or around 1 March

Option 1: State Secondary Schools in Milton Keynes

Milton Keynes secondary schools are comprehensive, so there is no entrance test. Places are allocated by Milton Keynes City Council according to each school’s admissions criteria, which usually include catchment areas, siblings and distance. You apply online through the council by 31 October of Year 6, listing your preferences in order.

What to look for

Visit on open evenings, look at inspection reports and results, and ask about class sizes, pastoral care, sixth form provision and extracurricular opportunities.

Option 2: Buckinghamshire Grammar Schools

Milton Keynes has no grammar schools, but children can sit the Buckinghamshire Secondary Transfer Test and apply to grammar schools such as The Royal Latin School in Buckingham and Sir Henry Floyd Grammar School in Aylesbury. You must register your child in Year 5, and qualifying does not guarantee a place, as catchment areas often apply. Read our detailed guide to grammar schools near Milton Keynes.

Option 3: Independent Senior Schools

Independent senior schools set their own admissions process, which may include:

  • written assessments in English, maths and reasoning
  • an interview with the Head or a senior member of staff
  • a report or reference from the child’s current school
  • taster days or group activities

Many families in Milton Keynes look at independent schools in Bedford, Buckinghamshire and Northamptonshire, as well as boarding schools further afield. Scholarships for academic, sporting, musical or artistic talent, and means-tested bursaries, may also be available.

How to Choose the Right Senior School

Start with your child

Think about their personality, interests and learning style. Would they thrive in a large school with lots of choice, or a smaller community? Single-sex or co-educational? Day or boarding?

Consider the practicalities

Look at travel times, transport options, fees and the length of the school day.

Visit more than once

Go to an open event and, if you can, a working day visit. Watch how pupils behave between lessons and how staff speak to them.

Keep your options open

Apply to a range of schools so your child has a good choice, whatever happens with tests and oversubscription.

Involve your child

Listen to how they feel after each visit. Children often have a strong instinct about where they will be happy.

How a Prep School Helps with the Move to Senior School

A good prep school supports families through every route. Small classes mean teachers know each child well and can give honest advice about which schools suit them. Children are prepared for entrance exams and interviews as part of their everyday learning, and they leave with the confidence to settle quickly into a new school. For more on the prep school approach, read what is a prep school?

Senior School Destinations from Broughton Manor Prep

At Broughton Manor Preparatory School in Milton Keynes, we prepare pupils for the Buckinghamshire Secondary Transfer Test and for independent school entrance exams, with many receiving multiple offers. Recent destinations include:

  • Independent schools: Bedford School, Bedford Girls’ School, Bedford Modern School, Thornton College, Westminster School, Brighton College and St George’s School
  • Grammar schools: The Royal Latin School and Sir Henry Floyd Grammar School
  • Local state schools: Walton High, Glebe Farm School, Oakgrove School and Ousedale School

Our pupils leave us confident, resilient and well prepared for the next stage of their education.

Frequently Asked Questions

When should we start looking at senior schools?

Most families start visiting in Year 4 or Year 5. Grammar school registration takes place in the summer of Year 5, and most applications and assessments happen in Year 6.

When is the deadline for secondary school applications in Milton Keynes?

State and grammar school applications are made through Milton Keynes City Council, usually by 31 October of Year 6.

Do independent senior schools have entrance exams?

Most do. Assessments often include English, maths and reasoning papers, an interview and a school reference.

Can my child apply to independent and state schools at the same time?

Yes. Many families apply to a mix of independent, grammar and state schools to keep their options open.

Picture of Mrs Katy Joiner MEd, QTS, BA (Hons), NNEB

Mrs Katy Joiner MEd, QTS, BA (Hons), NNEB

Katy Joiner joined Broughton Manor Preparatory School and Nursery as Headteacher in 2024, bringing extensive experience of Early Years and primary education and school leadership. Prior to joining Broughton Manor, she spent nine years as Headteacher of Hilden Oaks Preparatory School and Nursery in Kent and has held senior leadership roles across a number of independent schools. She holds a Master’s degree in Educational Leadership.

Katy’s vision for Broughton Manor is simple but ambitious: for every pupil to say it is the best school they could have attended, every member of staff to say it is the best place they ever worked, and every parent to say it is the best decision they ever made for their child.

At the heart of her leadership is one question: “Is this in the best interests of the child or children?” Every decision Katy and her team make starts there. If the answer is yes, they do it; if it is not, they don’t.

Katy believes passionately in the breadth of a prep school education and the opportunities it gives children to discover their interests, talents and potential. She describes these opportunities as seeds being sown. Some will flourish during a child’s time at Broughton Manor, while others may not germinate until much later in life. The privilege of leading a school is ensuring that those seeds are sown in the first place.

Her aspiration is for every child to leave Broughton Manor with choices and never with unfulfilled potential: well prepared academically, but equally confident, curious, compassionate and ready to embrace the opportunities ahead of them.

Katy introduced Values Based Education at Broughton Manor in 2025, having successfully championed the approach in previous schools. It is fast becoming the thread that ties the Broughton Manor community together, giving children and adults a shared language and a common understanding of the values by which they aspire to live.

Above all, Katy believes that relationships are at the heart of a successful school. Knowing the children as individuals, working closely with staff and building genuine partnerships with parents are central to her approach. For Katy, the privilege of headship lies in creating a school in which children are happy, challenged, inspired and given every opportunity to become the very best version of themselves.

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