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Are you considering a grammar school in the London Borough of Sutton for your child? We’ve collated everything you need to know about admissions in 2025–2026. Keep reading to:
Find out more about grammar schools in Sutton
Learn about the Sutton Selective Eligibility Test (SET) – the local 11 plus exam
Discover which subjects your child will be tested on
Plus, get exclusive resources to help your child prepare!
Which schools use the Sutton Selective Eligibility Test?
There are five grammar schools in the London Borough of Sutton. All five schools use the Sutton Selective Eligibility Test:
Nonsuch High School (girls)
Sutton Grammar School (boys)
Wallington High School (girls)
Wilson’s School (boys)
A sixth school – Greenshaw High School – uses the Sutton SET. This school is partially-selective with 60 selective places. Only children applying for a selective place take the Sutton SET.
What is the Sutton Selective Eligibility Test?
The Sutton Selective Eligibility Test (SET) is an 11 plus entrance exam used by the grammar schools in Sutton. All children applying for a place at any of these schools need to take the SET to qualify for a place.
The Sutton Selective Eligibility Test (SET) takes place in September in Year 6. If you would like your child to be considered for a place at a Sutton grammar school, you’ll need to register them to take the test.
The dates for the 2025 exam haven't been confirmed yet. Registration will likely open on the individual grammar school websites in early May 2025 and close in early August 2025. You only need to complete one registration form, regardless of how many participating schools you’re interested in.
Your child will be invited to take the test at one of the participating Sutton grammar schools. The exam will take place in mid-September 2025.
Greenshaw High School uses the outcome of the Sutton SET to decide which children are eligible for a selective place. The other five grammar schools use the outcome of the Sutton SET to decide which children to shortlist for second-stage exams.
The boys’ schools (Sutton Grammar School, Wallington County Grammar School and Wilson’s School) have a shared second-stage test. This will take place in early October 2025. The girls’ schools (Nonsuch High School and Wallington High School for Girls) have their own shared second-stage test. This will be held around a similar time to the boys' test.
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Dates for your diary
The dates for the 2025 Sutton SET haven't been confirmed yet. However, they are likely to be similar to the dates from 2024:
Wednesday 1st May 2024: registration opens for the Sutton Selective Eligibility Test
Friday 14th June 2024: deadline for requests for special adjustments
Friday 2nd August 2024: registration closes for the Sutton Selective Eligibility Test
Tuesday 17th September 2024: Sutton Selective Eligibility Test
Saturday 28th September 2024: shared second stage entrance exam for Nonsuch High School for Girls and Wallington High School for Girls
Saturday 5th October 2024: shared second stage entrance exam for Sutton Grammar School, Wilson's School and Wallington County Grammar School
Mid-October 2024: parents receive Sutton SET results
Thursday 31st October 2024: secondary school applications close at 5pm
Saturday 1st March 2025: secondary school national offers day
Dates can vary, so always check with your target schools!
What's on the Sutton Selective Eligibility Test?
The Sutton Selective Eligibility Test consists of two multiple-choice papers. One paper tests English and the other tests maths. The Sutton SET does not test verbal or non-verbal reasoning.
Each paper takes about 40–50 minutes to complete, with a rest and toilet break between the two papers. Children record their answers in a separate answer book.
The content of the Sutton SET is broadly based on the Key Stage 2 national curriculum.
Sutton SET: English
The English paper covers four sections:
Spelling
Comprehension based on text A
Comprehension based on text B
Comprehension based on a comparison of texts A and B
The format of the questions is more varied than standard 11 plus exams, which usually require only one answer. In the Sutton SET, question types might include:
Select one answer
Select the two most accurate answers
Select all that are correct
Pick the most accurate explanation
Sutton SET: maths
The Sutton SET maths paper is also multiple-choice. There are five answer options for each question. Your child will need to choose one correct answer and mark their choice on the answer sheet provided. The topics covered include:
Number and place value
The four operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication and subtraction)
Fractions, decimals and percentages
Measurement
Geometry (properties of shapes, position and direction)
Statistics
What’s on the second stage entrance exam?
Only children who pass the Sutton SET are invited to take the second stage entrance exam.
Nonsuch High School and Wallington High School (the girls' schools) hold a joint second-stage test known as the NWSSEE (Nonsuch and Wallington Second Stage Entrance Examination). Sutton Grammar School, Wilson's School and Wallington County Grammar School (the boys' schools) also share a second-stage test.
The Sutton second stage entrance exam consists of two papers which are not multiple-choice:
English: 1 hour. This is an extended writing task
Maths: 45 minutes. This is a standard maths paper
The content in both of these papers is broadly based on the Key Stage 2 curriculum.
11+ subject guides
How is the Sutton Selective Eligibility Test scored?
The Sutton SET answer sheets are marked twice – first by machine, and then by hand. Your child receives a mark for every correct answer. The total mark is then age-standardised to ensure children born later in the school year aren’t disadvantaged. Because your child’s scores are combined as a total, a good performance in one paper can compensate for a lower performance in the other.
After the shared second stage entrance exam, each school combines these scores with the SET scores. Each of the five grammar schools has its own scoring system.
What's the pass mark for the Sutton Selective Eligibility Test?
Each of the schools in Sutton decide their own pass mark for the Sutton SET. If your child has passed the SET, you won’t be given their scores, but you will be told that they have met the required standard and been invited to the second-stage entrance exam. You’ll be given this information in the week after the Sutton SET takes place.
In general, UK grammar schools tend to consider the top 25% highest-scoring children for a place. This still doesn't guarantee a place at the school of your choice, as schools in many areas are oversubscribed with qualified candidates.
We always recommend researching the admission policies for your target schools. Pay close attention to their oversubscription criteria and their catchment area (if they have one).
What's the pass mark for the second stage exam?
There is no set pass mark for the second stage exam in Sutton. Each grammar school has its own process for using the second-stage scores.
For example, children applying to Sutton Grammar School will be given four standardised scores:
A standardised score for the Sutton SET English paper
A standardised score for the Sutton SET maths paper
A standardised score for the second-stage English paper
A standardised score for the second-stage maths paper
The four standardised scores are weighted in a ratio of 2:2:3:3 and an age allowance is added. The total is then rounded to the nearest four marks to give the final score. This is the score which places are then based on.
How to apply to Sutton grammar schools
If you're considering a grammar school in Sutton for your child, it's a good idea to speak to your child's teacher first.
Grammar schools are academically-selective and select children working towards the top of their year group. Your child's teacher will be able to indicate whether they think your child will be able to keep up with the pace in a grammar school.
1. Sutton Selective Eligibility Test
If you would like your child to be considered for a place at a selective school in Sutton, you’ll need to register them to take the Sutton SET. Registration will be available on the six school websites in early May 2025. You’ll need to complete your child’s registration before the deadline, which is likely to be in August.
Your child will take the Sutton SET at one of the six schools:
Girls will be allocated to take the test at Nonsuch High School, Wallington High School for Girls or Greenshaw High School
Boys will be allocated to take the test at Sutton Grammar School, Wallington Grammar School, Wilson’s School or Greenshaw High School
Twins (boy/girl) will be allocated to take the test at Greenshaw High School
2. Sutton second stage entrance exam
If your child has met the qualifying standard in the Sutton SET, they’ll be invited to the second stage entrance exam. This takes place at the end of September.
You’ll then find out if your child has achieved the pass mark in the second stage entrance exam in October. You can use the results to decide which schools to include on your secondary school common application form. Before listing a school on your form, check its admissions policy and make sure your child is eligible.
The application form must be submitted to your home local council by 5pm on 31st October 2025.
3. National school offer day
In early March 2025, you will find out which school your child has been allocated a place at. They will be allocated a place at your highest-preferred school for which they meet the entry criteria and which has places available.
How can I help my child prepare for the Sutton Selective Eligibility Test?
The Sutton Selective Eligibility Test is designed to be challenging. Here are our top tips to help your child prepare for the exam in September 2025.
Bitesize learning
It’s important to build a good knowledge base before the 11 plus. Using a ‘little and often’ approach when learning is key – our brains encode new information more effectively when dealing with smaller ‘chunks’ of information. For children aged 10–11, child psychologists recommend regular study sessions of 20–30 minutes.
Atom Home makes learning a more enjoyable process for your child. They'll explore exciting worlds full of interactive questions, earning coins to spend in the Atom shop. Atom adapts to your child, showing them questions at just the right level of difficulty to keep them motivated.
Read widely
11 plus exams test your child’s ability to analyse and interpret written information. Regular reading is a great way to help your child build these skills.
Encourage them to read books from different genres and by a diverse range of authors. Increasing the variety of your child’s reading will help them understand different styles, tones and purposes. Meanwhile, reading a little every day will help widen their vocabulary, sharpen their analytical thinking, and enhance their imagination.
Refine exam technique
When your child feels confident with the topics they’ve learnt in Year 5, they’ll be ready to put their knowledge to the test.
Practice tests can help your child develop problem-solving skills and build confidence working under test conditions. They’re also a great way to consolidate learning and highlight knowledge gaps for further improvement.
With Atom Home, you'll unlock online mock tests and printable practice papers. Enjoy automatic marking and progress tracking with the online tests, and help your child get familiar with the real exam experience with printable practice papers.
Celebrate progress
Setting regular, achievable goals and celebrating your child’s progress – no matter how big or small – will help keep their motivation high.
Make sure to encourage a growth mindset. This means celebrating effort, as well as achievement! When your child makes mistakes or struggles to understand a particular topic, help them understand that they’ll improve through practice. Regular praise will help your child improve their resilience when tackling new and challenging topics.
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