Considering grammar schools in Surrey

Eleven Plus (11+) in Surrey (Sutton, Kingston and Wandsworth)

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BlueBerry
Posts: 1014
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2010 3:05 pm

Considering grammar schools in Surrey

Post by BlueBerry »

Hello
I'm considering grammar schooling for my son. He is currently in Year 4. Am I correct in thinking that there is no longer catchment areas & that children get places based on their exam results?

Please can you advice on how to prepare him for it? Will it be the case of buying the recommended books & doing that with him?

Are there any summer courses that he can do in Surrey?

Thanks if you made it this far :)
PurpleDuck
Posts: 1586
Joined: Sat Jul 24, 2010 10:45 pm

Re: Considering grammar schools in Surrey

Post by PurpleDuck »

Hi Blueberry,

The answer to your question is 'sort of'. Yes, the places are awarded based on the exam results, but at the same time, some schools have catchment areas on top of that and some give preference to children who live in particular postcode areas.

Tiffin boys' has a catchment area of a 14km radius and it's very unlikely anyone who lives further from the school than that would be offered a place. Within the catchment, it goes by the exam score.

Sutton Grammar and Wallington Boys' have a number of places for boys in 'preference postcode' areas - both schools have detailed admissions policies on their websites, so please read those. Wilson's give preference to Sutton children when there is a tie in scores.

If you search the forum, you will find a number of threads with discussions/suggestions re. 11+ preparation, but in a nutshell - yes, you need to buy the relevant books and work through them. (Letts, CGP, First Past The Post series are very good, and I 've listed them in order of their perceived difficulty; also Schoffield and Sims for mental maths). Wide-ranging reading and talking through what has been read are crucial for building up vocabulary and comprehension skills. Mock tests in year 5 will give your DS a chance to experience a test in 'real exam' conditions an will tell you how his results compare to the rest of the cohort. There is a lot of general 11+ information, information about various courses and free sample papers you can download on this website, not just on the forum: http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/advice" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Good luck.
Last edited by PurpleDuck on Mon Jul 11, 2016 4:42 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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BlueBerry
Posts: 1014
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2010 3:05 pm

Re: Considering grammar schools in Surrey

Post by BlueBerry »

Thanks for your reply PurpleDuck. Unfortunately it looks like we are JUST outside the catchment area for Tiffin Boys. I will look into the other schools that you've mentioned but I fear that by living in Bookham we will be outside the catchment area for most of the Surrey grammar schools.
PurpleDuck
Posts: 1586
Joined: Sat Jul 24, 2010 10:45 pm

Re: Considering grammar schools in Surrey

Post by PurpleDuck »

BlueBerry wrote:Thanks for your reply PurpleDuck. Unfortunately it looks like we are JUST outside the catchment area for Tiffin Boys. I will look into the other schools that you've mentioned but I fear that by living in Bookham we will be outside the catchment area for most of the Surrey grammar schools.
In this case I would leave Tiffin out. The number of applications for Tiffin's is large enough (multiple applications for each place) for the school not to have to go beyond the catchment. There are Tiffin parents on the forum who can advise more, but someone posted recently that they knew of a boy who was just outside the 14km radius and did not get in despite a very good test result.

As for the other schools, it's only a proportion of places that are 'reserved' for priority ares, the rest of the places are awarded irrespective of the home address, based purely on the exam result, so you can still apply.
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Tinkers
Posts: 7240
Joined: Mon May 16, 2011 2:05 pm
Location: Reading

Re: Considering grammar schools in Surrey

Post by Tinkers »

Do check on the feasibility of the journey to school as well. There's no point trying for a school only to find once you have a place that your DC faces a pig of a journey to get there.
BlueBerry
Posts: 1014
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2010 3:05 pm

Re: Considering grammar schools in Surrey

Post by BlueBerry »

Thanks Tinkers. I think the journey should be OK as I work in Epsom and can drop him at the railway station before going to work.
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