11 Plus Exams Forum

My DS had the 3 grammars in Sutton as his first 3 choices, followed by Graveney. He was offered Graveney on offer day, but today I received an email from Sutton Grammar saying they will be able to make an offer...Now I do not know ...I thought Graveney would be very difficult to get since they only offer 63 selective places. I would appreciate some feedback, PLEASE. I know Sutton perform better in OFSTED results, but Graveney is co/educational, which is a major advantage...

Hi

I have a DD so I cannot comment on Sutton however she also sat the Graveney test and got a place at Tiffin.

Before she took the tests, I assumed Graveney was a more difficult ask because there are only 63 places however the scores are standardised locally. To put this in perspective, my daughter scored 282 out of 282 in the Wandsworth test but 247 out of 280 on the Tiffin test.

However I wouldn't focus on which is the more difficult test but rather on which school your child prefers and which school you think will suit them best in the coming years.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

Hi there, I would say take where you live and what the journeys will be like into consideration.

My son goes to Graveney, which we opted for over the Sutton grammars because the journey was less arduous, and I think it was the right decision. He's now in year 8 and there's a demanding amount of homework to do most evenings. A lengthy journey home followed by a dawn start the next morning would have been extremely stressful for him on top of a (presumably similar) amount of homework at the grammars.

The Graveney extension stream is as selective as a grammar, btw - not sure if you've got your place that way.

My DS is at Sutton Grammar. It is full of really nice pleasant boys (when my son had no money for his lunch one day a year 10 boy offered to buy him lunch!) - and working hard is not seen as uncool. In my opinion your decision is a no brainer - Sutton Grammar everytime. The boys are very very proud of their school - and so far not much homework (they work hard enough during the school day!). There is plenty of opportunity to mix with girls as drama productions etc are often co-produced.

Hello Danikas!

First of all, well done to your son. He's clearly a smart lad.

However, I must just clarify. - and I hope this is useful to all forum members.

SGS has sent emails to all candidates, with a breakdown of results (unless they have been offered a place, in which case they just get a "well done - hope you are joining").

We have not yet offered ANY further places off the waiting list - it's far too early.

Please check your email carefully; we don't want anyone thinking they have been made an offer when they haven't.

If you are uncertain as to what it says, please email me or call me at SGS (under your real name!)

Dear admissionslady, you're completely right. I do apologize in advance if I mislead anyone in the forum. My DH received the e-mail and copy and paste me only part of it...when I read it fully it was completely clear that no offer was made . Glad that it was rectified before talking to DS or friends I was checking the forum when I received the e-mail...I guess I was just over the moon...feel very embarassed

Anyway thank you very much for all the replies for this and previous topics. It really helped to make my mind up...if a second offer does come through...

Fingers crossed for you!

Anyone on the waiting list can call me any time to find out their waiting list position.

Remember, WL position can go down as well as up.

I have a similar decision to make, Graveney is closer to travel to, but Sutton looks like a better choice for my DS. What alternative arrangements are there for travel to Sutton in case trains from Clapham Junction are delayed etc. How many children who attend Sutton live in Clapham? Does the school take into consideration the travel / delays as more children are admitted from outside the borough? None of the children from DS's school are going to attend Sutton, or not that we know of, neither his teacher knows if any so we can connect. Do parents get in touch soon after school starts and organise school travel together based on where they live?

As a full time working parent I am conscious of the distance of the school from home while I am away at work in Central London, in case DS gets ill I can't be there to pick him up. One hour travel from where we live is too much for a young boy. But there again it is a nice journey on a train...

Not sure if the issue that our sons won't know anyone is that relevant once they've actually started. They make friends very quickly. Admissions Lady indicated that there were boys from 75 different primary schools in last year's Year 7 cohort . So not that many of them are going to know anyone anyway.... Our son certainly won't, although there are a couple of boys further up the school who went to his primary school some years ago.

Is there no bus that goes directly. There are some from Tooting which will virtually take him to the door at the Sutton end. Our son will be travelling on the bus daily on his own. It is our intention to practise the journey during the summer hols - he does already know the route, although he's never done it on his own yet.

Maybe you need to test the logistics of various travel options, before you decide which school to go for. Although our DS wasn't offered Wilson's which was his first choice, we were quite relieved he didn't get it as the journey would have been two-tier and therefore, to our minds, more vulnerable to delays, missing connecting services etc....

Good luck with your decision making.