Could any child get into SW London Grammars with tutoring?

As @OnlyTheBravest says some children may have intensive tutoring at home with parents (who may be well educated themselves) but are then able to say that they are not tutored as they have not paid for a tutor. Some will be able to afford extensive 121 tutoring others may be able to scrape enough for a few group classes. Some are tutored only in year 5 for the test others are tutored from a very early age.

I suspect quite a few children who are tutored don't pass. My DC will be taking the 11+ in September and has had a group online lesson every week since October. Others are doing the same or 121 or combining this with work at home. I do know of children who have passed without paid tuition over the past few years but only a few.

There was a bbc documentary a few years ago where they followed four primary children. The only one who passed was untutored. Another child had a mother who was stressed, didn't have a full education herself working a low income job but ploughing hundreds into tuition each month for her child. The poor child was under a lot of pressure because of the investment her mother was making. Results day was awful as she and her mother were so disappointed, there was no comforting hug or reassurance. She was living in a small crowded space with a baby who kept her awake at night.

@GeorgeSpeaks every child who sits for grammar or private schools has been tutored. However, what counts as tutoring varies from person to person. I know people who use formal tutoring, those who had intensive tutoring from a family member and those who were given exam prep and informal non intensive tutoring by parents, all gained selective places. Every one of those children performed perfectly fine and could keep up. There are numerous myths and low key jealousy surrounding school allocations, and it is very difficult for people to say well done and really mean it.

Congratulations on finding the right school for your child, enjoy your dcs next stage of schooling and ignore the haters.

All kids need to work hard to get into those schools, either with their school work, extra work sheets, read more books etc. No one gets in by doing nothing….otherwise my chill out surf buddies will be phD level at an Ivy League university.
Well done for your DC!

There are children who do get in without tutoring. Just like there are children who pass their GCSE’s without revising and some who do the same at A Levels and Degree level. In everything there are children with natural aptitude and they just sail by. If you ever work in schools you will see a few of those in every year group.
However, that doesn’t take away from the fact your DD worked her butt off and did something great and should feel very proud of herself.

Hi OP, that sounds really irritating. No one can say their child would have got in if they had sat the exam (but didn’t!). However, I am one of those posters who turns up on SW London boards saying my DD got into Tiffin and Putney without tutoring. She’s now Y11 so it’s a few years ago and maybe things have changed. My DD went to state primary in Richmond and I knew it was a high achieving cohort and all indications in reports and at parents evenings were that she was at the top end so I didn’t feel tutoring was needed. We didn’t take either of the places and instead she went to Grey Court because she became clearer over y6 that her strong preference was for a co-ed with fantastic sports provision. It has worked out brilliantly for her but obviously different schools suit different children.

Some children certainly get in without tutoring (I know some who did), but it helps a child know what to expect and how to tackle tests.

Nobody can credibly state that their child "would have passed" if they had sat the test. There is no way of knowing that. Whereas your child sat it and got through - well done them!

If tutoring didn't help people wouldn't pay for it.