SW London Grammar and private senior school entry 2026

Just popping in as someone whose DD went through this all last year. 3 exams for 5 schools (3 schools were the girls consortium) and then scholarship days, interviews and group assessments…. It was insane and at this stage just before the exam for her favourite school DD hit a wall.

So you are not alone - and We gave her space, didn’t do any more prep and just got her to read and relax. She had done loads of exam technique stuff to this date and we had to just go whatever will be will be….

And honestly it all worked out. And worked out for every other kid at her prep school. Yes there was some disappointment with missing offers from preferred schools etc but speaking to parents now they all end up in a school that is the right fit for them.

Good luck to you all…it will all be over soon!

Agree entirely. This is about finding the right school for the DC so sleep and time off is very helpful.

Yes we’re also at the same place and I can’t blame them, it’s such a long slog! Just focussing on getting enough sleep, good food, and making sure he’s getting enough downtime now.

Guys, honestly, at this point just cut them a bit of slack. Going into the tests rested and happy is just as helpful as any last minute prep. Wishing all your kids the very best of luck.

We are exactly at that stage too and are writing this week off because our DD just won’t do any more work without feeling upset and tearful. Scoring low in the ISEB reasoning tests and it’s demotivating for her. I think a reset sounds like a good idea!

Yes we got to this stage. A total wall where DD did not want to do anymore. We had a duvet day and watched a load of movies on the Saturday before her exams started on the Sunday. It helped to reset her and not get overly worried or anxious. At this stage, what will be will be.

ISEB next week for us - we're only going for two ISEB schools and had both group activity days so after that we will be done (other than one more state banding test).

DD and I are both so over it. She did a practice English on Atom over the weekend and actually got a worse score than her benchmark we started with - and made some really silly mistakes. I am very much what will be, will be now! I don't think she'll be able to tell how well she's done on the ISEB very well either, so we'll just have to put it in a box and try not to think about it until February!

Anyone else's child at the end of their tether? I didn't think we'd put too much pressure on her, but DD - who's previously been pretty cooperative - is now more-or-less refusing to do any more exam prep. And I'd hoped to focus on exam technique and timing this week! First exam is Emanuel on Friday.

Congrats @firsttrax! We also got the general interview email this afternoon - so thrilled, as we also really loved the school when visiting. Really helpful to hear about what the interview covers also @tennissquare, thanks!

Well done, if it’s a straight interview (not maths or English) then the odds are quite high.
In the past the interview has been quite straight forward, you can trawl thru previous posts but work on:
3 words to describe you
what do you enjoy doing
what are you reading
why do you want to come here
what other schools have you applied to

make sure he knows there is no rugby and where the sports grounds are located, ie spend 10 mins going thru the website. If not sporty focus on something else he can talk about - extra curricular.

We just received an invitation to a KGS interview - relieved as my poor son has really been flagging from the exam effort. Does anyone know what the odds of then securing an 11+ place? And what questions we might expect?

I’d be really surprised if 2000 apply… Tiffin got 2250 this year, usually it’s around 1600. You’d think the grammars would get more applications?!

How did she find the ISEB paper? Ours is coming up this week! :)

500 is probably about right for the interview but they will probably be giving out over 200 offers for the 100 places. I would be very, very surprised if they have 2000 applications though.

Does anyone know when we will hear from Epsom college about whether successful in ISEB and invited to interview?

I read somewhere that 2000 apply, 500 interview and 100 spaces but that doesn’t seem right?!

My daughter sat the ISEB there this weekend. Thank you

Yes the final maths questions are designed to help the school re who to invite for a scholarship.

Anyone did Hampton 11+ today? How was it? Mine said he can’t finish all maths

DD also said PHS questions were closer to the Atom Quest ones in type and difficulty, than pretest plus. Pretest plus where, as suspected, unnecessarily difficult and stressful for nothing!

Thank you @Tiredofbeing ! I saw the pre test plus tests when looking online last night and they’re more expensive than Atom as well. Will give Atom a go. Thanks!

We did the consortium tests last year and at the time Atom didn’t sell them as an extra. We ended up paying for both the creative comprehension and then the puzzle module from pre test plus. Just one set of tests (I think 5 in each set) to ensure DD was familiar with format etc. She said it was helpful afterwards but also said not all the question formats were the same. Given the fact the Consortium tests I think are run by an Atom group company I would hope what they are selling is similar to the actual test though.

I hope it went well for all DD’s at the PHS test today - it’s hard to tell from my DD how she did but at least all of it looked familiar as she had seen on Atom Quest tests

Would anyone know how to practice for ‘puzzles and problem solving’ for the London consortium please? Atom is selling some tests for £25 but I’m not sure how useful they’ll be. Thank you!

We have been using Atom Quest for Putney but have used Pretest plus for other schools like Latymer Upper. They are much harder but the adaptive aspect of Atom Quest trips my DD up