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Original poster

SW London schools: info on Graveney, Chestnut, Hurlingham etc

167 replies

PForParent · 28/02/2025 07:56

I would like to get some thoughts on secondary state schools in the Wandsworth area.

We are ruling out single-sex schools, and super-strict schools like Ashcroft.
Private schools or moving to another area are not realistic options, for a multitude of reasons.

Our priority is to find a reasonable balance between a school which is reasonably rigorous, but not to the point that it crushes kids' spirit with petty, capricious, unnecessary rules and punishments. Eg think of the scandals at Holland Park School or Mossbourne, with well-documented cases of emotional abuse.

Our impressions so far:

Graveney: seems great if we can get in with the test (we appreciate it's not easy).

Chestnut in Balham: seems less academic than Graveney but still a reasonable balance.

Ashcroft: never ever ever. Detentions for cycling to school? Please. And the supposed "catch up" if you miss a day is bs: they simply put you in a detention room, there is no teaching. Way too much homework: the kids we know who go there have given up all their other activities, have stopped reading, that's really extreme.

Hurlingham Academy in Fulham: Impressions were good. Seemed a reasonable balance. Some doubts about the school not having sixth form.

Saint Cecilia: we know many families whose children are happy there. But it seems one of the least academic, and with very little homework (the opposite problem to Ashcroft)

Harris Wimbledon: very mixed feedback. Some say it's a very good and very academic school, some say it's far too strict.

Harris Battersea: very mixed feedback, but in the opposite sense to Harris Wimbledon: some say it's good, some say it's not academic enough.

Southfields Academy: terrible impressions. The kids seemed feral. It seemed the least academic of the whole list.

When sharing your thoughts, please:

  • respect our preferences. If Ashcroft or a single-sex works well for your kids, I am very happy for you, but don't try to convince me to send my kids there. If someone asks for a Chinese restaurant you don't tell them that Indian food is better :)
  • please try to take into account not just your personal experience, but how someone else's experience might differ. Eg our kids are reasonably happy at their primary, but I'll be the first to say it's one of those "my way or the highway" type of schools, and it's not a good choice for anyone with any kind of special needs

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts! Thanks a lot!

OP posts:
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14
spoodlesee · 04/03/2025 09:38

I know people who qualified for bursaries at private but didn't get Graveney so it's definitely competitive.

wandsworth25 · 04/03/2025 09:36

@PForParent as scores are standardised, you can know where you need to stand. A Wandsworth test score of 240 would mean you score 120 on average on the subtests (VR/NVR). A standardised score of 120 equates to the 91st percentile, i.e. top 9%. Your child needs to be about top 5% of all candidates taking the Wandsworth test to get in initially and at least top 10% to have a chance of getting in via waiting list.

The qualifying scores dropped a couple of years ago not because it has gotten easier to get in but because the test is not mandatory anymore, so only those keen on banding tests and schools that admit that way are taking it - this has likely led to an overall more competitive cohort.

So perhaps 5 years ago one needed to be in the top 3% but that was among all children (so a real average), whereas now it may be top 5% or top 8% of a smaller but better prepared cohort.

Original poster
PForParent · 04/03/2025 09:28

Yes, yes, absolutely, I am being realistic.

Our child is doing decently on the preparation for the test, but we are not deluding ourselves thinking it's a slam dunk. We know that it's not, and that competition is very tough. In fact, it is hard to get a sense, because AFAIK the council doesn't publish the percentiles, i.e. it tells you that you needed a score of, say, 247 to get into Graveney, but not if that score corresponded to the top 2% or top 6% or what.

In terms of odds, I would say that:

Graveney: only if she does well in the test, so no slam dunk

Chestnut: easier because it's easier to be in the top band at Chestnut than getting into Graveney, but no slam dunk either

Huurlingham and St Cecilia: much more likely based on recent history. Only in 2020 in St Cecilia would we not have got in. Based on the preliminary March numbers just published, we wouldn't have got in either, but then there are more siblings than in the past, and in the past the waiting list has always moved a lot

Harris Wimbledon: can't find the more recent data anywhere

Harris Battersea and Southfields are undersubscribed. Some say they are good schools anyway, some say it's a bad sign. I don't know.

To be clear, I am not assuming an exodus; if anything, the opposite: I fear that waiting lists will move less than in the past if the VAT hike convinces fewer people to go private

OP posts:
Decisionsdecisions1 · 04/03/2025 09:16

OP your biggest barrier will be catchment areas and for Graveney the high mark required for the entrance test. We know lots of very academic (and heavily tutored for the test) kids who didn't get in (but are targeted for grade 8-9s at GCSE at other schools).

Be realistic about catchments and don't assume there will be an exodus from London. Most of dd's classmates from reception are still in London now in yr 8.

Original poster
PForParent · 04/03/2025 09:13

spoodlesee · 04/03/2025 09:06

You would need a very high score to get into Graveney, above 240 probably

Yes, I know, getting into Graveney isn't easy.
Over the past years, the minimum score has ranged from 239 - 247 (not in March but by August).

It is easier to be in the top band for Chestnut, which has a wider catchment area. Chestnut considers the average of the two parts of the test, whereas Graveney the sum, but in the past you would have needed an average of 113-114 (ie a total of 226 - 228) to be in the top band at Chestnut

OP posts:
spoodlesee · 04/03/2025 09:09

I don't know how representative that is, but we have seen a lot of movement out of London altogether.

I've seen the same but of the ones who stay a lot can afford PE and/or have parental help with fees.

Actually I know a few families who have moved to outer boroughs from inner and I think some of those boroughs are bucking the declining birth trend.

spoodlesee · 04/03/2025 09:08

But then this doesn't quite match with the fact that the preliminary March offers for secondary schools show more siblings and narrower catchments for most schools.

The birth rate bulge year is still working through secondaries. Think it starts to decline the next few years. And there are obviously a fewer number of secondaries that people want.

spoodlesee · 04/03/2025 09:06

people start tutoring in yr 4 but don't often talk about it...

spoodlesee · 04/03/2025 09:06

You would need a very high score to get into Graveney, above 240 probably

Original poster
PForParent · 04/03/2025 09:03

@todayortomorrow We're y5 at a state primary and have seen >5 of the class leaving to private in the past/coming year - mainly streatham & clapham but also emanuel 10+. I've been surprised by how many people are still happy to sign up for secondary fees.

I don't know how representative that is, but we have seen a lot of movement out of London altogether. The impression (I can talk only about impressions, I don't have hard data) is that most primary schools, even the oversubscribed ones, have available places in most years, as families have been leaving left right and centre, and that the phenomenon is the most acute in the current Y4 and Y5.

But then this doesn't quite match with the fact that the preliminary March offers for secondary schools show more siblings and narrower catchments for most schools.

So I have no idea if my impressions are simply not representative (could well be) or if the current Y6 classes witnessed fewer families leaving London than the Y4 and Y5.

OP posts:
spoodlesee · 04/03/2025 09:03

moving further out not living.

spoodlesee · 04/03/2025 09:02

https://www.headteacher-update.com/content/news/falling-rolls-will-wipe-1bn-from-school-funding-across-england/#:~:text=Regionally%2C%20the%20analysis%20finds%20that,the%20South%20West%20(6.24%25).

@PForParent yes it's based on headcount which is the issue.

The big question for me is if the opposite trends of i) fewer families going private after the VAT hike and ii) falling birth rates and families leaving London (many primaries have already closed) will offset each other or not

Anecdotally I would say no, despite the clamouring re VAT, PE fees have increased massively over the last few decades & people can still pay. Plus the demographics in certain areas is changing, eg much wealthier families moving in. People who traditionally would stay in are living further out because of house prices/school fees.

Original poster
PForParent · 04/03/2025 08:56

@todayortomorrow Graveney and Chestnut would probably be our top choices now.

We need good scores in the Wandsworth test for both: Graveney because we live too far, Chestnut because only in the top band would we have a chance by distance. There are also specialist places at Chestnut but my kid isn't artistic enough, and the language test seems very hard to prepare for.

On Hurlingham the main doubt is that it doesn't have a 6th form.

On St Cecilia and Harris Wimbledon we don't have a clear picture and are trying to get more colour by speaking to as many families as we can.
Impressions are that St Cecilia would be a decent plan B

We were tempted to rule out Harris Battersea and Southfields, because the fact they are undersubscribed is maybe not a good sign, but we don't have a clear picture and are trying to get more colour there, too.

OP posts:
todayortomorrow · 04/03/2025 08:48

PForParent · 04/03/2025 08:39

The link to the council's website https://www.wandsworth.gov.uk/media/yi1hafdr/previous_years_admissions_for_wandsworth_secondary_schools.pdf
shows both March and August numbers, so it tells you how much the waiting list moved

The information shown gives a breakdown by admission criteria on national offer day (1 March or the next working day) and also shows the furthest distance at which it was possible to offer an applicant under the school’s distance criterion by the end of August

Bollingbroke, admissions from non-feeder schools:
2024: none in March vs none in August
2023: none vs 12
2022: none vs < 5
2021: none vs 26

Like I said, the big question for me is if the waiting list will move less because the VAT on private schools is convincing fewer people to go private. We'll see

Thanks, I had an old version of that saved on my phone without august!

We're y5 at a state primary and have seen >5 of the class leaving to private in the past/coming year - mainly streatham & clapham but also emanuel 10+. I've been surprised by how many people are still happy to sign up for secondary fees.

What schools are you hoping for?

Original poster
PForParent · 04/03/2025 08:39

The link to the council's website https://www.wandsworth.gov.uk/media/yi1hafdr/previous_years_admissions_for_wandsworth_secondary_schools.pdf
shows both March and August numbers, so it tells you how much the waiting list moved

The information shown gives a breakdown by admission criteria on national offer day (1 March or the next working day) and also shows the furthest distance at which it was possible to offer an applicant under the school’s distance criterion by the end of August

Bollingbroke, admissions from non-feeder schools:
2024: none in March vs none in August
2023: none vs 12
2022: none vs < 5
2021: none vs 26

Like I said, the big question for me is if the waiting list will move less because the VAT on private schools is convincing fewer people to go private. We'll see

https://www.wandsworth.gov.uk/media/yi1hafdr/previous_years_admissions_for_wandsworth_secondary_schools.pdf

OP posts:
todayortomorrow · 04/03/2025 07:17

PForParent · 04/03/2025 05:49

On Bollingbroke:
The data published on the council's website shows that the children admitted from non-feeder schools were:

2024: zero
2023: 12 (1322 metres)
2022: <5 (788m)
2021: 26 (1482m)

https://www.wandsworth.gov.uk/media/yi1hafdr/previous_years_admissions_for_wandsworth_secondary_schools.pdf

2025: none as of March. May change by September https://www.wandsworth.gov.uk/media/e45hqwl2/how_school_places_were_offered_for_secondary_schools_2025.pdf

Show quote history

I think that 2024 0 is from March not September- I have asked both Bolingbroke and Wandsworth for the September 2024 numbers but haven't managed to get them. Have you?

Original poster
PForParent · 04/03/2025 05:54

spoodlesee · 03/03/2025 21:46

I would avoid an undersubscribed school if you can simply because of how the funding model works and the areas these schools are in are already seeing falling birth rates

Could I ask you to elaborate? Do you mean that the schools receive funding per student, so undersubscribed schools will have less funding? And are therefore maybe more likely to close?

The two undersubscribed schools (Harris Battersea and Southfields) would not be our top priorities but they might be a plan B. I mean, if she doesn't get in any of the others, we cannot go private, nor would we homeschool, so there would really be no alternative in that case.

The big question for me is if the opposite trends of i) fewer families going private after the VAT hike and ii) falling birth rates and families leaving London (many primaries have already closed) will offset each other or not

OP posts:
Original poster
PForParent · 04/03/2025 05:49

WHM0101 · 28/02/2025 10:07

This one is for Bolingbroke, some people succeed in securing in-year places in feeder primaries.

On Bollingbroke:
The data published on the council's website shows that the children admitted from non-feeder schools were:

2024: zero
2023: 12 (1322 metres)
2022: <5 (788m)
2021: 26 (1482m)

https://www.wandsworth.gov.uk/media/yi1hafdr/previous_years_admissions_for_wandsworth_secondary_schools.pdf

2025: none as of March. May change by September https://www.wandsworth.gov.uk/media/e45hqwl2/how_school_places_were_offered_for_secondary_schools_2025.pdf

https://www.wandsworth.gov.uk/media/yi1hafdr/previous_years_admissions_for_wandsworth_secondary_schools.pdf

OP posts:
Original poster
PForParent · 04/03/2025 05:45

WHM0101 · 03/03/2025 21:33

@PForParent Hurlingham's catchment 1.3 miles for September 2025, just FYI
www.lbhf.gov.uk/children-and-young-people/schools-and-colleges/school-admissions/transfer-secondary-school-2025

Thanks. In 2024 it was almost 2 miles, and in 2023 5 miles!
But this was in September. 1.3 is now in March. So the big question is how much the area will expand between March and September 2025.

One thing I noticed, with yesterday's results, is that there seem to be more siblings.

Hurlingham: 41 vs of 33 last year
Chestnut: 73 vs 56
St Cecilia: 55 vs 37

Not exactly like-for-like, since this compares March vs September results, but still an indication.

OP posts:
spoodlesee · 03/03/2025 21:46

I would avoid an undersubscribed school if you can simply because of how the funding model works and the areas these schools are in are already seeing falling birth rates

WHM0101 · 03/03/2025 21:33

@PForParent Hurlingham's catchment 1.3 miles for September 2025, just FYI
www.lbhf.gov.uk/children-and-young-people/schools-and-colleges/school-admissions/transfer-secondary-school-2025

marilynmonroe · 01/03/2025 09:44

PForParent · 28/02/2025 18:51

@marilynmonroe "My kids go to Southfields and I'm sorry that your impression was that the kids were feral. It's not like that at all. My kids are doing well there and their pastoral care is fantastic."

Thank you for the feedback - collecting diverse feedback was precisely the reason for this post.

The behaviour I witnessed during the visit at Southfields Academy was the worst of all the schools. However, I understand that the show a school puts on during an open day is not necessarily representative of what truly goes on behind closed doors, so I want to keep an open mind.

Could I please ask you to elaborate a bit, on how you are finding it, on how it seems to you vs other schools, etc?

Many families frown upon it for the simple fact it is never oversubscribed, but Holland Park and Mossbourne show that a school can have a good reputation and have all kinds of other problems.

my kids have had some great teachers who are young and full of energy. All the teachers are contactable directly and they always reply to queries. As it’s not oversubscribed the class sizes are a bit smaller. As I said the pastoral care is fantastic and easy and quick to organize. It’s not perfect though. They don’t do school trips abroad which I would have liked.

no school is perfect and the only way you will find out if the school is good is how your child’s gets on. So many other factors can affect that like friendships, teachers etc.

it’s a hard decision and good luck with it and go with your gut! And remember you can always change schools. You don’t need to stick it out!

WHM0101 · 01/03/2025 09:10

@PForParent I didn't realize Hurlingham's catchment is still almost 2 miles straight line. For some reason I was thinking it doesn't stretch over Wandsworth bridge anymore.

Original poster
PForParent · 28/02/2025 22:32

I know where we are :) and Kingsdale would be too far for us

OP posts:
Roomgigi · 28/02/2025 22:21

Depends whereabouts you are - Balham to Fulham vs Balham to Dulwich is a similar distance
Kingsdale has a lottery system