Wimbledon High School admissions

CarshaltonMum · 2026-10-10T07:22:17+00:00

DD is in year 6 and we are considering secondary options. Our plan A is the grammar schools (Wallington or Nonsuch). She sat stage 2 but we don't know yet if she has passed and, even if she passes, will have to wait until offer day to see if she gets a place. We have come very late to the world of private schools as an alternative route. Where we live, Sutton High is an obvious option and I'm pretty sure DD would get a place there. I recently visited Wimbledon High and absolutely loved it. For me, I liked that it was more highly selective than Sutton, as I feel that would suit DD. I am know wondering about admissions. I know WHS has high competition for places. We have prepped DD in Maths and English, but not Verbal and NV reasoning. The school suggests doing 6-8 practice papers, which I'll happily do, but I suspect others targeting the independents will have worked on this for months. So far we have tried 2 NV free papers (NV likely to be harder than V for DD). She was quite good at them but pretty slow. I am trying to decide how much we push it. She worked hard for the SET and it feels mean to hugely slog again when she thought she was finished, but on the other hand it could be well worth it. I know the 2nd round is a creative/problem solving group task. DD would likely thrive at this, if she gets there! Also any general views in the school welcome!

Sunbringer · 10/10/2026 13:43

Can’t give many details but my friends’ daughter attends. The friend says that it’s not worth the £30,000+ a year it costs to go. She says the pastoral support for her autistic daughter hasn’t been good. Obviously this is second hand information though so could be wrong.

Original poster

CarshaltonMum · 10/10/2026 13:51

Thank you for sharing @Sunbringer

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itwasallwrong · 10/10/2026 14:09

My daughter left a couple of years ago. She was very happy there, took advantage of everything and no complaints from her or us.
DD had no SEN but had friends who were autistic and they thrived there. But obviously no school is perfect for everyone. I really like the headmistress.

PlainSkyr · 10/10/2026 14:40

Can you say which school has your DD been at so far? State primary / indie prep / indie junior?

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CarshaltonMum · 10/10/2026 15:11

Currently at a state primary school where almost everyone is heading to state secondary schools.

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PlainSkyr · 10/10/2026 16:20

i know what you mean that your daughter feels like she’s ‘done’ with 11+ due to the SET. I guess it will depend on how much she wants to go to WHS and whether she can restart her engines to run another race. You have few weeks so you could try but I think it will depend on her natural ability + desire to get in.

PlainSkyr · 10/10/2026 16:21

Sorry meant to acknowledge that SET doesn’t cover VR / NVR and neither do state schools, so it’s a whole new race.

Original poster

CarshaltonMum · 10/10/2026 18:44

PlainSkyr · 10/10/2026 16:21

Sorry meant to acknowledge that SET doesn’t cover VR / NVR and neither do state schools, so it’s a whole new race.

Yes this is the challenge. She had never seen VR or NVR until a week ago. She has her heart set on Wallington and I'm pretty sure we'd take the Wallington offer if we got one. I really liked both, but liked Wimbledon more, and would love her to go there. However the fees are obviously a huge factor. So it's sort of a back-up in her head, even though it's hard to get a place and not really a back-up! I want to give it our best shot, but at the same time we do all feel 'done' already! But half-hearted practise is probably pointless. I really wish they still gave scores for SET/NWSSEE so we could know how likely a preferred state offer was.

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PlainSkyr · 10/10/2026 21:45

@CarshaltonMum from your username I’m guessing you are inside catchment for the girls’ grammar schools. If your DD has sat stage 2 and is inside catchment then I’d say she has a significant chance of getting in - if not in March then def by Sept. If she’s autumn born she’ll likely have been bumped down but if she’s summer / spring then chances of an early seat are high.

if she’s never seen VR/NVR then I’d not bother at this point as you can’t get to the top 60 out of 700 applicants most of who are prepped by their prep schools for this exam for months and will likely have it as top choice.

also, if you live in Carshalton then the travel will be hard. My older DD went to Wallington and we had the opposite commute to you - it was brutal. Plus private schools have long days and a lot of extra curricular stuff sometimes in the evening & on Saturday.

given your high chances of grammar I’d say it’s not worth the half hearted push after having run the long grammar race. Keep Sutton or Reigate as backup.

Please feel free to DM me as I have used both schools.

Breeze67 · 10/10/2026 22:07

Well, I thought half-hearted preparation for Wimbledon High would be enough to get through to the interview stage, assuming your DD's academic calibre meets their standard. WHS is not most people's top choice, and the most sought-after private schools focus primarily on English and Maths, with VR and NVR making up only a small part or nothing at all. And VR/NVR can only be improved up to a certain point—if you think 6-8 practice papers aren't enough, perhaps 12-14 will do. Besides, you have a huge advantage over other applicants since your DD has already finished her 11+ preparation for other schools while others are preparing for many schools at the same time, and I assume she doesn't have many urgent tasks over the next 50 days until the WHS exam day? WHS is also our backup; as a matter of fact, it is the backup of the backup. We think we will just try 6-8 rounds of sample papers.

Breeze67 · 10/10/2026 22:13

PlainSkyr · 10/10/2026 21:45

@CarshaltonMum from your username I’m guessing you are inside catchment for the girls’ grammar schools. If your DD has sat stage 2 and is inside catchment then I’d say she has a significant chance of getting in - if not in March then def by Sept. If she’s autumn born she’ll likely have been bumped down but if she’s summer / spring then chances of an early seat are high.

if she’s never seen VR/NVR then I’d not bother at this point as you can’t get to the top 60 out of 700 applicants most of who are prepped by their prep schools for this exam for months and will likely have it as top choice.

also, if you live in Carshalton then the travel will be hard. My older DD went to Wallington and we had the opposite commute to you - it was brutal. Plus private schools have long days and a lot of extra curricular stuff sometimes in the evening & on Saturday.

given your high chances of grammar I’d say it’s not worth the half hearted push after having run the long grammar race. Keep Sutton or Reigate as backup.

Please feel free to DM me as I have used both schools.

If she’s never seen VR/NVR then I’d not bother at this point as you can’t get to the top 60 out of 700 applicants most of who are prepped by their prep

You do not need to be in the top 60 to make it through. A lot of students get through to the second round, and I expect WHS will massively over-offer as many who get offers will not take them up.

Original poster

CarshaltonMum · 10/10/2026 22:35

@PlainSkyr thank you for your very helpful response. Yes we are within catchment for the grammars. I'm hopeful of a grammar place, although the numbers feel daunting. It's hard to know how many of those that pass stage 2 are within the catchment. The journey to WHS is doable - the Thameslink runs from Carshalton direct to Wimbledon, and we are not too far from the station. I do worry about the long days though. Sutton High is an option for us, but I strongly felt Wimbledon is more suited to my DD than Sutton.

@Breeze67 your post came in as I started typing. This is what I'm hoping - that DD can do enough to make it through round 1 (NVR and VR) and then do well at the next round, or at least give it her best shot. As you mention, the head suggested 6-8 papers, and we'd happily do a bit more than that. I'd be happy to do, say, 2 hours a week, just not 10 hours a week for example. DD is top of her class, articulate and calm in a test, which hopefully helps! I did hear others at the open day discussing WHS in 'backup' terms, but obviously a popular choice for many.

I reckon we'll probably give it a go. Whilst DD won't love the prep, it will probably be good for her to have an academic focus without the higher pressure (for us) of the SET/stage 2. If she doesn't make it through, then so be it.

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7winifred · 11/10/2026 05:36

I 100% agree with Breeze that it is not too late. The beauty of VR and NVR is that while you can be prepped to some extent(and some are prepped to death), once you know the format of the questions and are used to the timings of the tests, natural aptitude will get you a long way. You could get a 1/2 month subscription to Atom where you can input the school you are prepping for and and they will provide you with the relevant type of tests.
Good luck.

Original poster

CarshaltonMum · 11/10/2026 08:21

Thank you @7winifred I was considering Atom, as I don't know much about the specifics of the paper, particularly timings.

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PlainSkyr · 11/10/2026 10:02

@CarshaltonMum If the journey is doable then worth trying.
It’s an amazing school, good luck.

BrainCancerAwareness · 11/10/2026 10:06

Given your location, assume you must have discounted St Phil’s which is a shame. It’s a fantastic school especially for an academic girl.

Original poster

CarshaltonMum · 11/10/2026 10:13

BrainCancerAwareness · 11/10/2026 10:06

Given your location, assume you must have discounted St Phil’s which is a shame. It’s a fantastic school especially for an academic girl.

I'm not convinced we would get a place here, as their criteria is based on religion. It's hard to find info as to how many places they allocated in each category. If you have any useful information then do share!

We will be filling up our choices below the grammars, and are deciding on the order of Greenshaw and Carshalton Girls, with St Phils and Glenthorne possibilities. I haven't ruled out any of these options, they are all great schools (we are very lucky!). It's more about keeping our options open at the moment.

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WhitneySpears · 11/10/2026 10:26

CarshaltonMum · 11/10/2026 10:13

I'm not convinced we would get a place here, as their criteria is based on religion. It's hard to find info as to how many places they allocated in each category. If you have any useful information then do share!

We will be filling up our choices below the grammars, and are deciding on the order of Greenshaw and Carshalton Girls, with St Phils and Glenthorne possibilities. I haven't ruled out any of these options, they are all great schools (we are very lucky!). It's more about keeping our options open at the moment.

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St Phil’s would be top of my list personally. I wouldn’t let the Catholic requirement put you off - there are always places for girls of other faiths and indeed none.

FlumePlume · 11/10/2026 10:26

I may be very out of date, but 7 years ago DD got Tiffin but was waitlisted for WHS. I was told they rank in order of performance on the VR/NVR papers, and then the creative second round bumps them up or down the list a bit. And that WHS was seen as more unpredictable than other schools in terms of who got offers.

My dd also came from a state primary, and so hadn’t done any NVR.

Original poster

CarshaltonMum · 11/10/2026 10:39

FlumePlume · 11/10/2026 10:26

I may be very out of date, but 7 years ago DD got Tiffin but was waitlisted for WHS. I was told they rank in order of performance on the VR/NVR papers, and then the creative second round bumps them up or down the list a bit. And that WHS was seen as more unpredictable than other schools in terms of who got offers.

My dd also came from a state primary, and so hadn’t done any NVR.

This is helpful thank you. We could potentially end up in a similar position.

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Original poster

CarshaltonMum · 11/10/2026 10:42

A bit off topic, but those saying St Phils, what is it that makes it a good school? When I looked, I thought it's results were broadly in line with Greenshaw and DH was put off by the religious aspect of it. (Aware there is more than results to consider). It's been a vague consideration for us, mainly on the basis of admissions being a long shot. No-one from DDs primary seems to go there historically, although things do change.

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Breeze67 · 11/10/2026 10:54

CarshaltonMum · 11/10/2026 10:42

A bit off topic, but those saying St Phils, what is it that makes it a good school? When I looked, I thought it's results were broadly in line with Greenshaw and DH was put off by the religious aspect of it. (Aware there is more than results to consider). It's been a vague consideration for us, mainly on the basis of admissions being a long shot. No-one from DDs primary seems to go there historically, although things do change.

I am always put off by religious schools like your DH. Did you rule out schools like Tiffin Girls' and Putney High simply because they are a bit too far?

boxofcrap · 11/10/2026 11:12

I have heard very good things about Glenthorne. You should try WHS, if your dd is grammar standard she will likely get a place.

Breeze67 · 11/10/2026 11:13

Some thoughts on WHS after visiting their open day: I noticed a strong emphasis on feminism and political engagement, probably trickling down from the headteacher to the students. While I fully support raising confident, independent girls who understand feminist ideals, I feel that an overemphasis on political discussion can be distracting during these formative years. In my view, true independence for women is better fostered through academic depth, practical skills, and solid career preparation—areas I am not entirely sure they prioritize enough. While I am sure most girls would be happy there, I wonder if WHS truly equips them for the realities of the professional world.

itwasallwrong · 11/10/2026 11:32

@Breeze67- they really don’t spend all day discussing feminism and politics!
I think what they are very good at is building ‘resilience’ which I would argue is exceptionally important. Lots of encouragement to give things a go, not to worry if things don’t go to plan etc etc. Consequently the girls are well equipped when not everything falls into their laps once they leave school and enter the real world. They don’t expect things to be handed to them on a plate. They also have a lot of fun, get great results and being slightly out of the central London area there are less uber wealthy and tiger parents. Much less socially competitive than some of the more central girls schools….