Can I apply for Grammar schools from outside of catchment

[Bhops]

Can I apply for Grammar schools from outside of catchment? I have a place in Greenwich - where there are no Grammar schools. How feasible is it to move elsewhere just to be in catchment area?

Would like my son to sit for the Grammar school exams.

Needless to say, we intend to move to London in next few months.

Any insight / suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Some grammar schools have no catchment (or only for last few places) e.g. Wilson's School and people apply from long distances and move house if they get in.

Check the admissions information for the schools you are interested in on their websites. This is all publicly available information.

If there is a catchment, like Tiffin School, then there is no point applying from outside it. Also consider travelling time if you don't plan to move.

You need to look at what each individuals schools criteria are.
We don't have Grammars in our town but there are a couple in a nearby town. Anyone can apply but when offering places distance from school is taken into account along with the 11+ ranking (adjusted for birth month)

The Sutton grammars have out of catchment and in catchment places and the scores will be different (harder get in ooc) but doable. DD is at one and she knows people commuting from Hounslow and Greenwich. And ones who moved

Tiffin though has v specific attachments

If you intend to settle in Greenwich it is a fair trek to any superselective grammar schools in Kent or Sutton, plus costly. How old is your child?

You can apply…

Look at the admissions criteria for the individual Kent or Bexley grammars that might be in reach.

Or make sure you are in catchment for a good comprehensive that does well with your DC’s ability band.

Research into Kent stats (a fully grammar system county) demonstrates that mostly grammar schools results simply reflect the selective cohort. Overall, London schools outperform the national average.

He is 10. He is a June 2015 child.

As PP have said, there is no one rule for all schools, you need to do your research and look up the admissions criteria. It also depends how good your child is academically. Kent is a grammar area and I believe you need to be roughly top 20% to get a place whereas London is not a grammar area and you need to be about top 5%. London in general has some very good non-selective secondaries as well though.

You need to look at registration deadlines too, some Kent schools are during summer term for this autumn’s tests.

You can apply for them to sit the Bexley and Kent tests but I think, to gain a place, they have to score more highly. Bexley children do the test in school. Kent tests were sat at Dartford Grammar.
Both mine went to grammar schools but I lived in Bexley then.
Also think about the travel. My kids could fortunately walk to school or have a short bus ride.
I feel sorry for the kids I see waiting at the train station to get home.
Also, grammar school are not all they are cracked up to be. My son did fabulous at GCSE and 'failed' spectacularly at A Level (lockdown). He then did a trade apprenticeship and is now in a good job, earning a very good salary.

If you're already living on the east side of London in Greenwich, you can look at KEGS in Chelmsford. You wouldn't have to move too far away to be in easy commuting distance (it's a 5 minute walk from the Chelmsford train station). 20% of places are OOC, though you have to score very highly to get a place. There is also Latymer in Edmonton. They have a catchment area, but I believe you have until early January of the year they would start to move within one of the post codes.

You would need to be resident within catchment by the deadline for applications - paying council tax / receiving child benefit at the address.

You could go to huge expense and trouble to find that on the day your Dc didn't make the cut off- it all depends on how they do on the day.

If you are determined that Grammars offer a better education, rather than just reflecting the cohort, and you are confident that your Dc would pass, then you could move close to one of the 'ordinary' Kent grammars to try for a place there. However - best to ensure that the local 'high school' (a comprehensive without the top stream - who have all been moved to Grammar) is very good in case it doesn't work out for Grammar.

It would seem to me to be a big risk to move house for a super selective (those that only take the highest scoring applicants without reference to address) as the competition for these is always so tight that you can't guarantee a place even if your Dc is a very high achiever.

Also many 10 year olds planning on taking the 11+ will have been practicing, and likely tutored, since they were in Yr 4.

Meanwhile, what are your nearest comprehensives like? If they have good top sets / a top stream (for a high achieving child) then they are a very good bet.

You can. Majority have catchment requirements. We need more schools.

www.change.org/p/grammar-schools-are-you-affected

If your son is 10 and born in June, is he not going to secondary this September?

He turns 10 in June 2025 so year 7 in 2026

The applications for 2026 entry for the Bexley grammars close in next 10 days iirc, so you need to double check that if you are interested in those.