Wilsons Grammar, John Fisher, Sutton Grammar, Wallington Grammar?

[londonkids]

I am looking to move to the areas of either Banstead, Chipstead or Kingswood for good secondary schools. I have a DS and DD, but most concerned about the right school for my sporty DS. We are RC so I would fit RC criteria for John Fisher, but from looking on the Internet I am not sure if my DS managed to pass the grammar tests would the areas I'm thinking of be near enough to any of the above mentioned Grammar schools to get in, as the school websites seem to say if they are oversubscribed with children getting high scores in tests it goes on distance from the school. I wondered if there were any mums living locally who had knowledge of what areas get in. Both children are still at primary school. Thank you.

The Sutton boys grammars rank on score first - distance is only a tiebreak for boys on the same score. Due to the method Sutton Boys Grammar uses, which places boys within 4 point bands, there can be up to 30-50 boys with the same score, but I imagine there are less for the other schools. Your ds would need to be pretty bright to get a place - they are expecting 2,500 children to sit the selective eligibility test this year for the 400 odd places, and the birth rate has continued to rise.

I think that distance comes into place for the girls grammars, Nonsuch and Wally Girls. They seem to have catchment zones.

How many years until yr son or daughter will be transferring to secondary? A lot can change in a couple of years.

Places within the 'catchment' in one year can be well outside it when the birth rate, and number in cohort, has risen. Consider the amount of new housing within each area.

Could be an expensive move for you, and you need to consider what you would be offered if he/she failed the selective test. Would you be happy with Woodcote, Beacon or Reigate? Where are you now?

Draw a line between Sutton and John Fisher, and aim for somewhere equidistant?

The grammars in that area are extremely competitive. Not saying there's no point trying, but I get the impression that any boy who isn't level 5 maths at the end of yr 5 doesn't stand much of a chance.

Sutton does mock exams which are helpful. Do practise papers with your DS and try the mocks. If he scores well, it's worth a shot. They are all good schools.

Chipstead is lovely. We flirted with the idea of moving there and trying for the grammars but then decided to stay put.

londonkids,

The Sutton grammars are horribly competitive and so you definitely need a good back up. As long as you are within a reasonable commute for your DC, then I wouldn't worry about where you live for the grammars, just make sure you are as close as possible to your back up comprehensive. This is particularly so if you have more than one DS as there is no sibling policy for the grammars so you will have a very high likelihood of not all children passing the tests.

That said, I always think it's worth a go. My own DS is about to start in year 7 at one of the grammars and according to his school report he wasn't a level 5 at the end of year 5 for English or maths (though he did end year 6 as a level 6 in both so made a lot of progress in the intervening months.)

Thanks that is so helpful. MyDS is only year 2 so I have no idea really how he'll turn out academically by year 5, he does well now but I know brighter boys in his class. I'd have him coached but I guess everyone else is doing that too. We fit the criteria for John Fisher so will definitely checkout their catchment criteria. I thought The Beacon didn't rate so well on league tables... Will look at wood gate and Reigate comprehensives, are there any other non grammars in the Banstead Chipstead area worth checking out?

Unfortunately, the comprehensive schools serving Banstead, Chipstead and Kingswood are very average; most people in the area aspire to other schools, be it grammar or faith schools.There are also many independent senior schools within easy reach and at least 20% of local children go to one of these, making the comprehensives less representative than they could be.

I forgot to mention, a number of RC children in the area also take school buses to St. Andrew's School in Leatherhead and St. Bede's in Redhill but you would have to check their entrance criteria.

Thank you very helpful.