Wilson grammar

[Mommyingboys]

Hi
Jut wanted to ask if anyone knows by experience how hard it is to get into Wilson grammar as compared to Tiffin boys or Sutton Grammar ?
My DS is taking the tests in Sep 2024 and no tutoring except Atom learning where he is scoring well. Does he have any chance to get in or only the heavily tutored children get a place ?
Thanks

They’re all equally difficult to get into in my opinion. The same group of students appear to sit the tests for all these schools, clearly many parents have a preference but I would consider them all to be super selective. Some significant changes to the admission procedure for Tiffins so who knows how that will impact the 2025 entry.

It is possible to get in without professional tutoring and doing it at home. Good luck

Thankyou. That makes sense.

Hi Thankyou for your reply. As you mentioned you prepared your son at home can I ask which resources did you use ?
Yes we have booked 2 PTA tests. The results of the first one were nor very promising but still trying and hoping for the best.
Thanks

Experience indicates this is the order:
wilsons
tiffin.

sutton

Getting into tiffin and Sutton is hard. Sutton also hard, but not as hard.

Edit! Getting into tiffin and Wilsons is hard, Sutton hard but less so.

Sutton and Wilson's have the same test, and Wilson's is definitely a little harder to get into (though plenty of parents whose kids could have got into Wilson's do claw SGS for whatever reason).

I am less sure about how Tiffin compares though probably agree with the suggestion above that it's somewhere between the other two.

Paid tuition isn't necessary but there's plenty of maths content which kids just won't have covered at primary school, making learning it one way or another a must. Similarly I'd suggest that a fair bit of practice in timed essays, involving proper constructive criticism of the weaker bits well beyond what you'd tend to get at primary school would also be very useful.

The PTA mock will give you some experience in the exam condition. Also give you some indication on the progress so far compared to others in the same year group, so you can adjust your prep schedule and focus accordingly.

For the grammar schools that mentioned above, I believe majority kids won't need 10 hour a week for years work to get in. However, 10 mins a day prep reported in some MN reading probably might risk not getting any desired outcome at all. It is certainly subjective.

Thankyou. Very helpful.

Thankyou. I agree with the daily input being subjective depending upon a host of factors.
My DS is generally a bright child so will give him a chance , keeping our fingers crossed.

Note that Tiffin has a priority catchment area. I don't think anyone has ever got in from outside there since it's been introduced (that's what it used to say in the admissions criteria, don't know if that's changed). So they only move outside the priority if they can't find 180 boys inside it who have done well enough. Wilson's and Sutton only apply postcode priority in the event of a tie for the final places.

Thanks...that involves a lot of things to be aware of and keep in mind . I think I need to plan it meticulously.

@BlackberrySky is absolutely correct.

No one has got into Tiffins from outside its priority area since it was introduced.

Yes planning is key if you’re doing yourself. You will have to decide which is your preference and check out their website for up to date to information, especially Tiffin as many changes for entry 2025.

That's so kind of you to share. Very helpful indeed.

Tiffin are now also doing mocks in the summer. There’s info on the admission page.

Thankyou. Will check .

@BaselineDrop I saw that too! Looks quite reasonable priced too compared to other test centres. Although I don’t think it’s the school that’s doing it they’re just renting out the space etc. just like greycourt does with examberry I think.

I live in Sutton and generally Wilson's is considered the hardest to get into. Saying that I don't know if my DS would've got in as we both found Wilson's utterly soulless on the open day and opted for SGS instead (didn't look at Tiffin as we're the wrong side of Sutton and it would be a PITA to get to). From DS's primary 5 got into SGS and 2 to Wilsons but I know at least other parent felt the same as me and we also live closer to SGS which may have swung it.

Some discussion on this topic last year about the choice on Wilson vs SGS or the perceived ranking among the SW London boys schools.

www.mumsnet.com/talk/secondary/3182307-kings-college-school-vs-Wilson-or-Tiffin?page=5

Thankyou for sharing your experience. Would you mind sharing a bit of your preparation journey to get into SGS? Thanks

Thanks for sharing.👍

We are putting our DS forward for Wilson’s (and Wallington County as our second choice, if we got that far!) He’s coming out of an independent school for Secondary for various reasons. About to embark on the prep this week! Good luck

Best of luck

Hope your son is Tough if you are thinking Wallington, I've seen those kids at the bus stop, and how they treat others isn't kind.

Agree with others about Wislson's being souless. Didn't get any 'nice' vibes.

Sutton's open evening was OK. Head talk said best ever GCSE results this year. Hopefully they can keep that up. Like all older state schools it was a bit worn around the edges, but the kids we spoke to were really lovely.