Any good secondary school in wandsworth?

[EniHilo]

Can anyone good heartedly recommend a mainstream secondary school in Wandsworth- London? I have checked all the reviews of the schools and basically almost all say not to take my kid there as of bullying, teachers on power trip, mental abuse etc… I am a bit scared now as i cant afford private school.
All feedback would be much appreciated 🙏🏻

where are you reading these strange reviews?

Graveney is probably the most popular but you need to score very high on the test or live on the next road. Ashcroft has great results & you also sit the 11+ for that but unsure re the other admission criteria. Chesnut grove has improved a lot but I hear mixed things.

Google reviews… hope they are wrong

Wandsworth is a big borough with some tight catchment areas! You may need to narrow down your research and work out which schools offer places on ability as well as distance (as mentioned Graveney has a very competitive Wandsworth Test assessed ‘grammar’ stream, Chestnut Grove offers thirty places for Modern Language scholars and another thirty for Art, for example). And which year are you looking at?

Loads of good schools in Wandsworth. My two went to Burntwood and Graveney. Also their primary school friends went to Chestnut Grove and Ashcroft off the top of my head, among others. All did well.

Google reviews for many secondary schools are totally bizarre- often written by disgruntled pupils as a joke. Visit the schools, ask current parents etc for a more realistic view. Lots of good schools in Wandsworth borough and remember you can look outside the borough if there are other schools nearer. Lots of Wandsworth children will go to schools in Richmond, Hammersmith and Fulham, Merton etc

My friend's daughter moved to Burntwood because of bad behaviour at her previous school. She was very happy with it. For a boy, you could look at Ernest Bevin: excellent facilities especially for sport but I don't know what the culture is like.

I know a 15 year old and an 11 year old at Chestnut Grove. Both say they like it.

Google reviews for schools are almost exclusively written by school children messing about. Loads of good schools in Wandsworth and surrounding boroughs. You may have just missed the open evenings for most, but some also offer daytime visits. That's much better than reading Google reviews.

Google reviews is useless for school. Asking on Facebook a bit better

What year is this for @EniHilo ? Are you applying next September for year 7 in 2026? I agree with others, Google reviews of a school are pretty meaningless, it's not a restaurant or a hotel. They are almost always written by fed-up students who got into trouble.

Look at Osted (as a guide), visit schools, talk to some people whose kids go there - maybe old siblings of your DC's friends? Where are you - which schools are you close to and thus might get into?

Thank you! I am always happy to hear good feedback. 🙏🏻

We are close to Bolingbrock, Southfields, Garratt park. Will apply for 2026 Sep year 7.
Will enquire around…

You should be in a feeder primary for B. to get there.
Ashcroft has a catchment in the radius of around 1km.
Noone really wants Southfields I believe.
A lot of people prepare for Wandsworth test to get into Graveny.

Is Southfields that bad?

Harris Academy in Battersea - latest Ofsted report is 'Outstanding' (October 2023)

Harris results aren’t great though. Average progress score & 53% grade 5 or above in Maths & English.

Bolingbroke seems to get the best results. I understand it has six feeder schools and is hard to get into?

St Cecelia's in Southfields has a reputation for being kinder than many.

Graveney is not for the faint hearted. It's a very big school.

We know kids at CG who are happy.

Was also going to say St Cecilia's

Graveney has a huge problem of bullying in the lower school and if you have an SEN child I wouldn't even dare to get them in. They are incapable to work with families or stop the bullying.

We’ve heard this more than a few times now about Graveney.

Worrying ☹️