SW London Grammar and private senior school entry 2026

[firsttrax]

Setting up this thread for those of us with DC joining year 7 SW London schools in 2026.

We’re planning to apply to KCS, Hampton, Epsom and Reed’s.

Have been living in Dubai for three years, returning in August for year 6 at DS’ old prep school.

DS has an online tutor focussing on exam technique and any gaps in the curriculum, plus Atom. Current school is great but definitely not preparing him for 11+!

Nothing from G&L in my inbox yet! Thrilled with the call back for Emanuel - my daughter will be happy!

Emanuel too ! can anyone share info on the group interview please?

There's really no preparation to be done for a G&L interview. For the past few years, it's been a very short (sub 10 mins) interview with one or two teachers - tiny bit of chat about hobbies and then they're shown pictures and asked to talk about them. No right or wrong answers - just a way to see how students think. There's also been a group activity, equally short, that barely seems to be observed by teachers so it's unclear how big a role that plays (if any). There's been much chat on MN boards over the years as to why G&L invite so many candidates back for interview when they must select primarily on the Consortium test score given how short the interview is - and speculation that it's just a way to red flag any problem candidates. Best thing students can do in all interviews is try to relax and be themselves.

Emanuel here too - any ideas of how many interviews they do vs offers?

Haven’t seen anything on that, but given how many of us have got good news sounds like they interview quite a few?!

I was thinking that! Although I think there's got to be good news bias in the posts on here

Ah yes, of course.

Don’t think they are out yet

Still waiting for G&L - I hope they don’t stretch it out to Monday!

Well done to all who got through to Emanuel interview!

G&L emails coming out now!

Just heard from Whitgift too. Grateful to be finally getting some news!

Same here. Pleased for the next stage ! Good luck everyone

G&L mails out. It’s a yes …. Phew

well done to all for G&L! My DD also has a yes and we’re thrilled!

Does anyone happen to know the conversion for g&l
consortium —> interview —> offers?

also best prep for it?!

Have answered the prep part of this question upthread.

Conversion rates (much discussed on MN) are unknown (anyone on here pretending to know is just guessing!) But a school like G&L will have to over-offer by quite a lot as, at the least, a lot of the students with an SPGS offer will also have a G&L offer (and almost all will chose SPGS). Previous guestimates have been about 2-2.5 offers per place. But nobody except the Admissions team really know.

Our maths tutor who knows the G&L (and other) interview processes really well did - couple of school specific interview sessions with my child after we got the invite. It was extremely helpful as we had no idea what was involved and it helped a lot. Happy to share his details please PM me x

Good news for DD! Congrats to all with positive news and sorry for those with bad news.

Yes, this is spot on. I felt like it must have already been decided before the interview. When my dd it they only had the 10 mins one to one and no group activity. They did the usual picture sorting then too.

What we did to prepare was just have chats with DD on what her hobbies are, current favourite book etc. Basically just spoke with her ahead of time about general questions so she would have thought about it before and not go blank with nerves. But we did it very relaxed like general conversations when we were walking around or in the car, not like sitting and grilling her.

Silly question: when somewhere like G&L says "school uniform is not required", do you take that to mean they shouldn't wear it? LU said something similar so I dragged DD home to change, but our G&L interview is first thing and she'll definitely be dropped off at school immediately afterwards! Our state school uniform is informal and scruffy, as is DD in any of her natural guises... (Loved FHRP for just telling her to wear school uniform TBH. Just want a clear steer!)

Mine went in uniform for exams and interviews if it was a school day and they were going to be in at some point. If it was the weekend or holidays they didn’t! They had scruffy state primary uniforms as well. There was always a real mixture as some local preps told their pupils to always wear uniform.
Knowing a bit about admissions it won’t make the slightest difference what they wear. Some will be in tracksuit bottom and some will be in 3 piece suits! (There will also be a lot of sports team kit- Surrey hockey under 11s etc that the child just happens to be wearing!)

Good news fromG&L for my DD - but I am surprised by how early her interview is. Has anyone else’s daughter been invited for interview before 8:30am?? My DD will definitely be in her scruffy state school uniform so that she can go straight on to school!

another scruffy state school child here. We’ll just have to make a neat hair style and hope for the best! It’s straight to school after and she doesn’t own any very smart clothes anyway at home so probably better than her usual hoodies and leggings!

Anyone on here scheduled to do the Athena Assessment at PHS? Feel totally in the dark as previous years’ feeds have indicated different formats for the group activity: design a theme park/city, discuss and then present your ideas individually…

Imagine interview but will be fairly standard…

Any tips at all would be helpful!

Does anyone have any insight into what the parents interviews with the heads cover for Whitgift and Trinity?