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+!

Stumbled across this thread and just wanted to wish you all good luck. I can honestly say that this was one of the most stressful time for me when preparing my eldest for the 11+. And I have moved countries three times! 🤣

The interview is only 20 mins so my guess is they already have rankings based on exams, they review the HM reports and then the interviews just finalise that list maybe? I'm not sure how much you can gain from 20m ins.

Have sent you a PM with details of a tutor X

This is my thought too. But another thing, I think they also want to make sure your dc will be happy at the school and participate in what they have to offer. For example during my dd interviews the schools would ask about hobbies and then mention how they have that at the school or that she would like the clubs or whatever at the school. Basically, it sounded like they were trying to find out she was the right fit and the feedback sounded like they thought she would be a great fit for the school (from what dd said).

If your dc is keen on a school, it is good to demonstrate why they are a good fit. It also means, they will have an easy start to the school and make friends fast when they are joining in on many extra curriculars.

That's a good point, and I agree. I'm comparing the 2.5-hour Latymer experience with a 20-minute Interview at Kings and some of the very generic questions experienced at Hampton, which will produce fairly standard answers in most cases. So I just question the ability to differentiate between 300+ kids in some of these sessions.

Does anyone have any idea of numbers for SPGS: applicants to those invited to the interview round to those made an offer?

thanks xx!

A few years ago they would interview 220 people for 100 spaces. - approx 130/140 offers and 10/20 on waiting list

In case anyone is interested , when we did the 11+ for SPGS, we used a tutor who knows the St Paul’s Girls interview really well ( he has a bank of questions from previous years) did a couple of SPGS specific interview session with my child after we got 2nd round invites. They were extremely helpful. Happy to share his details please PM me x

Yes please! Albeit don’t know how to dm!
any more details from your daughters experience as to format etc would be hugely helpful…

I have sent you a PM - you can see it in the Private message page - the notification with a blue circle x

@Sparklinggreen Hi Sparklinggreen, I have only just joined Mumsnet today ... equally have not figured out how to use PM. My DD having received interview invite from SPGS and I saw your post recommending a tutor for interview. DD is currently in a through school so really no support on anything. Would be very grateful if you could let me know the tutor details? Thank you very much in advance Xx

@Sparklinggreenwould be grateful if you could drop me a DM with regards to interview questions. Thanks!

Hi have sent you a PM X

Have also sent you a PM! X

Good luck to those doing the G&L interviews today! Dd will be there helping out.

Dropped off my eternally scruffy DD after a fairly brisk run due to lateness. God knows if she can even remember which school she's at at this stage. Ah well! The girls on the welcome desk were incredibly kind and charming, so if your DD is one of them, well done to you!

Anyone finished King’s interview by now? How did your ds feel, any tricky questions?

Our DD was very positive at pick up, she said the two teachers seemed to be happy with her responses in her opinion and they were friendly and kind. Not going to lie: we will be gutted if she doesn’t get in at this stage 😩😩 sending positive vibes to everyone today!!

For posterity, I thought I should share that Emanuel had 1,000 applicants this year, of which they interview 400 to fill 96 places. I’m sure they over-offer, but the interview is still a very competitive process.

Hiya this is super interesting … can I ask how you found out these numbers? My daughter was there this morning and had a really lovely time!

They told me they interview the majority of applicants - i was estimating that they interview 600 based on today's volumes + overflow interviews on Monday. Where did you hear 400 from?

I read on here that Emanuel make something like 300 offers although that feels high.

would you have the numbers for the 10+ at Emanuel please? they have 48 places to fill, I am interested in how many places they over offer by, boy versus girls !!! quite niche !

Yes, I’d also thought about 600 (72 in each slot, 8 slots). I now wonder if 10+ applicants were also interviewing yesterday given @Whenwillthisendplease’s numbers

300 offers to fill 100 places sounds about right for a school that's popular but not everyone's first choice. My best guess (not based on any insider knowledge but knowing how university admissions works very well) is that the St Paul's of the world offer about 1.3x places, the Latymer Upper/G&L tier1.5-2x places, and about 3x at the next rank down.