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+!

@Seasaltlady Well done for getting through to the last exam and sounds like your DD did brilliantly. Mine was very happy to leave with a new lip balm - LEH know how to appeal to girls. We just threw away the last of the 11+ material, very therapeutic!

Haha! She missed on the lip balm but got a water bottle - they definitely do the merch very well! Also busy ripping up papers and having a very enjoyable clear out as we speak! :)

ISEB today for us - all our schools are ISEB so it did feel a LOT like all our eggs are in one basket, but all done now and none of our schools have a post-exam interview stage so trying not to think about it until February now!

DD thinks it went well, but that could mean anything so who knows! I came straight back from dropping her and cancelled our Atom subscription, which felt quite satisfying, and I might go and chuck the Bond books out now!

Sounds like an excellent way to celebrate end of exams! A bit jealous as we can’t do the same until January 🤪

Good luck to the ones doing the Latymer Exam today! DS gets the day off because of it :)

I remember one great thing is Latymer gives the results pretty quick. I assume the same for this year.

Thank you! That queue is bonkers! DD asked if we should have camped out all night. Anyone on here not sitting for LU?

Oh wow, has the first session already started queuing!?

We’re not! Best of luck! 🤞🏽

Our session was 8am arrival for an 8:30 exam. We live nearby and half the kids from my daughter's state school class are sitting this exam despite the school generally sending almost no one to private secondary. (In some ways I find that reassuring - but it's also unhelpful because it means it's the only school DD feels familiar with and hence she's super keen on it!)

Good luck! You are lucky to live close to the school. We are not too far, but with traffic it can take a while.

My DD is there today and it’s her first choice. Fingers and toes crossed for all of you! And yes we find out next week about second stage so won’t be in suspense for too long!

Fingers crossed and best of luck to all! Nervously waiting for our post-lunch slot :/

DD came out very happy and confident. Given how hard Latymer exams usually are (and she generally finds them) I have no idea what that means. She is generally overly optimistic. But maybe it's reassuring for the afternoon crowd!

Good luck to all the kids at Latymer today. We’re not sitting it - sadly live too far away. Last one for us is KCS on Saturday 🤞🤞

Is anyone else trying for Radnor House? We've been successful in the first round and wondered if anyone has experience of what the "classroom activity" will be in January...?
We were unsuccessful with Kingston Grammar, other schools are Surbiton & St Catherine's

the main reason the queues for LU are so long is that 80% of parents are incapable of following instructions and arriving at the suggested time. I remember when we came for our 8:30 slot it looked packed but as I arrived just in time, they fast tracked us ahead of all the people with 10am slots who were already queuing completely unnecessarily. If they suggest you come at 8, just come at 8 and it will be totally fine.

That’s true but the volume of applications that the school gets is also much higher than others because of the 1 in 4 chance of getting a bursary. Many parents who would not think of private otherwise but have a bright child will take a chance on Latymer Upper because there is a 25% chance of them getting a bursary if they get accepted.

Exactly this! I commented on the queue not because there was any trouble getting in, but because it speaks to the sheer volume of applicants, which is certainly boosted locally by their extensive bursary programme. The queue was very well managed - no one in ours from a later slot and staff were checking everyone was in the right place.

My DD did the RH activity a few years ago. It was mainly team problem solving things. I seem to remember they had to work out how to cross from one side of the room (without falling in the ‘sea’) to another using a couple of mats and make a word using their bodies. She seemed to have fun. (and also applied to Surbiton and St Cats). Hope it goes well.

Does anyone know when Putney, LEH and Godolphin confirm invites to next stage interviews? Will it be before Christmas do you think?

Thanks @Lurkingbutinterested

@Seasaltlady We've definitely had some comms from Putney saying it would be early Jan but someone told me they thought we'd hear this week so fingers crossed it's sooner rather than later.

LEH say mid-December so wouldn't be surprised if it's the end of this week, just before the Christmas break.

How did everyone do on the KCS exam today? Seems quite a large application size (similar to Emanuel) this year, judged by the queue

Two years ago it was before the Xmas break for PHS and G&L although official comms says January. It’s an online test - not sure why the delay in giving us results!!

Is anyone here doing St George’s in Weybridge? I can’t find a thread for the 2026 Y7 intake Surrey private school entrances exams and just wondering how anyone else did?