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+!

Just wondering if anyone has heard anything from St.Pauls yet about stage 2? Know we are due to hear this week…

Latymer emails are coming out now :)

SPGS stage 2 expected 12th I believe. Latymer invites are out. Good luck everyone!

LEH interview invites also out :)

Good luck everyone. And remember, don't panic if you do not have an email for a while....it does not mean anything. Every year there is panic when people are getting yes emails and people start thinking yes emails are sent first....when it can be several hours difference between yes emails.

Thanks for the reassurance on timings - waiting for LU now and not very hopeful!

Crossing fingers for you! Last year we got our email from them just after 4pm....The wait can feel like forever.

Good luck to all waiting for LU and LEH emails, and congrats to those with good news!

I’m wondering for the LEH interview how many girls do they invite? The odds could be low if it’s over 3 days and multiple teachers. Thank you

Hi all, thought I would post the numbers sent in the LU email, since future readers may be interested in this year's stats:
"Over 1,200 children sat the entrance exam for Latymer Upper this year and we intend to interview 450 children for approximately 128 places."
That's actually fewer applicants than I'd guessed. (And I assume they over-offer by about 2x to fill places? So maybe a 50/50 shot once you're at interview?)

Who knows! We’ve been invited to interview and my daughter said the problem solving exam went terribly!

same - my daughter missed out quite a few questions and thought it was quite difficult. So who knows. It would be nice to know the ratio 😜

DD also got through to interview for LEH! ….. as did quite a few of the girls in her friend group, so yes, it’s looking like the numbers are high!

Just looked at the email when my DC sat it 6 years ago! Was 1300 then so that sounds about the right ballpark given VAT and no GCSEs!

I’m ok with missing out on it and it just being interview practice. Really not holding my breath as she’s usually quite spot on as to whether she’s done well on an exam or not. They could possibly be inviting more back as unaware of the impact of VAT on acceptance numbers. I know at our state primary the numbers moving onto private have plummeted…

LEH always interview a lot but don’t offer to all who attend the interview. You can search on old threads re how many LEH interview.

Congrats to everyone that had good news today! (and commiserations to anyone that had disappointing news). Very pleasantly surprised DS got through to interviews at LU, as he hadn't sounded very confident coming out. Suspect he'll be towards the bottom of the exam results given that, but really appreciate the mental boost it will give him going into Christmas - we aren't expecting to hear from any other schools until the New Year now, which feels like a looooooong wait!

It was just over 1,350 last year. But I guess it's normal to fluctuate from year to year and birth rate goes down, plus VAT.

Do you know if they interviewed the same number last year (they’re saying 450 this year).

Yes, they said 450 last year as well.

Fascinating (and confusing) how different the approaches are for the schools - Latymer next stage is 2-3 hours whilst G&L is 15 min interview?

Yea, I found this interesting...how are they supposed to know if the dc would thrive at the school in as little as 15 minutes? I suspect though with the majority of the more academic schools they already know via the test scores and the interview stage is probably more of confirmation or for borderline cases. It would be very interesting to know exactly how much weight the interview has on offers. I do have to say that G&L must know what they are doing with those 15 minutes....my dd goes there and is very happy. And DS goes to Latymer...he is very happy too. I think a big part of the interview is to get an idea of the dc would thrive at the school and be happy. They always ask questions to get an understanding if the dc will get involved in school and interested in what they have to offer.

Such useful info - thanks so much @SamPoodle123! Congrats on the terrific achievements of your dcs, you must be so proud!

I suppose logistically speaking, given the significantly shorter interview times, G&L have the capacity to interview significantly more than Latymer... wonder how they approach it...

I was thinking the same and am hoping for my DD to have an interview at both places

@SamPoodle123 did your DD who goes to G&L also apply to LU? Would be very helpful to have some insights on the LU interview please!

I am not sure if they interview more given the shorter time slots. Probably not. You could try asking how many got through to interview round this year for G&L and compare?