Top Grammar Schools in London: The Complete Guide (2026)
The tests, places and admission rules of the London grammar schools in the table, for September 2027 entry — with a strategy for London families
Book a Free ConsultationThe tests, places and admission rules of the London grammar schools in the table, for September 2027 entry — with a strategy for London families
Book a Free ConsultationLondon has a large number of grammar and selective state schools, each with its own tests and admission rules. This guide provides a table of the major London grammar and selective schools, the tests they use, their Year 7 places and how they decide who gets them — along with links to individual preparation guides for each school. Dates and admission rules are for September 2027 entry, and the second table gives each school's own published figures for the entry year stated in each row.
Checked October 2026
Henrietta Barnett held Round Two on Tuesday 6 October 2026 for the top 300 and writes in late October 2026 to the parents of candidates who sat both Round One and Round Two. Kingston Grammar's registration closed on Monday 5 October 2026; its entrance exams are on Friday 6 November 2026. Sources: each school's admissions pages and arrangements.
London's grammar schools each publish their own admissions rules, so tests, area rules and dates differ from school to school. A few rank purely on score with no catchment, QE Boys Barnet and St Olave's among them, so a boy from anywhere can in principle win a place. Many apply an area rule: Tiffin School offered no place outside its 10km Priority Area for 2024, 2025 or 2026 entry, Tiffin Girls' has offered none outside its 44 postal districts since 2014, and Latymer admits only children living in its Inner Area.
Each school in the table below runs its own Year 7 admissions process, with its own test dates and rules.
| School | Type | Test | Year 7 places | How places are decided |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| QE Boys Barnet | Boys, selective | Multiple-choice tests in English and Maths | 180 | Combined score of 225 or higher to be eligible, then rank order; no catchment |
| Henrietta Barnett School | Girls, selective | Round One verbal, non-verbal and English; top 300 sat Round Two in English and Maths on Tuesday 6 October 2026 | 120 | Required standard is a top-300 place in Round One; looked-after, Pupil Premium and within-3-miles girls first |
| Tiffin School | Boys, selective | Its own two-stage English and Maths test, set with Quest | 186 (six forms of 31) | Ranked by score; priority within 10km |
| Tiffin Girls' School | Girls, selective | Two-stage test in English and maths (Stage One marked by computer; Stage Two written) | 180 | Ranked by test score; priority to 44 postal districts |
| St Olave's Grammar School | Boys, selective | Stage 1 multiple choice (English, verbal and non-verbal reasoning, maths); top 450 sit Stage 2 | 124, plus up to 4 choristers | Rank order, no catchment |
| Newstead Wood School | Girls, selective | Verbal and non-verbal reasoning, multiple choice | 168 | Required standard 210, flexed to fill places; priority within 9 miles |
| Dame Alice Owen's | Selective entrance exam | Part I verbal reasoning (provided by GL Assessment); Part II English and Maths papers written by the school | Set out in the school's Admission Arrangements September 2027/28 | Top 325 from Part I sit Part II; local priority areas published, including Islington |
| Latymer School Edmonton | Co-ed, selective | Maths and verbal reasoning set by GL Assessment; English set by the school (Quest Assessments from September 2027, for 2028 entry) | 192 | Rank order; only Inner Area residents admitted |
| Nonsuch High School | Girls, SET | Sutton Selective Eligibility Test, then written English and Maths | 210 | School sets its own pass mark; 85 on score alone, up to 35 Pupil Premium, up to 125 within 5.25km |
| Wallington High Girls | Girls, SET | Sutton Selective Eligibility Test, then written English and Maths | 210 | School sets its own pass mark; 100 on score alone, up to 35 Pupil Premium, up to 110 within 6.7km |
| Wallington County Grammar | Boys, SET | Sutton Selective Eligibility Test, then any further stage the school runs | See the admission arrangements for entry in September 2027 | School sets its own pass mark; places by criterion are in its arrangements for entry in September 2027 |
| Wilson's School | Boys, SET | Sutton Selective Eligibility Test, then written English and Maths | 186 | School sets its own pass mark; rank order after 14 free-school-meal and 18 aptitude places |
| Sutton Grammar School | Boys, SET | Sutton Selective Eligibility Test, then written English and Maths | 150 | School sets its own pass mark; up to 10 Pupil Premium and 75 priority-postcode places, rest by rank |
| Kingston Grammar School | Co-ed, independent | English and Maths papers, then interview | First Year (Year 7) entry | Registration closed Monday 5 October 2026; entrance exams on Friday 6 November 2026; interviews on Tuesday 5 January 2027 |
Source: each school's own admissions arrangements and FAQs for September 2027 entry, plus the Selective Eligibility Test FAQ and key dates, retrieved 11 October 2026.
The Selective Eligibility Test FAQ says a pass mark cannot be stated in advance and that each participating school may set its own.
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These schools publish different figures and count different things, so the figures below are a guide to scale rather than a league table.
| School | What the school counts | Figure | Places or offers |
|---|---|---|---|
| QE Boys Barnet | Waiting list, Year 7 entry in September 2026 | reached position 24 | 180 (admission number) |
| Henrietta Barnett School | Girls invited to Round Two, 2027 entry | 300 | 120 (admission number) |
| Tiffin School | Boys tested at Stage One, 2026 entry | 1,866 | 186 offered |
| Tiffin Girls' School | Girls tested at Stage One, 2026 entry | 1,468 | 180 |
| St Olave's Grammar School | Applicants, average of the 2025 and 2026 application seasons | around 1600 | 124 places plus up to 4 chorister places |
| Newstead Wood School | Required standard, September 2027 entry | 210 marks | 168 (planned admission number) |
| Dame Alice Owen's | Children invited to Part II, 2027 entry | 325 | Set out in the school's Admission Arrangements September 2027/28 |
Source: each school's own admissions pages and documents, retrieved 11 October 2026.
Each figure is the school's own, for the entry year stated in its row.
Three cautions follow from the table. First, the figures count different things (children tested, children invited to a second round, applicants, waiting-list positions and required scores), and one child may sit several schools' tests but hold only one offer. Second, where a school applies an area rule, the real competition is among children inside the area: Tiffin Girls' reports that 1,322 of its 1,468 Stage One candidates for 2026 entry lived in its Designated Area (the other 146 lived outside it), and every place went to a girl inside it. Third, fields move from year to year: Tiffin's Stage One field grew from 1,654 for 2024 entry to 1,866 for 2026 entry while its places offered stayed at 186, whereas Tiffin Girls' Stage One field was 1,485 for 2024 entry and 1,468 for 2026 entry against 180 places.
A combination of London grammar schools can be built around: gender (several schools in the table admit only boys or only girls); area rules (at Tiffin, Tiffin Girls', Henrietta Barnett, Newstead Wood, Dame Alice Owen's, Latymer and several Sutton schools); who provides the test (GL Assessment provides part of the test at Dame Alice Owen's and Latymer); and how realistic a score target is.
A strategic London grammar school application might combine QE Boys Barnet (no catchment); Dame Alice Owen's (for children in its local priority areas); and a Sutton school using the Selective Eligibility Test, where each school sets its own pass mark and some keep places for nearby postcodes or catchment circles, if the family is in or near Sutton. The combination depends entirely on home location, gender, and the child's current ability level. For an independent assessment of which schools are realistic targets for your child, a specialist 11 plus tutor can provide guidance based on a diagnostic assessment score and your specific home location. See our grammar school hub, our individual school guides, and our 11 plus tuition service.
Exam dates vary significantly across London grammar schools, and families targeting multiple schools must plan carefully to manage the preparation and exam schedule across multiple September-to-January windows.
For September 2027 entry, the tests ran from the first days of Year 6: Dame Alice Owen's Part I on 1 September 2026, Henrietta Barnett's Round One on 2 to 4 September and Latymer's tests on 3 to 5 September; the Sutton Selective Eligibility Test on 15 September, QE Boys Barnet on 16 and 17 September, the joint second stage for Nonsuch and Wallington High on 26 September 2026, Dame Alice Owen's Part II on 26 September 2026 and Newstead Wood's selection test on 25 and 26 September 2026; and Tiffin Girls' Stage One on 1 and 2 October and Tiffin School's on 2 October. QE Boys Barnet gave 1 October 2026 as its provisional date for notifying parents of results. The shared second-stage examination for Sutton Grammar, Wilson's and Wallington County Grammar took place on Saturday 3 October 2026. Henrietta Barnett held Round Two on Tuesday 6 October 2026 for the top 300, and Wilson's Aptitude Test Day (Wilson's only) took place on Saturday 10 October 2026. Still ahead: notification of Stage Two invitations on or around 14 October 2026 (Tiffin Girls') and 16 October 2026 (Tiffin School); St Olave's aims to notify Stage Two invitations by mid-October 2026, and in any case before the 31 October 2026 CAF deadline; Dame Alice Owen's Round 2 results on 23 October 2026; Henrietta Barnett's letters in late October 2026 to the parents of candidates who sat both Round One and Round Two; and the written Stage Two tests on Saturday 7 November 2026 (Tiffin Girls') and 12 November 2026 (Tiffin School). If you would like a preparation plan built around your child's target schools and these dates, book a free consultation and we will map it out with you. Kingston Grammar's registration closed on Monday 5 October 2026, its entrance exams are on Friday 6 November 2026 and its interviews are on Tuesday 5 January 2027. Grammar school first-stage tests were held in September and October 2026, the Tiffin schools' Stage Two tests are on 7 and 12 November 2026, and Kingston Grammar's exam and interview fall on 6 November 2026 and 5 January 2027. Children preparing for several London schools meet more varied question styles, but the formats genuinely differ: QE Boys Barnet and the Tiffin schools test English and maths only, while St Olave's, Newstead Wood, Dame Alice Owen's and Latymer include verbal reasoning, so a shared programme still needs school-specific practice.
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The Department for Education publishes school-level results in its performance tables. The latest GCSE results are for summer 2025. The next release of the DfE's national key stage 4 GCSE statistics is due in October 2026. The latest A-level statistics are for 2024/25. Progress 8 cannot be calculated for 2024/25 or 2025/26.
Reviewed October 2026: dates, figures and rules checked against Henrietta Barnett's admissions page and policy, Kingston Grammar's 11+ entry page and the Selective Eligibility Test key dates.
Which school is best depends on what a family is comparing. For results, the DfE publishes school-level performance tables: the latest GCSE results are from summer 2025 and the latest A-level statistics are for 2024/25. On selection, QE Boys Barnet and St Olave's have no catchment, Tiffin School gives priority to boys within 10km, Tiffin Girls' to girls in 44 postal districts, and Henrietta Barnett to girls within three miles. The Sutton schools using the Selective Eligibility Test (Nonsuch, Wallington High Girls, Wallington County Grammar, Wilson's and Sutton Grammar) each set their own pass mark, and Nonsuch, Wallington High Girls and Sutton Grammar keep places for nearby children.
On the schools' own published admissions patterns, Tiffin School tested 1,866 boys at Stage One for 186 places for 2026 entry (186 divided by 1,866 is about 10%); Tiffin Girls' tested 1,468 girls at Stage One for 180 places for 2026 entry (180 divided by 1,468 is about 12%); and St Olave's reports around 1600 applicants on average across the 2025 and 2026 application seasons for 124 places plus up to 4 chorister places. The schools count their fields differently, so these are a guide to scale rather than a league table. The Sutton schools each set their own pass mark on the Selective Eligibility Test, which was held on 15 September 2026 for 2027 entry.
Some do and some don't. QE Boys Barnet and St Olave's have no catchment and rank applicants by score. Tiffin School ranks boys within 10km first and offered no place outside that radius for 2024, 2025 or 2026 entry; Tiffin Girls' ranks girls in 44 named postcode districts first and has offered every place inside them since 2014; Henrietta Barnett gives priority to girls within three miles; Newstead Wood to girls within 9 miles; Latymer admits only children living in its Inner Area; and several Sutton schools keep places for catchment circles or nearby postcodes. For these schools, living within the area can make the difference between an offer and rejection even with a strong score.
It varies by school. GL Assessment provides part of the test at some: Dame Alice Owen's verbal reasoning paper, and Latymer's maths and verbal reasoning paper for 2027 entry (Latymer's 11+ assessments will be provided by Quest Assessments from September 2027, for 2028 entry). QE Boys Barnet's entrance tests are multiple-choice in English and maths; Henrietta Barnett's first round is set by what it calls a nationally recognised body; Tiffin School works with Quest to set its Year 7 entrance tests; Tiffin Girls' two stages are English and maths tests; and the Sutton schools share the Selective Eligibility Test, which has no verbal or non-verbal reasoning. Always confirm the current exam provider with any target school directly, as formats can change between entry cohorts.
London grammar school applications follow the standard secondary school admissions process through your local authority. You complete a Common Application Form (CAF) online through your local council. Tiffin School, Tiffin Girls', Dame Alice Owen's and the Sutton Selective Eligibility Test schools each give 31 October 2026 as the CAF deadline for September 2027 entry; confirm the closing date on your own council's website. Before applying, you must register your child separately for any entrance examinations required by the target grammar schools — these registration deadlines are typically in the spring or summer of Year 5, though Kingston Grammar's for 2027 entry closed on Monday 5 October 2026; Tiffin Girls' for 2027 entry closed at noon on Tuesday 1 September 2026. QE Boys Barnet and Henrietta Barnett School both require separate registration, as does Tiffin School. Failing to register by the school's deadline means the child cannot sit the exam regardless of how good their application is.
Leading Tuition provides specialist one-to-one 11 plus preparation for all major London grammar schools including QE Boys Barnet, Henrietta Barnett School, Tiffin School, Tiffin Girls', Dame Alice Owen's, and the Sutton SET schools. Our tutors understand the specific exam format, competition level, and score requirements for each school and build preparation programmes accordingly. We provide diagnostic assessments, structured preparation programmes, timed mock exam practice, and personalised school selection advice. Book a free consultation at leadingtuition.co.uk/consultation or message us on WhatsApp.
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