Admissions FAQs

The “participating schools” in the Selective Eligibility Test, “SET”, are Greenshaw High School, Nonsuch High School for Girls, Sutton Grammar School, Wallington County Grammar School, Wallington High School for Girls and Wilson’s School.

No. If your child passes the Selective Eligibility Test for a particular school it means:

For Greenshaw High School – Greenshaw High School use the outcome of the Selective Eligibility Test to determine those children who may be eligible to be considered for one of their 60 ability places. You may wish to list this school on your Common Application Form (CAF). Please note that even if your child does not achieve the pass mark in the Selective Eligibility Test they may still be eligible for a place at Greenshaw under one of the school’s other criteria.

For Nonsuch High School for Girls, Sutton Grammar School, Wallington High School for Girls and Wilson’s School – your son or daughter is eligible to sit the second stage Entrance Examinations, details of which will be sent to you by email.

For boys:
A shared second stage test will be held by Sutton Grammar School, Wallington County Grammar School and Wilson’s School on Saturday 30 September 2023. The test will be common to all three schools, but the criteria applied to be of selective ability will be determined by each school individually. If your son is deemed to be of selective ability by any one of these schools, you will be able to name those school(s) on your CAF in your chosen order of preference then your son will be considered for a place in accordance with the school’s admissions policy.

The outcome of the second stage entrance examinations will be emailed to parents/carers by the end of October (in advance of the deadline for completion of the CAF). Please note that success in the examinations does not mean that a place will be offered.

For girls:
A joint second stage test will be held by Nonsuch High School for Girls and Wallington High School for Girls on Saturday 1 October 2022. Both the test and the criteria applied to be of selective ability will be common to both schools. If your daughter is deemed to be of selective ability, you will be able to name either or both schools on your CAF in your chosen order of preference.

The outcome of the second stage entrance examinations will be emailed to parents/carers by the end of October (in advance of the deadline for completion of the CAF). Please note that success in the examinations does not mean that a place will be offered.

Please note:
Greenshaw High School admits both boys and girls.
Sutton Grammar School, Wallington County Grammar School and Wilson's School admit only boys.
Nonsuch High School for Girls and Wallington High School for Girls admit only girls.

For a place at Wilson’s School in Year 7 September 2024, you must register your child to take the Selective Eligibility Test by completing the online Registration Form which can be accessed here. This online Registration Form can also be accessed via the websites of Greenshaw High School, Nonsuch High School for Girls, Sutton Grammar School, Wilson’s School, Wallington High School for Girls and Wallington County Grammar School.

The online Registration Form will be available to complete online from 1 May 2023. The closing date for the completion of the Registration Form is midnight on Friday 4th August 2023.

No late registrations will be accepted under any circumstances.

Please note there is an earlier deadline of 16th June 2023 for submission of requests for special adjustments for candidates with SEN, and for supporting evidence (see further information in the section about What if my child has special needs or medical requirements that I think should be taken into account?).

There is no overseas provision; in order to sit the test your child must be present at one of the participating schools. For SET these will be Greenshaw High School, Nonsuch High School for Girls, Sutton Grammar School, Wallington County Grammar School, Wallington High School for Girls and Wilson’s School.

Girls who pass the SET will be invited to sit the Second Stage Entrance Examination at either Nonsuch High School or Wallington Girls. Boys who pass the SET will be invited to sit the Second Stage Entrance Examination at either Sutton Grammar School, Wilson’s School or Wallington County Grammar School. Greenshaw High School do not hold a Second Stage Entrance Examination.

You must complete your registration using the online form in advance of the closing date.

Should your son be successful in the Selective Eligibility Test, he will be invited to sit the Second Stage Entrance Examination for Wilson’s School.

If your son passes this test and you wish to be considered for a place at Wilson’s School you will need to name the school on your CAF (in your true order of preference). If you have not named Wilson’s School on your CAF we will not be able to consider him for a place even if your son passes the entrance examinations.

The CAF is provided by your home Local Authority when your child is in Year 6 and you use it to apply to any school regardless of the Local Authority in which the School is located. It can also be completed online via this link.

The closing date for submission of the CAF is 31 October 2023.

In order to make a valid application to Wilson’s School:

• you must name Wilson’s School on your home Local Authority’s Common Application Form; and
• your son must have passed the Wilson’s School Second Stage Entrance Examination.

The Registration Form for the Selective Eligibility Test serves as the Supplementary Form for Wilson’s School, and for all the schools in the SET group.

No. You only need to complete the online Registration Form once. This is the case no matter how many of the participating schools you are interested in.

That’s fine. Just complete the online Registration Form to sit the Selective Eligibility Test (accessed via the website of any of the participating schools). Your child must sit the Selective Eligibility Test in order to be considered by any of the following schools: Nonsuch High School for Girls, Sutton Grammar School, Wallington County Grammar School, Wallington High School for Girls, Wilson's School or for one of the 60 ability places available at Greenshaw High School.

If you register your child for the SET (Selective Eligibility Test) but then decide that you do not want him or her to take the test after all, please let us know by emailing set2024Entry@suttongrammar.sutton.sch.uk as soon as you decide.

Are you genuinely interested in applying for a place at one or more of the selective schools in the London Borough of Sutton? While any parent of a child who will be transferring to secondary school in September 2024 is entitled to register their child for the SET, we respectfully request that you only register if you are genuinely seeking a place in one or more of the SET participating schools.

Parents using our tests as a free “mock” for more distant grammar schools or for independent schools generate unnecessary costs for us. When the children qualify for, and sit, stage 2 tests the costs can be quite significant as stage 2 tests have to be marked by teaching professionals.

You will be asked when you start your registration how many children you are going to register. Your children will then be linked to your parental information so that we know they are from the same family group. Please follow the instructions on the registration form.

The Selective Eligibility Test is for children who will be in Year 6 of primary school at the date of the test being held on 12 September 2023 (expected date of birth range 1 September 2012 to 31 August 2013). Children can only sit the Selective Eligibility Test once. A younger child cannot sit the test in earlier years as a practice. The participating schools will conduct year on year comparisons of the names of registered children.

If your child is going to be in Year 6 at the time of the test but is out of date range (i.e. their birth date is not between 1 September 2012 and 31 August 2013) then you must contact the SET administrator at set2024entry@suttongrammar.sutton.sch.uk. You will be asked to provide supporting evidence from your child’s primary school confirming why the decision was taken to allow them into an academic year that does not correspond with their birth date year. This information will be shared with all relevant participating schools and a decision will be taken by each of those schools as to whether to allow a child to be considered for a place at that school outside of the normal chronological age range. Please refer to the 2024 admission arrangements for the school(s) you are interested in for more information on how out of date range pupils are considered.

You have been asked to complete these questions because your child’s eligibility for Free School Meals and/or your child’s Primary School receiving Pupil Premium in respect of him or her forms part of the oversubscription criteria in the admissions policies of the following schools within the SET group:

Nonsuch High School for Girls
Wallington High School for Girls
Wallington County Grammar School
Wilson’s School

You should consult the Admissions Policy of these specific schools for further information.

For Nonsuch High School for Girls and Wallington High School for Girls, candidates in receipt of income related free school meals or who have triggered Pupil Premium are eligible to achieve up to 10% less than the standardised pass mark for the SET (and the minimum standardised pass marks in the NWSSEE Maths and NWSSEE English).

Parents/carers will be able to download a Pupil Premium form when registering their child for the SET or a copy can be found on the website of the girls’ schools. The child’s Primary school will need to complete the form and return it to GLT Admissions (for Nonsuch & Wallington High School for Girls) before the child sits the Selective Eligibility Test. It is the parents/carer’s responsibility to ensure this evidence is submitted.

For Wallington County Grammar School, there is an admissions band of up to 25 places available for candidates who pass the entrance tests for Wallington County Grammar School and who are eligible for Pupil Premium. If your son is eligible to be considered for a place at this school because they have passed the relevant test(s), documentary evidence to confirm Pupil Premium / FSM eligibility will be required from your child's current primary school after the Selective Eligibility Test. It is the parents’ responsibility to ensure this documentary evidence is available.

For Wilson’s School, there is an admission band of up to 14 places available for candidates who pass the entrance tests for Wilson’s School and are eligible for income-linked Free School Meals. If your son is eligible to be considered for a place at this school because they have passed the relevant test(s), documentary evidence to confirm FSM eligibility will be required from your child's current primary school after the Selective Eligibility Test. It is the parents’ responsibility to ensure this documentary evidence is available.

You should speak to your child’s primary school who will be able to help answer this question. This link gives a list of the reasons why your child could be eligible for free school meals. This link provides information on pupil premium.

The date of the Selective Eligibility Test will be Tuesday 17 September 2024.

The Selective Eligibility Test is made up of two papers; a multiple-choice Maths paper and a multiple-choice English paper. The tests do not include verbal reasoning or non-verbal reasoning.

Candidates record their answers on a separate answer sheet by filling in a lozenge-shape for answer A, B, C, D or E or a combination of answers. If candidates change their mind about the answer, they need to rub out as fully as possible the wrong answer and replace it with the new answer. The exam papers take between 40 and 50 minutes each and there is a rest and toilet break between the two.

An extract from a sample answer sheet can be viewed here.

We do not provide specimen papers.

The content of the Maths and English tests is broadly based on the Key Stage 2 curriculum. Examples of the sorts of questions asked in the English and Maths Selective Eligibility Tests can be downloaded here: English Maths

No, we do not provide rough paper for workings out. It is fine for candidates to use any additional space on the SET Question Papers for their workings out.

There are no alternative dates to sit the Selective Eligibility Test except if your child is not fit to sit the test on the day. A medical certificate/evidence covering the SET date confirming your child was not fit to sit the test on the day will be required.

All six participating schools will be hosting the Selective Eligibility Test at their schools at the same time. About a week before the test date you will be notified by email of the test centre your child should attend, along with other details needed to sit the test. Regardless of your preferences, girls will be allocated to sit the test at either Nonsuch High School for Girls, Wallington High School for Girls or Greenshaw High School. Boys will be allocated to sit the test at one of Sutton Grammar School, Wallington County Grammar School, Wilson's School or Greenshaw High School. Boy/girl twins or siblings will be allocated to sit the test at Greenshaw High School.

No. In view of the number of candidates, it is not possible to manage requests for a specific venue.

It doesn’t matter. The school your child attends to sit the Selective Eligibility Test has no relevance to your preferences for a school place.

We will not be providing any form of overseas testing and all candidates will be expected to travel to the UK to sit the SET at one of the Sutton school test centres.

You should be aware that when you are applying for a school place, by completing the Common Application Form, rather than simply registering your child to sit an entrance test, applicants living outside England may only submit an application if they have a linked address within an English Local Authority area. Documentary evidence must be supplied to the Local Authority at the time of application to show you will return to the address prior to September in the year of entry. If you wish to discuss your circumstances prior to making an application, you should contact the school admissions department of your likely future home Local Authority. Local Authority contact details in the local area are as follows:

Sutton: suttonadmissions@cognus.org.uk (020 8770 5000)
Merton: admissions@merton.gov.uk (020 8274 4901)
Croydon: school.admissions@croydon.gov.uk (020 8726 6400)
Surrey: schooladmissions@surreycc.gov.uk (0300 200 1004)

No. In view of the number of candidates, it is not possible to manage requests for a specific time during the test day.

The online registration form asks you to provide details of any special needs or medical conditions your child may have. It is particularly important that you should tell us if your child has any physical, medical, sensory, learning or behavioural issues or conditions or is suffering from a temporary injury that may substantially disadvantage him/her in the context of an examination. Letting us know will not disadvantage your child in any way. It is also important that you tell us if your child has a disability in relation to mobility that has an impact upon their ability to access the exam venue so that appropriate arrangements can be made.

Please note that supporting documentary evidence must be submitted if you wish us to consider putting a special arrangement in place for the tests. The required evidence must be submitted to set2024entry@suttongrammar.sutton.sch.uk no later than Friday 16 June 2023.

Further guidance and information on the evidence that is required and the basis on which decision on special arrangements will be made can be found here.

If your child has an EHCP, there are separate processes to be followed and you should speak first with your Local Authority who administer the process. You still need to complete the online Registration Form for your child to be able to sit the Selective Eligibility Test. Your child will need to pass the Selective Eligibility Test (and second stage tests where applicable) to be eligible for a place at Nonsuch High School for Girls, Sutton Grammar School, Wallington County Grammar School, Wallington High School for Girls, Wilson's School or for one of the 60 ability places at Greenshaw High School.

Please note that supporting documentary evidence must be submitted if you wish us to consider putting a special arrangement in place for the tests. The required evidence must be submitted no later than Friday 16 June 2023 to the email address set2024entrySEN@suttongrammar.sutton.sch.uk. Please do not send the evidence to the school(s) you are interested in or the general SET2024 email address as it will not be processed.

Further guidance and information on the evidence that is required and the basis on which decisions on special arrangements will be made can be found here.

Your child will need:

1. A printout of the invitation email which will be sent to you the week before the test. This contains your child’s venue details and candidate number.
2. Two pencils (HB or B), a soft rubber, a pencil sharpener and a ruler in a clear plastic pencil case or bag.
3. A fleece or jumper.
4. If desired, water in a clear plastic sports cap bottle (no fizzy drinks) and a snack for break time (no nuts due to the number of children who suffer from nut allergies).
5. A reading book to help pass waiting time. It should be a book that your child is reading for pleasure.
6. Tissues.

Your child must not bring:

1. A mobile telephone or any other electronic device.
2. A calculator or calculator watch.
3. A watch that beeps.
4. Any piece of stationery which displays times tables or other such information.
5. A dictionary.
6. Any food containing nuts.

Please do not send your child to the exam with a large backpack/bag as space in the exam areas is limited. We would recommend using a tote or carrier bag.

Please do not show us your child’s candidate number on your smartphone. You must have a printout with his/her candidate number when you arrive for the test.

Your child may bring their usual medication with them to the test venue. It is important to provide details of their medical requirements on the online registration form so that we can make sure that the members of staff supervising their test venue are aware.

If your child is not able to sit the test on the day of the Selective Eligibility Test you must email before the test is due to start. The email must have “UNFIT TO SIT” in the subject heading, and the body of the message must include the child’s full name, date of birth and candidate number as well as a brief explanation of the reason that they are unfit to sit the test. You will need to produce a doctor’s certificate/evidence confirming that your child was not fit to sit the test, so please be aware when sending the initial email that evidence will be required subsequently. The evidence needs to be submitted by Friday 15 September 2023. We will then arrange for your child to sit the test at a later date. If you do not follow the instructions above, your child will not be able to sit the test at a later date.

Where a candidate becomes indisposed during a test, the test venue will make appropriate arrangements to care for the child and to inform his/her parents. These arrangements may include allowing the candidate to leave the test room for a short period under supervision; returning to finish the tests. If the candidate is unable to continue and leaves the premises then he/she will not be allowed to finish any test that he/she has already started.

It is not possible to state a pass mark in advance of the test. The pass mark will be decided by the participating schools after the test has been marked. Each School may determine its own pass mark.

Please note: following the Selective Eligibility Test, no review or re-marking of papers will be available.

It is the total score that determines whether your child has passed the test: so for example, a very good performance in English can compensate for one that is a little weaker in Maths.

Yes. The rank order of the entrance examinations at each of these schools will be determined on the basis of the aggregate scores of the Selective Eligibility Test and the papers which make up the shared second stage Entrance Examination. Each school may apply their own specific ratio and you are advised to look further at the websites of the individual schools.

Yes. The final total score is the sum of the SET score (re-standardised and divided by 2), the standardised Maths NWSSEE score and the standardised English NWSSEE score.

Yes. A standardisation for age mechanism is applied to the outcome of the Selective Eligibility Test.

You will receive an outcome email during the week after the Selective Eligibility Test.

Each school may determine its own pass mark.

If your child has passed the SET for ANY of the participating schools (Nonsuch High School for Girls, Sutton Grammar School, Wallington County Grammar School, Wallington High School for Girls, Wilson’s School or Greenshaw High School) you will not be given their scores, but you will be told that he/she has met the required standard(s) and invited to the second stage testing (where applicable).

For Greenshaw High School, if your child is eligible for one of the 60 ability places, you will not be given their score, but you will be given information on how to apply for one of these 60 places.

If your child does not meet the required standard for any of the participating schools, you will be given his/her standardised scores in both papers, which will include any appropriate age adjustment and their total score.

Please note: following the Selective Eligibility Test, no review or re-marking of papers will be available.

If your child does not pass the Selective Eligibility Test for a particular school it means:

For Greenshaw High School – your son or daughter is not eligible for one of the 60 ability places at Greenshaw High School but they may still be eligible for a place at Greenshaw High School under one of the school's other criteria. Please see the Greenshaw High School website for details of its admissions criteria.

For all the other participating schools – your child is not eligible for a place at any of these schools as they will not have met the admissions criteria. You should not name these schools on your CAF.. However, if you think you might want to lodge an appeal, you will need to name the relevant school(s) on the CAF. This will give you the opportunity to lodge any appeal(s) after National Offer Day.

The pass mark for each school represents a standardised score, rather than raw marks or points or a percentage score in the tests. Each child’s final total standardised score is stated to several decimal places to provide a ranked list. It is therefore possible (in fact likely) that there are a great number of candidates in the ranked list between each whole number.

For example if the pass mark was a standardised score of 214 and your child’s total standardised score is 213, it is not accurate to say that they have missed the pass mark by “one mark”. There could be a large number of children (e.g. 50-60) with total standardised scores between your child’s position in the rank and the last child to achieve the pass mark.

No. All SET answer sheets are marked twice as a matter of course: firstly by machine and then by hand, to ensure that all marks are accurately recorded.

You will not receive an offer until 1 March 2024 (National Offer Day). Offers of places at Wilson’s School are dependent not only on passing the Wilson’s School second stage Entrance Examination and your son’s position in the rank order, but also on whether your son is eligible to be considered under one of the other admission criteria (free school meals or aptitude places) and whether or not you have placed another school or schools higher on your list of preferences and, if you have, on the outcome of the process at those schools.

The Wilson’s School Second Stage Entrance Examination will be held on Saturday 5 October 2024. All boys who have passed the Selective Eligibility Test for Wilson's School will receive an invitation to sit the Wilson's School Second Stage Entrance Examination. Wilson's School will share its Second Stage Entrance Examination with Sutton Grammar School and Wallington County Grammar School. The outcome of this shared second stage test will be used by each of the schools to determine eligibility for places at their school.

The three schools have agreed to share their Second Stage Entrance Examinations. This has the advantage for boys who have passed the Selective Eligibility Test of only requiring them to sit one second stage examination, the results of which will be used independently by each school to determine eligibility to be considered for a place there.

There is no current or planned connection between the three schools beyond co-operation on our entrance testing arrangements. All three schools remain separate and distinct state funded academy schools.

The second-stage test will consist of two papers as follows:

• English (1 hour): this paper will be an extended writing task.
• Maths (45 minutes): this will be a standard maths paper.

The tests will not include verbal or non-verbal reasoning, and are not multiple choice.

No, we do not make sample tests available. The content of the English and Mathematics tests is broadly based on the Key Stage 2 curriculum.

It is not possible to state pass marks in advance of the examination. Pass marks will be decided by each individual school after the papers have been marked. Wilson's School, Sutton Grammar School and Wallington County Grammar School may not necessarily set the same pass mark. For Wilson’s School candidates must reach a pass standard in each of the English and Maths papers as well as the overall pass mark in order to be considered for a place at the school.

Yes. Once the shared Second Stage Entrance Examination has been marked, each school will combine the scores of this test with the scores of the SET in accordance with its own Admissions Criteria. For Wilson's School, candidates must pass both the English and the Mathematics papers from the Second Stage Entrance Examination to be eligible to be considered for a place in the rank order. The rank order of the entrance examinations is then determined on the basis of the aggregate scores of the Selective Eligibility Test and the two elements of the Second Stage Entrance Examination in the ratio 1: 2: 2. Please refer to the Sutton Grammar School and Wallington County Grammar School websites for details of how the scores for the second stage test will be used at each of these school.

Yes, for Wilson’s School, candidates must reach a pass standard in both the English and the Mathematics papers in order to be considered for a place at the school.

Appropriate adjustment for age will be considered before the aggregate score is calculated.

That’s fine. Invitations are sent out automatically to all boys who have passed the Selective Eligibility Test for Wilson’s, Sutton Grammar and Wallington County, but if you do not wish your son to sit the Second Stage Entrance Examination, please just email us to let us know before the date of the test. If your son does not sit the shared Second Stage Entrance Examination you should not name Wilson’s School or Sutton Grammar School or Wallington County Grammar School on your Common Application Form.

That's fine. The allocation of venue for the Second Stage Entrance Examination has been made so that, where possible, candidates have been allocated a different venue from the one they were allocated for the Selective Eligibility Test, in order to provide candidates and their parents an opportunity to experience different school settings. The venue allocation has no bearing on your ultimate school preference. If you are interested in a place at any one or all of Wilson's School, Sutton Grammar School or Wallington County Grammr School, your son needs to sit the Second Stage Entrance Examination at the school you have been allocated.

No. It is a requirement that your son sits and passes the Selective Eligibility Test in order for him to sit the shared Second Stage Entrance Examination.

There are no alternative dates to sit the Second Stage Entrance Examination except in the case of a child not being fit to sit the test on the day. A medical certificate or other evidence confirming the position on the day of the test will be required.

No. There will only be a morning session.

You will have already provided details of these when completing the online Registration Form to register your child to sit the Selective Eligibility Test. You will have been informed of the arrangements if any that will be in place for your son for the shared Second Stage Entrance Examination.

Each school will send you a separate notification of the outcome of the Second Stage Entrance Examination for their school by email to parents/carers before the October half term break. You will therefore have information about whether your son is eligible to be considered for a place at the school(s) before the final CAF deadline of 31 October.

It is also important to note that Wilson's School and Sutton Grammar School and Wallington County Grammar School all have different Admissions Criteria and different methods of combining the scores from the SET and second stage tests and of calculating the final outcome of the entrance tests for our respective schools. This means that it is possible that a boy may pass the examinations for one or two of our schools and not for another. If your son has passed for Wilson's School, you will not, at any stage, be provided with his mark. We only provide details of the overall score achieved to candidates who do not pass the test. Please note that, because of oversubscription, passing the test does not guarantee the offer of a place at Wilson’s School.

All you need to do is register your son to sit the Selective Eligibility Test (SET) which you can do via this website. The online registration form will be open from 1 May 2024 to 2 August 2024. Your son will then be invited to sit the SET on Tuesday 17 September 2024.

In the week following the SET test, you will receive an outcome email. If your son passes the SET for Wilson’s School the outcome email will contain instructions on how to register your son to participate in the Music and/or Sport Aptitude test.

All those that register their son for an aptitude test will receive further information by email about date, arrival time and the arrangements for the session. Arrangements can be put in place if your son wishes to participate in both the Music and Sport Aptitude tests.

The date of the Music and Sport Aptitude Tests for September 2025 entry is Saturday, 12 October 2024.

The aptitude tests will take place on Saturday, 12 October 2024. Arrangements can be put in place if your son wishes to participate in both tests.

Aptitude tests assess the potential of the participant to develop ability in the relevant skill: music (any instrument or voice) or sport (specifically football). It is not a test of ability and a participant does not have to have reached any particular level or grade or have any particular past experience in order to succeed.

For the Music Aptitude Test participants will be given various tasks to complete. Participants are not required to have received formal music training or have accomplished a certain grade level. No part of the Music Aptitude Test requires any familiarity with music theory or other previous musical knowledge.

The Sport Aptitude Test is designed to test for sporting aptitude with a particular focus on the sport of football in order to identify students with particular promise in football. The content of the test does not assume any particular existing proficiency and scores are awarded for demonstration of attributes that indicate a candidate may have what it takes to become a first rate footballer.

There is more information about each of the areas of aptitude under the Football Programme and the Music Programme headings on this website. As these are tests of aptitude, not ability, no particular or specific preparation is required, although for the Music Aptitude test your son will be asked to perform a short piece (either using an instrument or singing).

When all participants have completed the tests their scores will be processed in order to produce a rank order of applicants for the Music Aptitude places and for the Sport Aptitude places. In each case a benchmark threshold will be applied. All those participants whose score is above the respective benchmark threshold will have passed the relevant aptitude test.

You will be sent an outcome email following the aptitude test. If your son has passed an aptitude test it means that he is eligible to be considered for one of the 9 Music / 9 Sport aptitude priority places, provided that your son also passes the second stage entrance exam for Wilson’s School. If your son passes an aptitude test and the second stage entrance exam it does not mean that he is guaranteed a place at Wilson’s School because more children will have passed the tests than the number of available places. If he is not offered a place on national offer day his name will be held on the waiting list for each category of place he is eligible for.

If your son has not passed the aptitude test that he participated in he may still be eligible to be considered for a place at Wilson’s School if he passes the second stage entrance exam for Wilson’s School.

We will not provide any further information about your son’s performance in the aptitude tests.

We are not able to give the details of individuals’ performance on the day. The scores are recorded for the purpose of administering the aptitude tests only. You will be told whether (or not) your son has met the required threshold to be eligible to be considered for one of the aptitude places in Sport or Music as the case may be.

No. As with the entrance examination we do not believe that it is helpful for the wellbeing of the pupils that may be joining us in September to be given this information. We want all those that start with us in Year 7 to be on an even footing without feeling over or under confident in their starting in relation to their peers.

Yes, in order to gain one of our aptitude places at Wilson’s School a candidate will need to have passed the Selective Eligibility Test and the second stage entrance examination as well as the relevant aptitude test. If your son passes an aptitude test and the second stage entrance exam it does not mean that he is guaranteed a place at Wilson’s School because more children will have passed the tests than the number of available places. If he is not offered a place on national offer day his name will be held on the waiting list for each category of place he is eligible for.

To be considered for an aptitude place, candidates must have achieved at least the pass mark in the academic tests as well as the pass mark for the aptitude place.

When places to be offered for Wilson’s School are being sorted ready for national offer day the aptitude places are allocated before the places based on performance in the entrance examinations. The aptitude places at Wilson’s School are allocated by reference to the rank order of performance in the aptitude test, rather than the rank order performance of the candidates in the academic tests. This means that your son can gain a place by doing well in the aptitude test even though they may not be one of the higher performing candidates in the academic tests.

The remainder of the places at Wilson’ School are allocated to candidates by reference to the rank order of performance in the academic test.

There is one aptitude test opportunity for the sports (football) places and one for the music aptitude places. The tests will be held in the autumn term, although each may be organised across a number of sessions depending on the numbers.

If your son gains a place in Year 7 at Wilson’s School but not as a Music Scholar or Football Scholar he will still be given an enormous range of opportunities to play and enjoy football and music during his school career.

Unfortunately we are not able to offer an alternative day for either the Sport or the Music aptitude tests under any circumstances. This means that if your child is not well enough to participate on the test day then he will not be able to be considered for an aptitude place. Please remember that there are only a very limited number of aptitude places and that if your son has passed the entrance examinations then he will of course be considered for a place under the admission criterion based on rank order performance in the entrance tests.

For the Sport Aptitude Test

Please make sure that your son  wears the following in order to take part in the Aptitude Test safely:

• Sports/football top
• Football shorts
• Football socks
• Trainers

If the weather is cold or wet then your son may wear a sports tracksuit top or rain jacket as appropriate.
 
Please make sure that your son  brings  the following in order to take part in the Aptitude Test safely:

• Slip in shin pads
• Trainers suitable for indoor use
• Moulded/metal stud football boots or astro turf trainers for outdoor use

Since the aptitude day is in October we would expect the ground to be soft and so the appropriate footwear should be worn. He will also need to bring with him a snack and a bottle of water.  Long hair must be tied back.  If necessary, please make sure that he brings with him any medication he might require.  This must be clearly labelled with his name.  He must not bring any other valuables with him.

For the Music Aptitude Test

For the Aural Perception Test your child will need to bring a pencil and a rubber with him.

For the Musical Communication section of the test, your child should prepare a performance of one piece lasting for two minutes. This can be one complete piece or one excerpt from a longer piece. He should choose a piece that will stand alone without accompaniment or backing track. The focus of the Musical Communication session will be for the assessor to work with your child on developing their playing of the piece/excerpt they have prepared. They will need to respond to the assessor’s instructions and suggestions through their playing or singing.

Your child should bring their own instrument, sheet music, and any other equipment they need (e.g. spare strings for their string instrument; a guitar strap, plectrum, or foot stand, etc.) Please ensure that your stringed instrument is tuned prior to your test appointment and check that all strings are present. It will not be possible to provide strings or reeds if these are broken.

The following instruments and items of equipment can be provided by the school:

• A piano
• A keyboard
• An acoustic drum kit
• An electric drum kit
• Large tuned percussion instruments (e.g. marimba, xylophone, glockenspiel)
• Amps for electric and bass guitars
• Music stands

If necessary please make sure your son brings any medication he might require with him. He may also bring a bottle of water.