The Sutton Selective Eligibility Test Explained

The Sutton Selective Eligibility Test (SET) is a shared first-stage assessment used by six schools. It is part of their admissions processes, not an application for a place. What happens after the SET depends on the school.

This guide covers September 2027 entry, with tests taken in autumn 2026. As of 24 October 2026, the main test dates below have passed. Families applying now should check each school's outcome email, its admissions criteria and their home council's application instructions. A test pass does not guarantee an offer.

Six schools share the registration and test

Nonsuch's 2027 registration page lists one registration for these six schools:

• Greenshaw High School;
• Nonsuch High School for Girls;
• Sutton Grammar School;
• Wallington County Grammar School;
• Wallington High School for Girls;
• Wilson's School.

You complete the shared online SET registration once, rather than a separate test-registration form for every school. That is different from choosing schools as preferences on the council application. Follow the registration instructions and any evidence requests that apply to your child; do not assume that entering a test completes the school-place application.

Greenshaw is a comprehensive with 60 ability places. It uses the SET for that route and does not have a second-stage entrance examination. Children who do not meet its SET threshold may still be considered under another Greenshaw admission criterion. The other five schools use second-stage examinations. Wilson's shared-test FAQs explain the distinction.

This makes Greenshaw a different admissions route, not a guaranteed fallback. Read its complete policy and consider whether you would genuinely want a place there.

The confirmed 2027-entry timetable

The Nonsuch timetable gives:

Event	Date in 2026
Shared registration opened	Friday 1 May
Access-arrangements application deadline	Friday 12 June
Shared registration closed	Friday 31 July
SET	Tuesday 15 September
Nonsuch and Wallington High School for Girls second stage	Saturday 26 September
Sutton Grammar, Wallington County Grammar and Wilson's shared second stage	Saturday 3 October

These dates are for the 2026 sittings leading to September 2027 entry. They should not be copied into a calendar for September 2028 entry. Use the next cycle's published guidance when it is available, keeping an expected date distinct from a confirmed one.

Access-arrangements requests had an earlier deadline than general registration. If a child's circumstances change or there is a problem with their application, contact the responsible admissions team and follow its current instructions. Do not infer an exception or an alternative test date from a general guide.

The lookup below shows the Sutton information held in this site's admissions data. It is a convenience, not a substitute for the school pages and the child's own correspondence.

The first-stage format

The SET comprises multiple-choice English and maths papers, each taking 40 to 50 minutes, with no verbal- or non-verbal-reasoning paper. Candidates use a separate answer sheet. Workings may go on the question paper; separate rough paper is not provided. The schools provide sample questions rather than specimen papers. The SET FAQs describe these arrangements.

Read the instruction for each item. Some English questions ask for exactly two answers and require both correct choices. Other questions allow a range of answers and use a different marking approach; selecting every option scores zero. The FAQ says there is no negative marking. That does not mean the same number of choices should be marked on every question.

Here is an original maths example, not a Sutton test question: a bag contains 3 red, 5 blue and 4 green counters. If a counter is drawn at random, the probability that it is not blue is 7/12: seven red-or-green counters out of twelve altogether. Check that the selected answer is entered against the intended question number. This illustrates checking an answer sheet; it does not establish how often children make a particular mistake or prescribe an answer-in-blocks technique.

For familiarisation, start with the schools' own sample questions and instructions. A generic online set may have different timing, subjects and marking. Our free 11+ practice-paper guide can help locate other materials, but they should not be described as copies of the SET.

The two second-stage examinations

There are two shared academic second-stage sittings, not one universal second-stage paper or three academic tracks.

Nonsuch and Wallington High School for Girls share the NWSSEE. Their 2027-entry FAQs describe non-multiple-choice English and maths papers lasting 40 to 50 minutes each. The English element is not a comprehension paper. The FAQs also state that only final maths answers receive marks, not working. Do not generalise that marking rule to every written entrance test.

Sutton Grammar, Wallington County Grammar and Wilson's share a second-stage test with English and maths papers. Each school determines eligibility separately, so passing for one does not establish a pass for the others. A test venue is not a school preference. Sutton Grammar's determined policy confirms the shared test and its own use of both stages.

Wilson's music and sport aptitude assessments are separate from these academic second-stage sittings. Its 2027 admission criteria require selective ability as well as the relevant aptitude route. Passing an aptitude assessment alone does not secure an offer or replace the academic requirements.

Scoring is school-specific

Do not convert a practice percentage into a Sutton pass mark or admissions probability. The school decides how test results establish eligibility and how eligible applicants are ranked under its policy.

For Sutton Grammar, the determined 2027 policy says marks from the SET and second stage are adjusted for age and the Income Deprivation Affecting Children Index (IDACI), then used to determine the required standard. The policy does not specify a numerical weighting or rounding formula. The current school FAQ separately describes four standardised scores weighted 2:2:3:3, then an age allowance and rounding to the nearest four marks. It does not explain how that description interacts with the policy’s IDACI adjustment. Ask the school to clarify a calculation rather than treating a practice mark as a final ranking. Meeting the standard still does not guarantee one of its 150 places.

For Nonsuch and Wallington High School for Girls, the NWSSEE FAQs describe a final total comprising the SET score, re-standardised and divided by two, plus the standardised English and maths second-stage scores. Both second-stage papers must be passed at the applicable standard. This is that shared examination's method, not Sutton Grammar's calculation.

For Nonsuch, the 2027 admissions policy provides a concession for eligible looked-after or previously looked-after children and Pupil Premium applicants. Its worked example applies a reduction of up to 20% to the usual standardised SET pass mark and to each NWSSEE paper's pass mark. The example's scores are hypothetical, not published 2027 thresholds. The policy normally requires the supporting evidence before the SET and describes separate later waiting-list cases. Check the exact school's criteria and evidence rules; do not assume an ordinary threshold or another school's concession applies to every child.

Check each school's own outcome message. A result may report eligibility without providing all the scores. If an expected email has not arrived, check the contact details in your registration correspondence and ask the relevant admissions team. Do not assume another school's result applies.

Apply through the home council

For the usual secondary transfer round in England, GOV.UK gives 31 October as the application closing date. Check your home council's exact submission arrangements and any earlier online cut-off. For this cycle the date is 31 October 2026, for entry in September 2027. Naming a school on a separate form does not replace naming it on the common application form where required.

Rank schools in your genuine preference order. Eligibility is one part of the process; oversubscription criteria and the coordinated offer process still apply. For example, Sutton Grammar's policy has specific priority categories and named-postcode provisions. Do not replace those with a general assumption that the highest score always receives the next place.

If the outcome says your child is not eligible, read that school's instructions before deciding how to proceed. Where a family intends to appeal a later refusal, naming the school on the application may be necessary to obtain that refusal and appeal right. This is not a recommendation to use all preferences on schools where the child has not met the criteria. Ask the admissions team how the published process applies to your circumstances.

The useful next step is to put each school's outcome email beside its 2027 policy and your council form. Check the school names, any supporting evidence and submission acknowledgement. National Offer Day for this cycle is 1 March 2027; a qualifying test result in October is not an offer made in advance.