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Sutton (SET) 11 Plus Guide

Six selective schools in the London Borough of Sutton share a single first-stage test, the Selective Eligibility Test, usually called the SET. This guide explains how the SET and the second-stage exam that follows it work, which schools take part, and how practice papers can help your child prepare.

On this site we call the two tests Sutton (SET) Stage 1 (the Selective Eligibility Test itself) and Sutton (SET) Stage 2 (the second-stage entrance exam that follows it). Below, we shorten these to SET Stage 1 and SET Stage 2.

Sutton (SET) schools

Six schools take part:

You register your child once, and they sit SET Stage 1 once, however many of these schools you are interested in.

How the Sutton (SET) 11 plus process works

  1. Register for SET Stage 1. For the 2026 test, registration opened on 1 May and closed at midnight on Friday 31 July 2026. The online form is on every participating school's website, and it also serves as the supplementary form for all six schools.
  2. Your child sits SET Stage 1. In 2026 this took place on Tuesday 15 September, for children in Year 6 who were born between 1 September 2015 and 31 August 2016. The schools email the outcome in the week after the test.
  3. If your child passes, they are invited to SET Stage 2, but only for five of the six schools.
    • Boys applying to any of Sutton Grammar School, Wallington County Grammar School and Wilson's School sit one shared exam, held on Saturday 3 October 2026. The three schools use the same papers, so a boy sits the exam once whichever of them he applies to.
    • Girls applying to either or both of Nonsuch High School for Girls and Wallington High School for Girls sit one joint exam, held on Saturday 26 September 2026.
    • Greenshaw High School has no SET Stage 2. It uses the SET result alone to decide which children can be considered for its 60 ability places.
  4. Name the schools on your Common Application Form. Passing the tests is not an application. To be considered, you must also name each school on the form from your home local authority. The closing date for 2026 is 31 October.
  5. Offers are made on 1 March 2027. A pass does not guarantee a place. An offer depends on your child's result, the order of your preferences, and the outcome at any school you ranked higher.

What is in Sutton (SET) Stage 1, the Selective Eligibility Test?

SET Stage 1 is made up of two multiple-choice papers, one in Maths and one in English. It does not include verbal or non-verbal reasoning. Children record their answers on a separate answer sheet, and each paper takes between 40 and 50 minutes, with a break in between.

The content is broadly based on the Key Stage 2 curriculum, and there is no negative marking. The participating schools do not provide full specimen papers, but several publish examples of the question types. Sutton Grammar School and Wilson's School both link English and Maths sample questions from their SET FAQs pages, and Greenshaw High School has published a guide to the types of question in the English paper. These examples are worth going through with your child.

The scores are adjusted for age. Each school sets its own pass mark after the papers have been marked, so no pass mark is published in advance.

What is in Sutton (SET) Stage 2, the second-stage entrance exam?

SET Stage 2 has an English paper and a Maths paper. They are not multiple choice, and there is no verbal or non-verbal reasoning. The boys' shared exam lasts about 45 minutes to 1 hour per paper, and the girls' joint exam lasts 40 to 50 minutes per paper. The schools do not provide sample papers for SET Stage 2, and the content is broadly based on the Key Stage 2 curriculum.

Your child's SET Stage 1 score counts towards the final result, and each school combines the scores in its own way. For example:

  • Sutton Grammar School calculates four standardised scores: the English and Maths questions from SET Stage 1, and the English and Maths papers from SET Stage 2. They are weighted 2:2:3:3 in that order, an age allowance is added, and there is no separate pass mark for the SET Stage 2 papers alone.
  • Wilson's School ranks candidates on the SET and the two SET Stage 2 papers (English and Maths) in the ratio 1:2:2, adjusted for age. Candidates must also pass both SET Stage 2 papers and meet the overall pass mark.
  • Nonsuch High School for Girls and Wallington High School for Girls add the SET score (re-standardised and halved) to the standardised Maths and English scores from the joint exam. Girls must reach the pass mark in both papers, and the pass marks are set after marking.

Wallington County Grammar School also uses its own admissions criteria, so please check its website for how it uses the scores.

Sutton (SET) results and offers

There are two separate steps, and it helps to keep them apart.

  • Eligibility, in October. For SET Stage 2, each school emails parents before the end of October to say whether your child has met its standard and is eligible to be considered, in time for the 31 October Common Application Form deadline. Families whose child has passed are told they have passed, not given the scores.
  • The offer, on 1 March. Passing makes your child eligible. Whether they are offered a place depends on their position in the rank order and on your preferences, so the final outcome is only known on 1 March 2027.

Please read each school's admissions policy for the year of entry, as arrangements differ between schools.

How to prepare for the Sutton Selective Eligibility Test

  • SET Stage 1 and SET Stage 2 are both based on Maths and English, so reasoning practice is not needed for these tests.
  • Begin with topic practice in Year 4 and Year 5, then move on to full papers.
  • Work on the multiple-choice format for SET Stage 1, and on written answers for SET Stage 2.
  • Go through the answers together so that mistakes lead to clear next steps.

Sutton (SET) practice papers at Meritfy

We offer Sutton (SET) English and Mathematics practice papers for Stage 1 and Stage 2, each with answers, available as individual papers and in bundles. See our guide to Sutton (SET) practice papers for how to use them, or browse the full range on our practice papers page.

Official Sutton (SET) information

For the latest dates, registration and school admissions policies, see:

Sutton (SET) 11 plus FAQs

Does the SET include reasoning? No. Both SET Stage 1 and SET Stage 2 are Maths and English.

Can my child sit SET Stage 1 more than once? No. According to the schools, children can only sit it once, and only in Year 6.

Is there a pass mark I can aim for? No. Each school decides its pass mark after marking, and it is a standardised score, not a percentage.

Does passing give my child a place? No. Passing SET Stage 1 makes your child eligible for SET Stage 2 (or, at Greenshaw, to be considered for an ability place). Passing SET Stage 2 makes your child eligible to be considered, and places are offered on 1 March 2027 according to each school's admissions criteria.