Croydon has no state grammar school of its own, so selective families in the borough choose between two independent Whitgift Foundation schools and the Sutton Selective Eligibility Test (SET), which gives access to six schools over the borough boundary in Sutton. The picture has changed since this page was last reviewed: Old Palace of John Whitgift School closed in July 2025, and girls and boys join Trinity School's first co-educational Year 7 together in September 2027.
11+ tuition across Croydon and Sutton
Our expert 11+ tutors work with families across Croydon on whichever route their child is taking — Whitgift, Trinity, Royal Russell, Croydon High or the Sutton SET schools — building the specific skills each school's own exam tests.
Book a Free Consultation Message us on WhatsAppLeading Tuition is rated 4.8 out of 5 on Trustpilot from 59 reviews, read on 3 October 2026, and 91% of our students achieve their desired grades.
Updated for September 2027 entry - Old Palace's closure and Trinity's move to co-education
Old Palace of John Whitgift School closed in July 2025; the John Whitgift Foundation now runs two schools, Whitgift and Trinity, and girls and boys join Trinity's first co-educational Year 7 together in September 2027.
The Sutton Selective Eligibility Test is two multiple-choice papers in maths and English only, with no verbal or non-verbal reasoning component, confirmed directly on Wilson's School's own admissions FAQ.
September 2027 entry dates are now published by Whitgift (exam 5 January 2027), Trinity (applications close 16 October 2026), Croydon High (applications close 19 October 2026) and Croydon Council (applications close 31 October 2026).
Croydon itself has no state grammar school. Families in the borough looking for selective secondary education choose between two independent day schools run by the John Whitgift Foundation, two further independent schools that use an adaptive online test, and the Sutton Selective Eligibility Test (SET), which gives access to six schools over the borough boundary in the London Borough of Sutton.
The Foundation now runs Whitgift School (boys, with full, weekly and flexi boarding from 13+) and Trinity School (boys 10-18, with girls joining its first fully co-educational Year 7 from September 2027). A third Foundation school, Old Palace of John Whitgift School, closed in July 2025 after nearly 140 years of educating girls on its Old Town site; the Foundation continues to fund some former Old Palace pupils' places at other schools through to 2028, but the school itself no longer takes 11+ applications. Royal Russell School and Croydon High School, in South Croydon, both use an adaptive online assessment rather than a fixed-format paper: Royal Russell's is run on the Quest platform and tests English, maths and verbal and non-verbal reasoning, while Croydon High's own test covers numeracy, problem-solving and vocabulary and is not named on the school's site.
The state alternative is the Sutton SET, which determines eligibility for six schools: Nonsuch High School for Girls, Sutton Grammar School, Wallington County Grammar School, Wallington High School for Girls, Wilson's School, and Greenshaw High School, which offers a number of selective places alongside its comprehensive intake. Croydon families are well placed geographically to apply, and the schools' own admissions pages list Croydon among the home local authorities their applicants come from.
Which test will your child actually sit?
Whitgift, Trinity, Royal Russell, Croydon High and the Sutton SET each set a different exam. Our expert 11+ tutors build tuition around the specific format and dates your child's target school actually uses.
Book a Free Consultation Message us on WhatsAppWhitgift School publishes its Key Dates for 2027 11+ entry on its own admissions page: the application closing date (including for scholarships) is Friday 6 November 2026, the entrance exam is Tuesday 5 January 2027, and it covers English, maths and an age-related thinking skills paper. Interviews for shortlisted boys run from Wednesday 13 January to Tuesday 26 January 2027, and decisions are emailed to parents on Friday 12 February 2027.
Trinity School is entering its own transition: from September 2027, girls and boys join Trinity's first fully co-educational Year 7 together, and the school expects to welcome between 70 and 100 girls alongside around 100 boys. Applications for September 2027 close on Friday 16 October 2026, ahead of an Open Day on Saturday 3 October 2026. Trinity's own site describes its 11+ entrance assessment as both a computer-based assessment and written papers, followed by an academic interview for candidates who do well; it does not publish a single fixed exam date the way Whitgift does.
Royal Russell School assesses Year 7 candidates in English, maths, and verbal and non-verbal reasoning, delivered on a PC via the Quest platform on the assessment day, alongside a report from the child's current school. Croydon High School tests girls with what it calls an adaptive online test — the difficulty rises with each correct answer — covering numeracy, problem-solving and vocabulary, with no past papers because the school says none are necessary for this style of testing. For September 2027 entry, Croydon High's application deadline is Monday 19 October 2026, its entrance test window opens 12 October 2026, and offers go out by Christmas 2026.
The Sutton SET is a different shape of test from any of the independent schools' exams. According to Wilson's School, one of the six participating schools, the SET "is made up of two papers; a multiple-choice Maths paper and a multiple-choice English paper," and explicitly "the tests do not include verbal reasoning or non-verbal reasoning." Each paper runs 40-50 minutes with a break between them, there is no negative marking, and content is based on the Key Stage 2 curriculum. For September 2027 entry the SET is sat on Tuesday 15 September 2026, with online registration open from 1 May to 31 July 2026.
Passing the SET is only the first stage for the three boys' schools in the group. Wilson's, Sutton Grammar and Wallington County Grammar then set a shared Second Stage Entrance Examination — an English paper and a maths paper, each roughly 45 minutes to an hour, with no reasoning content and no multiple-choice format. For Wilson's, the final rank order combines the SET score and the two Second Stage papers in a 1:2:2 ratio. For the two girls' schools, Nonsuch and Wallington High combine a re-standardised SET score (divided by two) with separate standardised maths and English scores from their own second-stage papers.
Wilson's School publishes its Admissions Criteria for Year 7 September 2027 entry as a separate, dated section on its own admissions page, alongside its 2026 entry criteria; that September 2027 section sets its admission number for Year 7 at 186 places, the same figure as the 2026 arrangements. All six schools in the SET group publish similarly detailed, individually-set admissions criteria, and each may set its own pass mark: Wilson's own FAQ is explicit that "it is not possible to state a pass mark" in advance, because "each school may determine its own pass mark."
At Whitgift and Trinity, offers depend on the combination of the entrance exam or assessment, the school report, and — where shortlisted — the interview. Neither school publishes a single reasoning-test pass mark, because neither uses a fixed-format reasoning paper of the kind the Sutton schools do.
The table below sets out what each school or council has actually published for September 2027 entry, assembled directly from each admissions page rather than from a single list, and left blank where a school has not yet published a date.
| School (route) | Application deadline, Sept 2027 entry | Test / assessment date | Format |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whitgift School (boys) | Friday 6 November 2026 | Tuesday 5 January 2027 | English, maths, thinking skills |
| Trinity School (co-ed from Year 7) | Friday 16 October 2026 | — | Computer-based assessment, written papers, interview |
| Croydon High School (girls) | Monday 19 October 2026 | From 12 October 2026 | Adaptive online test |
| Royal Russell School (co-ed) | — | — | English, maths, verbal and non-verbal reasoning (Quest) |
| Sutton SET group (6 state schools) | Friday 31 July 2026 (SET registration) | Tuesday 15 September 2026 | Two multiple-choice papers, maths and English only |
Source: Whitgift School, Trinity School, Croydon High School GDST, Royal Russell School and Wilson's School (for the Sutton SET group), retrieved 24 September 2026.
Offers for the Sutton SET group and for Croydon Council's own community and academy schools are made on the same date nationally: 1 March 2027, National Offer Day. The independent schools make their own offers earlier: Croydon High by Christmas 2026, and Whitgift on Friday 12 February 2027.
Get the preparation right for your child's target school
Whichever route your family is taking — Whitgift, Trinity, Royal Russell, Croydon High or the Sutton SET — our expert 11+ tutors build a tuition programme around the specific exam your child will actually sit.
Book a Free Consultation Message us on WhatsAppMy son was low in confidence after COVID and the gaps in learning were building up. Using this service helped plug those gaps, rebuild confidence, and improve his ability to learn properly again.
We arranged maths and English tuition ahead of GCSEs and both tutors were brilliant. My daughter's grades improved, and by results day she achieved two grades higher than in her mock exams.
I attended an English bootcamp with Leading Tuition and the experience was excellent. The teacher gave focused attention to the small group while keeping the lessons interactive and engaging.
Because the Sutton SET falls in September of Year 6, serious preparation needs to begin no later than the start of Year 5 — earlier still for children who need to build foundational skills in mathematics or reading comprehension. The SET tests only maths and English, both multiple-choice, so the most useful preparation is accuracy and speed under timed conditions in those two subjects specifically, rather than the verbal and non-verbal reasoning practice that many general 11+ resources default to.
For the independent schools, the shape of preparation differs by school. Whitgift's own published entrance exam covers English, maths and an age-related thinking skills paper, so children need exposure to unfamiliar reasoning-style questions alongside curriculum content. Trinity's own description of its process — a computer-based assessment and written papers — points to a mixed format, so children benefit from practice with adaptive, on-screen testing as well as handwritten answers under time pressure.
Royal Russell's Quest-based assessment covers English, maths and both forms of reasoning, so children applying there do need the verbal and non-verbal reasoning practice that the Sutton SET does not require. Croydon High's own adaptive test is designed, in the school's words, to show "how girls think and learn, rather than what they know," and the school states plainly that no practice papers are necessary or available for it.
Because these formats genuinely differ, a child applying to both an independent school and the Sutton SET is preparing for two distinct kinds of test, not one general 11+ test with local variations — and preparation that treats them as identical risks time spent on the wrong skills for at least one of the schools on the list.
Leading Tuition provides 1-to-1 specialist tutoring for children preparing for the full range of Croydon-area selective school exams — Whitgift's own entrance exam, Trinity's computer-based assessment and written papers, the Royal Russell and Croydon High adaptive tests, and the six-school Sutton SET. Every child's programme is built around their individual starting point: their current strengths, the specific schools they are targeting, and the time available before their exams. Families who begin with us at 11+ often continue into GCSE tuition in Croydon once their child is settled at their new school.
Our tutors are experienced with the particular demands of each format. For the Sutton SET, that means accuracy-focused, timed multiple-choice practice in maths and English specifically — not general verbal reasoning drilling, since the SET does not test it. For Royal Russell, where reasoning is tested, preparation does cover both verbal and non-verbal formats. For Whitgift, Trinity and Croydon High, it means developing the extended writing, problem-solving and on-screen testing skills each school's own exam actually asks for. We work with families from Year 4 onwards, and we are honest about what realistic preparation looks like for each child.
Ready to start 11+ preparation?
Book a free consultation and our expert 11+ tutors will build a preparation plan around your child's actual target schools and exam formats, whether that means the Sutton SET, Whitgift, Trinity, Royal Russell or Croydon High.
Book a Free Consultation Message us on WhatsAppReviewed September 2026: admissions arrangements for Whitgift, Trinity, Croydon High, Royal Russell and the Sutton SET group checked against each school's and Croydon Council's own published pages for September 2027 entry.
No. Croydon has no state grammar school within the borough. Families seeking a state selective place look across the boundary to the London Borough of Sutton, where the Selective Eligibility Test (SET) is set jointly by six schools: Nonsuch High School for Girls, Sutton Grammar School, Wallington County Grammar School, Wallington High School for Girls, Wilson's School, and Greenshaw High School, which offers a number of selective places alongside its comprehensive intake. Families also apply directly to Croydon's own independent schools — Whitgift, Trinity, Royal Russell and Croydon High — none of which require the Sutton SET.
The SET is a joint entrance test for the six participating Sutton schools, administered on the same day at each school. Wilson's School's own admissions FAQ states it "is made up of two papers; a multiple-choice Maths paper and a multiple-choice English paper," and that "the tests do not include verbal reasoning or non-verbal reasoning." For September 2027 entry the SET is sat on Tuesday 15 September 2026, following online registration open from 1 May to 31 July 2026. Passing the SET is only the first stage: most of the schools then set their own second-stage papers.
No. Old Palace of John Whitgift School closed in July 2025, after nearly 140 years of educating girls on its Old Town site in Croydon, following the John Whitgift Foundation's 2023 decision that the school was no longer financially sustainable. The Foundation's 2024-2025 Impact Report states the closure cost the charity at least £2.5 million, and it continues to fund some former Old Palace pupils' places at other schools through to 2028. The Foundation's own website now lists only two schools — Whitgift and Trinity — and Old Palace no longer takes 11+ applications.
Not from September 2027. Trinity School's own admissions page describes September 2027 as an exciting new chapter, with girls and boys joining its first fully co-educational Year 7 — the school expects to welcome between 70 and 100 girls alongside around 100 boys. Applications for September 2027 entry close on Friday 16 October 2026. The change follows the John Whitgift Foundation's closure of the all-girls Old Palace School in 2025, and Trinity's own entrance assessment for the new intake combines a computer-based assessment with written papers and an academic interview.
Because the SET is sat in September of Year 6, preparation should begin in earnest during Year 5. Since the SET tests only maths and English — both multiple-choice, with no verbal or non-verbal reasoning component — the most useful preparation is accuracy and speed practice in those two subjects specifically, under genuine timed conditions, rather than generic 11+ reasoning drilling. Children who need to close gaps in either subject benefit from starting earlier still; leaving preparation until the summer before the exam gives very little time to build the accuracy the format rewards.
Yes — but it requires structured, specialist preparation. Many prep schools provide dedicated 11+ coaching as part of their curriculum, which means state-school children benefit from working with an experienced tutor who understands the specific demands of each school's own entrance exam: Whitgift's English, maths and thinking skills papers, or Trinity's computer-based assessment and written papers. With the right preparation and sufficient time, state-school children regularly win places at both schools, and from September 2027 that includes girls applying to Trinity's first co-educational Year 7.
Croydon Council's own guidance states that online applications for a September 2027 secondary school place open on 1 September 2026 and must be submitted by 31 October 2026. National Offer Day — when all on-time applicants hear the outcome — is 1 March 2027. A late application can still be considered in the initial allocation round if it is submitted for a good reason, such as a recent house move, and received by 7 December 2026; this timetable applies to Croydon's community and academy schools, not to the independent schools or the Sutton SET, which run their own separate timetables.
Our expert 11+ tutors work with Croydon families preparing for the full range of routes covered on this page — Whitgift's own entrance exam, Trinity's computer-based assessment, the Royal Russell and Croydon High adaptive tests, and the six-school Sutton SET — building the specific skills each school's own exam actually tests, rather than one generic reasoning programme. Programmes start from Year 4 and are built around each child's current strengths, target schools, and the time available before their exams. In the 2025 admissions cycle, 38 of our 40 students sitting selective entrance exams received at least one offer, a 95.0% success rate. Book a free consultation to discuss a preparation plan for your child's Croydon 11+ target schools.
Official Resources
Book a free consultation and we’ll help you find the right support for your child.
Leading Tuition is rated 4.8/5 on Trustpilot by families across the UK.
Book a Free Consultation