QE Boys Barnet, Tiffin School and Wilson's School — compared on entry, results and school culture.
London and the surrounding area are home to some of the most competitive boys' grammar schools in England. This guide compares three that consistently attract the highest parental interest and generate the most applications from our families: Queen Elizabeth's School Barnet (QE Boys), Tiffin School Kingston, and Wilson's School Wallington. All three are outstanding state schools — free to attend — with exceptional academic records and significant demand from families across a wide geographic area.
QE Boys is consistently ranked as the top state school for boys in England — and frequently appears in national rankings of all schools regardless of type. It is a super-selective grammar school in Barnet, admitting around 180 boys per year from over 2,500 applications. Entry is based purely on score in the North London Consortium 11+ examination; there is no catchment area, no interview, and no geographic priority. Boys who achieve the highest scores nationally — typically around the top 2-3% — receive offers regardless of where they live.
Results at QE Boys are extraordinary: the school sends more boys to Oxford and Cambridge per year than most independent schools, and its A-level average grade profile is among the very best in the country. The school has a strong mathematics and science culture but broad academic provision, and its co-curricular life — music, sport, debating, computing — is extensive for a state school. Fees are, of course, nil.
The 11+ examination is taken in the autumn of Year 6 and uses the consortium paper shared with Henrietta Barnett School and other North London grammar schools. There is significant overlap in the preparation required for QE Boys and HBS — most families apply to both simultaneously. For a detailed guide, see our QE Boys Complete Guide.
Tiffin School in Kingston upon Thames is consistently ranked in the top 5 state schools for boys in England and has an outstanding record for Oxbridge, medicine, and Russell Group admissions. Unlike QE Boys, Tiffin uses a designated area as part of its admissions process — boys living within the qualifying boroughs (Kingston, Richmond, Merton, Sutton, and parts of others) receive priority in the allocation of places, provided they pass the 11+ examination.
Around 1,200 boys apply each year for approximately 120 Year 7 places. The school uses the GL Assessment 11+ paper. Tiffin's results, while slightly below QE Boys at the very top, are consistently exceptional — A-level average grades of A/A* are the norm, and the school sends significant numbers of boys to Oxford and Cambridge each year. The designated area makes Tiffin a realistic first-choice target for high-ability boys in South West London who may not reach the QE Boys score threshold. For a detailed guide, see our Tiffin School Complete Guide.
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Wilson's School in Wallington, Surrey (formally London Borough of Sutton), is one of England's top 10 state schools for boys by GCSE and A-level results. It participates in the Sutton SET examination alongside Sutton Grammar School, Nonsuch High School for Girls, Wallington High School for Girls, and Wallington County Grammar School. Wilson's typically attracts the highest scores among boys in the Sutton SET process, making it the most competitive of the Sutton grammar schools.
Around 1,500 boys apply for approximately 180 Year 7 places. Wilson's results are consistently outstanding — its Oxbridge record rivals that of selective independent schools — and the school has a strong culture of academic achievement combined with broad co-curricular provision. For families in South London, Surrey, and South West London, Wilson's is the premier boys' grammar school option. For a detailed guide, see our Wilson's School Complete Guide.
Academic results: All three schools achieve exceptional results, but the ranking by most metrics is QE Boys first, then Wilson's and Tiffin broadly comparable (with QE Boys significantly ahead in Oxbridge progression). For most families, the choice is made primarily by geography and which 11+ examination their child is sitting.
Geography: QE Boys draws from across North London and beyond — it is genuinely national in its intake. Tiffin prioritises South West London boroughs. Wilson's is in Wallington and draws from South London, Surrey, and South West London. There is very little geographic overlap between QE Boys applicants and Wilson's applicants, but Tiffin and Wilson's do overlap for families in Sutton and Merton.
Examination: QE Boys uses the North London Consortium paper; Tiffin uses the GL Assessment; Wilson's uses the Sutton SET. These are three entirely different examinations, and preparation for each is specific. A boy cannot sit all three in the same year without separate preparation and registration for each. Some families apply to QE Boys and Tiffin simultaneously (different exam formats but overlapping preparation), or to Wilson's and Tiffin (similar GL-style content).
School character: QE Boys has a very strong academic culture — intellectually competitive and driven, with a significant proportion of the cohort aiming for the top universities from Year 7 onwards. Tiffin has a similar academic drive with a slightly broader community feel. Wilson's is academically rigorous but perhaps slightly more balanced in its pastoral and co-curricular emphasis.
The right target depends on where you live and what your child's strengths are. Here is a practical framework:
If you live in North London (Barnet, Finchley, Enfield, Haringey, Camden, or nearby), QE Boys and Henrietta Barnett School (for girls) are the natural primary targets. Apply to both if you have a boy targeting QE Boys, as the examination is the same.
If you live in South West London (Kingston, Richmond, Merton, Sutton), Tiffin School is the natural first-choice target. For boys in Sutton specifically, Wilson's and Wallington County Grammar are additional strong options via the SET.
If your child is genuinely exceptional across all measures — top 1-2% nationally — it is worth applying to both QE Boys and Tiffin regardless of location, as the prize of a place at either school may be worth the travel.
Preparation strategy depends on which examination(s) you are targeting. For QE Boys and the North London Consortium, preparation should focus on the consortium paper format — verbal reasoning, non-verbal reasoning, and mathematics — from Year 5, with full mock exams from September of Year 6. For Tiffin and the GL Assessment, preparation follows similar lines but uses GL-specific papers. For Wilson's and the SET, preparation covers the same broad subject areas but in the SET format.
At Leading Tuition, we have specialist tutors for all three examination formats. We can prepare boys for multiple schools simultaneously and run integrated programmes that cover all the relevant papers efficiently. Book a free consultation to discuss your son's application strategy.
With Queen Elizabeth's School Barnet named The Times State Secondary School of the Year 2026 and Wilson's School taking the award for GCSEs, competition for places at London's top boys' grammar schools has never been fiercer. Yet many families make avoidable errors that cost their sons places. The most common is beginning preparation too late. A single term of intensive tutoring before the September exams is rarely enough for schools like QE Boys, where upwards of twelve applicants compete for every place. Successful candidates typically begin structured practice in Year 4, building up mathematics, verbal reasoning and non-verbal reasoning incrementally across two full years.
A second major mistake is neglecting exam-specific question styles. QE Boys uses a GL Assessment verbal reasoning paper with a strict 50-minute limit, while Tiffin School's maths paper includes multi-step problems that reward methodical working rather than speed. Practising with the wrong paper format creates false confidence. Parents should source past papers or equivalents for each specific school their son is targeting and ensure he sits timed mocks under realistic conditions. Equally, many pupils under-prepare for the non-verbal reasoning component, which all three leading schools include. This section cannot be improved by reading alone — it requires repeated, deliberate practice with spatial and pattern-recognition questions. Aim for at least one full mock examination per month from the spring of Year 5, always reviewing mistakes before the next session.
Yes — and many families do. The examinations are entirely separate: QE Boys uses the North London Consortium paper taken in the autumn, while Tiffin School uses the GL Assessment taken separately. There is no conflict in registering for and sitting both. Preparation for the two tests overlaps significantly, particularly in mathematics and reasoning, and a well-structured programme can cover both simultaneously from the start of Year 6.
By raw numbers, QE Boys sends more boys to Oxford and Cambridge per year than any other state school in England — typically 40 to 60 students per year. Wilson's School and Tiffin School both have strong Oxbridge records too, regularly placing 10 to 20 students per year at the two universities. For families for whom Oxbridge progression is a primary criterion, QE Boys is the clear leader among state schools, though it is also by far the most competitive to enter.
QE Boys has no catchment area — it is super-selective and admits boys purely by score, with no geographic priority at all. Boys have travelled from across London and beyond to attend. Wilson's School participates in the Sutton SET process, which has an oversubscription criterion favouring children in the London Borough of Sutton, but there is no strict geographic bar — high scorers from outside Sutton can and do receive offers if their score is high enough and places remain.
Leading Tuition provides specialist preparation for London's most competitive boys' grammar schools, including Queen Elizabeth's School Barnet, Tiffin School, Wilson's School, Sutton Grammar School, and Wallington County Grammar School. Different schools use different examination formats — GL Assessment consortium, independent Tiffin papers, or the Sutton SET — and our tutors have detailed knowledge of all these exams. We work with boys from Year 4 through to the examination, building reasoning depth, mathematical fluency, and exam technique. We are rated 4.8/5 on Trustpilot by families across London. To build a preparation plan matched to your son's target schools, book a free consultation at leadingtuition.co.uk/consultation or message us on WhatsApp.
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