Wallington, Greater London · Sutton

Wilson's School

83% of its places go by pure rank order across a shared six-school test consortium, in which Greenshaw High School also participates — but only for a limited ability stream, not full grammar admission.

Founded in 1615, Wilson's is one of five academically selective schools in Sutton's two-stage 'Selective Eligibility Test' system, which actually spans six schools once Greenshaw High School — a comprehensive using the same first-stage test to allocate a smaller number of ability places — is counted. Its second-stage exam is shared specifically with the other two boys' schools, Sutton Grammar and Wallington County Grammar. Now an academy converter rather than the Foundation school some secondary sources describe, its own policy confirms no catchment area at all: the large majority of its 186 places are awarded by pure rank order of a weighted test score, making it genuinely superselective. Despite carrying a Church of England religious character (Diocese of Southwark) via its historic governance, faith plays no role anywhere in its admissions criteria.

Key facts

Gender: boys
Age range: 11-18
Region: London
Local authority: Sutton
Established: 1615
DfE URN: 136621
Website: https://www.wilsons.school

Admissions

Admissions authority: The school sets its own test and criteria
Entrance test board: Not named in any source found — the school's own materials and Sutton Council's page suggest the Selective Eligibility Test and Second Stage papers are set and administered jointly by the participating schools themselves rather than by a commercial provider.
Test format: Two stages. Stage 1, the Selective Eligibility Test (SET), shared with five other Sutton secondary schools: multiple-choice English and Maths papers, each around 45-60 minutes, held mid-September. Stage 2, the Second Stage Entrance Examination, shared specifically with Sutton Grammar School and Wallington County Grammar School (the other two boys' schools): written (not multiple-choice) English and Maths papers, held early October. Final rank order combines SET, English and Maths in a weighted 1:2:2 ratio. A separate optional sport and music aptitude test day feeds the reserved aptitude places.
Qualifying / pass mark: Not published for any year. The school's own FAQ and Sutton Council's page both state the pass mark is decided by the participating schools only after the test is marked, and varies annually.verify with school
Explicitly not published by the school or the consortium for any year, past or present — decided post-marking each cycle and varies by cohort.
Superselective?: Yes

Catchment & priority criteria

None — no designated or catchment area for entry. Distance from school is used only as a tiebreak between candidates with identical rank-order scores, and even then London Borough of Sutton residents are prioritised over non-Sutton residents at each distance step.

Boys with an EHC Plan naming the school
Looked-after and previously looked-after children, ranked by standardised score within this group
Up to 14 places for boys eligible for Free School Meals, ranked by standardised score within this group
Up to 9 places for boys demonstrating sporting (football) aptitude
Up to 9 places for boys demonstrating musical aptitude
Remaining places (around 154) by rank order of combined weighted score
Tie-break: home address within the London Borough of Sutton, by distance, prioritised over addresses outside Sutton

Results

Year	Attainment 8	GCSE 5+ Eng & Maths	Progress 8	A*–A	A*–B
2024	85.6	99.5%	+1.27 — this is the most recent year Progress 8 could be calculated at all, predating the nationwide COVID-era gap	—	—
A-level (184 students): average grade A, value-added +0.13. A-A 77.8%, A-B 93.6% (school's own results page).
2025	86.9 (DfE's official figure; the school's own site reports 86.8 for the same cohort, a small unreconciled discrepancy)	100.0%	Not calculated — confirmed directly by DfE as the nationwide COVID-era gap for this cohort	80.8%	95.4%
A-level (around 175 students): average grade A, best-3 average point score 52.51, value-added +0.04. A-A around 80.8%, A-B around 95.4% (school's own results page, closely corroborated by an independent aggregator).

Ofsted

Rating: Outstanding, in every category: quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and sixth-form provision. This was a full graded inspection under the pre-September 2024 framework — no inspection has occurred since, so this remains current.
Date: 28 September 2022
Report: Read the full report

Sources

1. DfE Get Information About Schools — URN, status, gender, LA — https://get-information-schools.service.gov.uk/Establishments/Establishment/Details/136621
2. School's own Admission Criteria (Year 7) — https://www.wilsons.school/admissions-criteria/
3. School's own Admissions FAQs — https://www.wilsons.school/admissions-faqs/
4. School's own Sixth Form Admission Criteria — https://www.wilsons.school/sixth-form-admission-criteria/
5. London Borough of Sutton — secondary school tests, assessments and supplementary forms — https://www.sutton.gov.uk/schools-and-learning/school-admissions/information-applying-secondary-school-2027/secondary-school-tests-assessments-and-supplementary-forms
6. Ofsted report, inspected 28 September 2022 — https://files.ofsted.gov.uk/v1/file/50201707
7. School's own History and Heritage page — https://www.wilsons.school/history-and-heritage/
8. School's own Exam Results page — https://www.wilsons.school/exam-results/

Last updated 2026-09-01. Spotted something wrong? Tell us.