Apply to Sutton Grammar School, in plain English.
Sutton Grammar School fills all 150 places by test — the Sutton Selective Eligibility Test (SET) in September, then a second-stage test in October for boys who pass. 85 of the 150 places give priority to boys living in the SM1–SM7, KT4, KT17, CR0 4 and CR4 postcode area; the rest are open to any address by score. Register via the school's admissions page by 31 July 2026 — separately from, and months before, the October CAF deadline.
The three things to know first.
If you read nothing else on this page, read these. They're the bits that catch parents out.
There are two tests — and you register for them by 31 July 2026.
Sutton Grammar uses the Sutton Selective Eligibility Test (SET) on 15 September 2026, shared by the Sutton consortium schools (Sutton Grammar, Wilson's, Wallington County, Wallington High School for Girls, Nonsuch and Greenshaw). Boys who pass are invited to a second-stage test on 3 October 2026 — a maths paper and an English paper, common to Sutton Grammar, Wallington County and Wilson's. Registration opens 1 May 2026 and closes 31 July 2026 — separate from, and months before, the CAF.
85 of the 150 places prioritise one postcode area: SM1–SM7, KT4, KT17, CR0 4, CR4.
Up to 10 places go to Pupil Premium boys living in that area, then 75 places go to other boys living there — both groups ranked by combined score across the two tests. Your son must be resident at the qualifying address on the CAF deadline, 31 October 2026. Check the full postcode: only CR0 addresses beginning CR0 4 count.
Living outside the area does not rule your son out.
The priority area confers priority, not exclusion. After the 85 area places, every remaining place goes to the highest-scoring boys from any address — plus any area places left unfilled. A high enough combined score wins a place from anywhere in England. All scores are adjusted for the boy's age and IDACI income-deprivation score, so test month and household circumstances are levelled out.
Five steps — the first deadline is summer, not October.
SET registration (step 1) closes on 31 July 2026 — months before the CAF deadline that catches most families out. Miss it and there is no route to a place at Sutton Grammar for 2027 entry.
If more boys reach the standard than there are places, these 5 criteria decide.
Boys with an EHCP naming Sutton Grammar are admitted first, within the 150. Everyone else who reaches the required standard is then placed in the order below. Within criteria 3–5, boys are ranked by their combined SET + second-stage score. At every level, a tie is broken by straight-line distance to the school's front door. Tap any criterion to see the exact wording.
In plain English: Boys in council care at the time of SET registration, or who were in care before being adopted (including from state care outside England), come first — provided they reached the required standard in the tests. Tell the school's Admissions Officer about looked-after status.
What the document says: Boys who are within the definitions of a "looked after child" or "previously looked after child". A "looked after child" is a child who is (a) in the care of a local authority, or (b) being provided with accommodation by a local authority in the exercise of their social services functions (section 22(1) of the Children Act 1989) at the time when the child is registered for the SET. A "previously looked after child" includes children adopted, on a child arrangements order or special guardianship order immediately after being looked after, and those who appear to have been in state care outside of England and ceased to be so as a result of being adopted.
In plain English: Boys whose parent works at Sutton Grammar come next — but only if the parent holds a permanent contract and has been employed there continuously for at least two years when the boy registers for the SET. Short-term or recently started staff don't qualify.
What the document says: Boys whose parent is a member of staff employed by the Trust at the School as an employee under a continuing contract with an indefinite term (a permanent contract) for a continuous period of at least two years at the date of registration for the SET.
In plain English: Up to 10 places are reserved for boys who attract Pupil Premium funding (free school meals in the last 6 years — "FSM Ever 6") and live in the priority postcode area, ranked by combined test score. Tick the FSM box and supply the evidence when you register for the SET. Any of the 10 places left unfilled roll into the open competition at criterion 5.
What the document says: Up to 10 places for boys who qualify for receipt of Pupil Premium Funding at the date of registration for the SET where the home address for the boy is one of the following postcodes: SM1-7, KT4, KT17, CR0 4--, CR4, by rank order of the combined scores in the SET and the School's second stage test. Supporting evidence of status will be required.
In plain English: 75 places go to boys living in the postcode area — SM1 to SM7, KT4, KT17, CR0 addresses beginning CR0 4, and CR4 — ranked by combined test score. The home address is the one on your CAF, and your son must be resident there on the CAF deadline (31 October 2026). Area boys who miss out here drop into criterion 5 and compete again on score.
What the document says: 75 places by rank order of the combined scores in the SET and the School's second stage test where the home address of the boy is in one of the following postcodes: SM1-7, KT4, KT17, CR0 4--, CR4.
In plain English: Everything left — at least 65 places, more if the Pupil Premium or area quotas weren't filled — goes to the highest-scoring boys from any postcode, anywhere in England. This is how boys from outside the SM/KT/CR area get in: there is no residence requirement here at all, just the combined score.
What the document says: The remaining places unallocated (including any places remaining from criterion 3 and criterion 4 if the number of boys qualifying under those criteria is less than the specified number on offer) by rank order of the combined scores in the SET and the School's second stage test, where the home address of the boy may be in any postcode.
A priority area — not a catchment wall.
This is the bit parents most often get wrong, in both directions. The postcode area (SM1–SM7, KT4, KT17, CR0 4, CR4) gives boys living there priority for 85 of the 150 places — it does not guarantee them a place, and it does not shut out boys living elsewhere. Within the area pools, ranking is still by combined test score. And criterion 5 — at least 65 places — is open to any address, so a boy in Croydon, Kingston or Kent with a high enough score gets in regardless of postcode.
Distance itself is only a tiebreaker: where two boys have the same rank at the cut-off in any criterion, the place goes to the boy living closer to the school's front door on Manor Lane, measured in a straight line using the London Borough of Sutton's computerised Geographical Information System.
See the priority area on the GrammarBound mapInside the area: priority. Outside: still in the race.
Boy A lives in SM2 — inside the area — so he competes for the 75 area places (and, if Pupil Premium, the 10 before that), ranked by score. Boy B lives in CR0 7 — a CR0 postcode, but not CR0 4 — so he skips the area pools and competes for the 65+ open places. If Boy B's combined score is high enough, he gets a place; his address never disqualifies him.
You have two routes, and you can use both.
Waiting list
The school holds a waiting list of all eligible boys who ask to be on it. When a place comes free, it goes to the boy ranked highest under the same five oversubscription criteria — not first-come-first-served. The list is held until 31 December 2027; after that, the separate in-year admissions policy applies.
Contact Sutton Grammar's Admissions Officer after National Offer Day to be added.
Appeal
You have a statutory right of appeal against the Trust's decision not to offer a place. Appeal information is provided with the refusal. Appeals are heard by an independent panel, and appealing does not affect your son's waiting-list position.
Joining Year 12 — open to boys and girls.
Sutton Grammar's sixth form is co-educational — girls are admitted into Year 12. The Year 12 PAN is 190, with a minimum of 40 places for external students.
The grade floor.
External applicants need at least eight GCSEs at grades 9–5, including English language, maths and a science at grade 5 or above, with at least four exams at grade 7+ and two at grade 6+. Subject-specific requirements for individual A-level courses sit on top of this floor.
Apply direct to the school.
Sixth-form applications go directly to Sutton Grammar — not through the CAF. If oversubscribed, external places are ranked: looked-after and previously looked-after children → children of staff → up to 6 Pupil Premium places for students living in the same priority postcode area as Year 7 → everyone else, in rank order of points from their best eight GCSEs. See the school's admissions page for the form and deadline.