Apply to Tiffin School, in plain English.
Tiffin School is a super-selective boys' grammar in Kingston upon Thames and one of the most heavily oversubscribed grammars in the country, with 180 Year 7 places against around 780 applicants. Boys sit the school's own two-stage 11+ test (English and Maths); places then fill by combined test-score rank, with priority to boys living within 10 km of the school. Register for the Stage One Test — the online Supplementary Information Form (SIF) — by 12 noon on 2 September 2026, separately from and 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.
You register for the test by 2 September 2026 — long before the CAF.
Tiffin sets its own 11+ test, not a council consortium test. To sit it you must submit the online Supplementary Information Form (SIF) by 12 noon on Wednesday 2 September 2026. The SIF is available on the school website over June–August 2026. Late forms are not accepted, and registering is separate from the October Common Application Form. Miss the SIF deadline and there is no route to a place for 2027 entry. If you want your son assessed for a Sporting or Musical Aptitude place, there is an earlier SIF deadline of 6 July 2026.
The test has two stages — and the Priority Area decides who gets in.
Stage One (English and Maths, computer-marked) is sat in early October 2026 and decides who is invited to Stage Two (written English and Maths) in mid-November. Places then fill by combined test-score rank — but boys living within the school's 10 km Priority Area are ranked ahead of boys outside it. Looked-after and Pupil Premium boys inside the area get a 10% test leeway and a priority band.
In practice, every place goes to a within-10 km address.
The school states that since the 10 km Priority Area was introduced in September 2019, places have only ever been offered to boys living within it — so although out-of-area boys can technically be ranked, a place from outside is realistically out of reach. The Priority Area is simply everywhere within a 10 km straight line of the school gate. Your son must live at the qualifying address on the SIF deadline.
Four steps — the first deadline is summer, not October.
Registering for the Tiffin 11+ test (step 1) closes at noon on 2 September 2026 — before the CAF deadline that catches most families out. Registering for the test is not the same as applying for the school.
If more boys reach the standard than there are places, these 6 criteria decide.
A boy with an EHCP naming the school is admitted first, within the 180. Everyone else who reaches the qualifying score is then placed in the order below, and within every criterion boys are ranked by their combined test score. An initial priority band (criteria 2–3) goes to looked-after and Pupil Premium boys in the Priority Area; the bulk of places go to in-area boys by score (criterion 4); up to 18 places are reserved for sporting and musical aptitude (criterion 6). A tie for the 180th place is broken by the shortest straight-line distance to the school, then by random allocation. Tap any criterion to see the exact wording.
In plain English: A boy whose Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) names Tiffin School specifically is admitted first, within the 180 places — but he still has to demonstrate his ability through the two-stage test. Naming a school on an EHCP is a separate legal process; speak to your SEN case worker or home council first.
What the document says: A boy who has an education, health and care plan (EHCP) that names Tiffin School specifically on the plan… Boys need to have demonstrated their ability and aptitude through the testing process (paragraph 11.1A).
In plain English: Boys in council care, or who were in care before being adopted (including from state care outside England), come next — provided they live in the Priority Area and their combined score reaches the qualifying mark (the 450th-ranked Stage Two score). Looked-after and Pupil Premium boys also get a 10% leeway applied to their Stage One marks. Tell the school with documentary evidence by the SIF deadline.
What the document says: Currently Looked After Children and Previously Looked After Children whose permanent place of residence is within the Priority Area, whose combined score is higher than or equal to the 450th ranked Combined Score of all applicants who sat the Stage Two Test (paragraph 11.1B.i).
In plain English: Next come boys who qualify for the Pupil Premium (which the school's policy defines to include free-school-meals eligibility and registered service children) and live in the Priority Area, ranked by combined test score, provided they reach the 450th-ranked qualifying mark. They also get the 10% Stage One leeway. You must provide documentary evidence of eligibility by the SIF deadline, or the priority and leeway are not applied.
What the document says: Boys whose primary school receives Pupil Premium funding in respect of him and whose permanent place of residence is within the Priority Area (paragraph 11.1B.ii). Appendix D defines Pupil Premium to include free-school-meals eligibility and registered service children.
In plain English: This is how most boys get in. After the priority band and the reserved aptitude places, the remaining places go to the highest-scoring boys living anywhere in the Priority Area — everywhere within 10 km, straight-line, of the school — in strict rank order of combined test score. Every in-area boy competes on the same score; there is no closer/further sub-zone.
What the document says: Boys whose permanent place of residence is within the Priority Area; if there are any remaining places, then… (paragraph 11.1C). The Priority Area is defined in paragraph 13.1 as everywhere less than 10 km from Tiffin School.
In plain English: Boys living outside the 10 km Priority Area are only considered once every in-area boy who reached the standard has a place. In practice this does not happen — the school states that every place since 2019 has gone to a boy inside the Priority Area. An out-of-area boy still needs to pass both stages and be ranked by score, but should treat a place as very unlikely.
What the document says: Boys whose permanent place of residence is outside the Priority Area (paragraph 11.1D). Appendix A notes that since the 10 km Priority Area was introduced in September 2019, places have only been offered to those who live within 10 km of Tiffin School.
In plain English: Up to 18 of the 180 places are set aside for boys who show aptitude in sport (up to 9) or music (up to 9) — assessed in July before the main test. They must still reach the qualifying score (the 450th-ranked Stage Two mark) and live in the Priority Area, and are ranked by their aptitude-assessment performance. To be assessed you must complete the SIF by the earlier 6 July 2026 deadline.
What the document says: Up to 18 reserved places… Up to 9 places to boys who have demonstrated aptitude in sport… up to 9 places to boys who have demonstrated aptitude in music… whose permanent place of residence is within the Priority Area (paragraph 11.1E).
A real boundary — a 10 km circle.
Tiffin admits by test score, but the Priority Area is the effective boundary. The policy defines it simply: everywhere less than 10 km from the school in a straight line (paragraph 13.1). That is a circle on the map, centred on the Queen Elizabeth Road gate, reaching across Kingston, Surbiton, New Malden, Twickenham, Richmond, Wimbledon, Esher and as far as Sutton and parts of west London. Boys inside it who pass are ranked ahead of boys outside (after the looked-after / Pupil Premium priority band). Because the school says every place since 2019 has gone to a within-10 km address, the circle is effectively the cut-off, even though it is technically a priority rather than a hard boundary.
Distance itself is also the final tiebreaker: where two boys have the same score at the 180th place, the place goes to the boy living closer to the school gate, measured in a straight line by the Kingston Schools Admissions computerised Geographical Information System and Ordnance Survey data, then by random allocation.
See the catchment area on the GrammarBound mapInside the circle: in the race. Outside: a place is very unlikely.
Boy A lives in Surbiton, about 2 km from the school — inside the Priority Area — so once he passes both stages he is ranked by score for the bulk of the places (criterion 4), or in the priority band if he is looked-after or eligible for the Pupil Premium. Boy B lives in Leatherhead, about 13 km away and outside the area, so he is only considered if places are left after every in-area boy is placed — which, on the school's own record, has not happened since 2019. Both must reach the qualifying score; the difference is the 10 km circle.
You have two routes, and you can use both.
Waiting list
If your son isn't offered a place, the school holds a ranked waiting list of boys who sat the Stage Two Test. When a place comes free, it goes to the next boy under the same selection criteria — by score, not first-come-first-served, and with no need to re-sit. The list is maintained from 1 March 2027 until the last day of the 2027–28 school year. Boys who reach the year's cut-off score can reapply for Years 8–11 as in-year applicants.
Priority on the waiting list is by the selection criteria, not by the date you asked to join.
Appeal
You have a statutory right of appeal against the school's decision not to offer a place; your council notifies you of the appeals process on National Offer Day. Appeals are heard by an independent panel, and you'll be told the deadline to lodge yours. A repeat appeal in the same year, for the same school, is only heard if your circumstances have materially changed. Appealing does not affect your son's waiting-list position.
Joining Year 12 at Tiffin.
The sixth form is for boys. Internal Year 11 boys who meet the academic requirements move up; there are at least 90 external places for students from other schools. There is a Priority Area for sixth-form entry too — within 10 km — but entry is fundamentally on GCSE results.
The grade floor.
Applicants need a total grade-point score of 56 across their best eight qualifying GCSEs — an average of grade 7 — and at least a grade 5 in English Language and Maths. To take a subject at A-level you generally need at least a grade 7 in that subject at GCSE, with higher requirements for the sciences (a grade 8 average for two or three sciences), Computer Science and Further Maths (grade 9 in GCSE Maths).
Apply online by December.
External applicants complete the online application form on the school website by 17 December 2026 — late applications are not considered. Offers are confirmed after GCSE results day (expected 26 August 2027). Places are ranked first by looked-after status, then by total grade-point score with distance as a tiebreak, with priority to boys living within the 10 km area and applying for the school's "Curriculum Breadth" subjects. Each place is also subject to meeting the specific course requirements and to teaching-group capacity. Unsuccessful applicants have the right of appeal.