Important information for parents whose children will be starting secondary school in September 2024

Parents who want their children to start attending four of the borough’s secondary schools in September 2024 are being reminded they will need to sit a special test next month.

The four schools - Ashcroft, Burntwood, Chestnut Grove and Graveney - use partial-selection or fair banding to determine which pupils are offered a place – and some of these admissions are based on the results of a Year Six aptitude test. 

Children applying to other secondary schools in the borough do not need to sit the test, which is split into two parts with a short practice session at the beginning and a break in the middle.

The tests are taken each September, a few weeks after children have just begun their final year at primary school.

More information about what the test involves can be found on the council’s website.

Children who need to sit the tests need to be registered to do so - Register your child for the Year 6 Test.  The closing date for test registration is Tuesday, 5 September 2023. Applications will close after that date. 

Children who have an EHCP who wish to attend one of the four secondaries do not need to take the test. The council’s website has additional information for children who receive SEN support.

Parents who have registered their children before the deadline expires will receive an email outlining the time, date and venue for their test. It will not necessarily be at the secondary school they have applied for. These invitations will be emailed on or before Monday 11, September. 

The tests will then be held over three days during term time - between Wednesday, 27 September and Friday, 29 September 2023 - at a local secondary school. As far as possible pupils from the same primary school will be grouped together to sit the test on the same day and at the same venue.

Parents must ensure that their child takes the test on the set date they are given. Unless there are exceptional reasons, it may not be possible for an alternative date to be arranged. 

Parents will be notified their child’s results by email on Tuesday, 24 October 2023.

If you are considering applying for a specialist aptitude place at a Wandsworth school, your child will have to take the particular school's aptitude test as well as the Year 6 Test. Further information about specialist aptitude tests.

Parents who’d like more information about the process and what’s involved can call (020) 8871 7316 or email year6test@wandsworth.gov.uk