Nonsuch High School for Girls 11+ guide

Thinking about applying to Nonsuch High School for Girls? Find out everything you need to know about admissions and how to prepare your child for success in the Sutton Selective Eligibility Test.

Key information about Nonsuch High School for Girls

• Address: Nonsuch High School for Girls, Ewell Road, Cheam, Sutton, Surrey, SM3 8AB
• Number of pupils: 1,500+
• Admissions contact: [email protected]
• Number of places in Year 7: 210
• 11+ exam: Sutton Selective Eligibility Test (SET) and second stage exam
• Catchment area: yes

Dates for your diary

• Thursday 1st May 2025: Sutton Selective Eligibility Test registration opens
• Friday 1st August 2025: Sutton Selective Eligibility Test registration closes
• Tuesday 16th September 2025: Sutton Selective Eligibility Test
• Saturday 27th September 2025: shared second stage entrance exam
• Mid-October 2025: parents receive Sutton SET results
• Friday 31st October 2025: secondary school common application deadline
• Monday 2nd March 2026: national school offers day

About Nonsuch High School for Girls

Nonsuch High School for Girls is a girls' grammar school in Sutton, southwest London. It opened in 1938 and is located on the edge of Nonsuch Park on a 22-acre site.

The school specialises in science and languages and became a member of the Girls' Learning Trust in 2015. A broad curriculum and plenty of enrichment opportunities develop students into global citizens. In 2023, students' exam results placed the school 33rd out of all grammar schools in the UK.

How to apply to Nonsuch High School for Girls

Nonsuch High School for Girls is a selective school. This means that your child will need to take the 11 plus exam to be eligible for a place. In Sutton, the 11 plus is known as the Sutton Selective Eligibility Test (SET). All of the grammar schools in Sutton (and one partially-selective school) use the Sutton SET.

Children applying to Nonsuch High School for Girls also take a second stage exam to qualify for a place. This exam is known as the NWSSEE and is shared with the other local girls’ grammar school, Wallington High School. Only children who meet the qualifying standard in the Sutton SET are shortlisted for the NWSSEE.

Registration for the 2025 Sutton Selective Eligibility Test opens Thursday 1st May 2025 and closes in Friday 1st August 2025. The Sutton SET takes place on Tuesday 16th September 2025. You’ll find out whether your child has qualified for the second stage the following week.

The joint second stage exam for Nonsuch High School for Girls and Wallington High School takes place on Saturday 27th September 2025 and you’ll receive your child’s results in mid-October. You can then use these results to decide whether to apply for a place at Nonsuch High School for Girls.

To apply, you’ll need to name the school as one of your preferred schools on the secondary school common application form. This will be available on your home council website from early September and must be submitted by 31st October 2025.

Remember – passing the entrance exam doesn’t guarantee that your child will be allocated a place at your preferred school. Many grammar schools are often oversubscribed with qualified children. Schools and their admissions authorities work through admissions criteria to prioritise children for places. We’ve included the admissions criteria for Nonsuch High School for Girls below.

What subjects are on the Sutton Selective Eligibility Test?

The Sutton Selective Eligibility Test consists of two multiple-choice papers. Each paper takes about 40–50 minutes to complete.

• English: this paper is split into four sections. One assesses Key Stage 2 spelling and the other three test reading comprehension skills.
• Maths: questions cover the Key Stage 2 maths topics. These include number and place value, the four operations, fractions, decimals and percentages, measurement, geometry and statistics.

The second stage exam (NWSSEE) also tests English and maths, but these papers are not multiple-choice. The English test is a one-hour extended writing task and the maths test is a standard 45-minute maths paper.

How does place allocation work at Nonsuch High School for Girls?

Children must pass both parts of the NWSSEE (second-stage exam) to be eligible for a place at Nonsuch High School for Girls. The marks in the NWSSEE are added to half of the total mark achieved in the Sutton SET, with each part carrying equal weight. This creates your child’s total entrance test score, and every child’s score is added to a ranked list.

If the number of eligible children applying to Nonsuch High School for Girls exceeds the 210 places available, places are prioritised in this order:

1. ‘Looked after’ and ‘previously looked after’ children. These children need to have achieved the entrance test pass mark, or a score up to 20% lower than the standardised SET pass mark and the minimum standardised NWSSEE pass mark
2. 85 places are then prioritised for children on the basis of scores in the entrance test, starting with the highest score
3. Up to 35 places are available for children who receive Free School Meals or the Pupil Premium. These children need to have achieved the entrance test pass mark, or a score up to 20% lower than the standardised SET pass mark and the minimum standardised NWSSEE pass mark
4. Up to 125 places are then linked to the school’s catchment area circle, allocated in order of highest score
5. Any remaining places are offered in order of highest score

Here are the lowest scores for which children were offered a place under the criterion above in the last three years:

• Criterion 2 (‘top 85’): 321 (2024), 322 (2023), 323 (2022)
• Criterion 3 (‘ringfenced criterion’): N/A (2024), 281 (2023), 282 (2022)
• Criterion 4 (catchment area): 290 (2024), 288 (2023), 288 (2022)

What is the catchment area for Nonsuch High School for Girls?

The catchment area ‘circle’ for Nonsuch High School for Girls covers a radius of 5.25km from the school site. This includes Banstead, Carshalton, Cheam, Epsom, Ewell and West Ewell, Morden, Sutton and Worcester Park.

Atom’s top tips for Sutton SET preparation

The Sutton SET and second stage exams are designed to select the most academically able children in the Sutton area. Here are our top tips to help you and your child feel confident for exam day!

Bitesize learning

It’s important to build a good knowledge base before the exam. Using a ‘little and often’ approach when learning is key – our brains encode new information more effectively when dealing with smaller ‘chunks’ of information. For children aged 10–11, child psychologists recommend regular study sessions of 20–30 minutes.

Atom Home makes learning a more enjoyable process for your child. They'll explore exciting worlds full of interactive questions, earning coins to spend in the Atom shop. Atom adapts to your child, showing them questions at just the right level of difficulty to keep them motivated.

Read widely

The Sutton Selective Eligibility Test assesses your child’s ability to analyse and interpret written information. Regular reading is a great way to help your child build these skills.

Encourage them to read books from different genres and by a diverse range of authors. Increasing the variety of your child’s reading will help them understand different styles, tones and purposes. Meanwhile, reading a little every day will help widen their vocabulary, sharpen their analytical thinking, and enhance their imagination.

Refine exam technique

When your child feels confident with the topics they’ve learnt in Year 5, they’ll be ready to put their knowledge to the test.

Practice tests can help your child develop problem-solving skills and build confidence working under test conditions. They’re also a great way to consolidate learning and highlight knowledge gaps for further improvement.

With Atom Home, you'll unlock online mock tests and printable practice papers. Enjoy automatic marking and progress tracking with the online tests, and help your child get familiar with the real exam experience with printable practice papers.

Celebrate progress

Setting regular, achievable goals and celebrating your child’s progress – no matter how big or small – will help keep their motivation high.

Make sure to encourage a growth mindset. This means celebrating effort, as well as achievement! When your child makes mistakes or struggles to understand a particular topic, help them understand that they’ll improve through practice. Regular praise will help your child improve their resilience when tackling new and challenging topics.